Pharmacist interventions to deprescribe opioids and benzodiazepines in older adults: A rapid review.

Background: Many older adults are prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines (BZDs), despite increased susceptibility to adverse events. Challenges of deprescribing include fragmented care and lack of knowledge or time. Pharmacists are well-positioned to overcome these challenges and facilitate deprescribing of these medications.

Assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of drug intervention programs: UK case study.

The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the UK Drug Interventions Program which directs adult drug-misusing offenders out of crime and into treatment programs was established. Quality-adjusted life year estimates from the UK Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study were collected and a cost-utility assessment of the Drug Interventions Program was conducted. Cost-utility assessment confirmed that the Drug Interventions Program is both effective and cost-effective with an average net cost saving of £668 (£6,207 including one case of homicide).

An anatomical study of external carotid artery vascular territories in face and midface flaps for transplantation.

Background: The technical success of facial composite tissue allotransplantation demands full understanding of superficial and deep perfusion for reliable microvascular transfer. Candidates with composite midface defects require an appreciation of the circulatory patterns to design a composite midface allotransplant.

Methods: External carotid vascular territories were evaluated in 10 cadavers to determine the reliability of facial soft-tissue flaps based on a single vascular pedicle.

Achaete-scute complex homologue 1 regulates tumor-initiating capacity in human small cell lung cancer.

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor achaete-scute complex homologue 1 (ASCL1) is essential for the development of normal lung neuroendocrine cells as well as other endocrine and neural tissues. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-SCLC with neuroendocrine features express ASCL1, where the factor may play a role in the virulence and primitive neuroendocrine phenotype of these tumors. In this study, RNA interference knockdown of ASCL1 in cultured SCLC resulted in inhibition of soft agar clonogenic capacity and induction of apoptosis.

Gastric bypass: why Roux-en-Y? A review of experimental data.

Objective: To highlight the clinical and experimental rationales that support why the Roux-en-Y limb is an important surgical principle for bariatric gastric bypass.

Data Sources: We reviewed PubMed citations for open Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP), laparoscopic RYGBP, loop gastric bypass, chronic alkaline reflux gastritis, and duodenoesophageal reflux.

Study Selection: We reviewed clinical and experimental articles.

Regulation of neuroendocrine differentiation in gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor cells by notch signaling.

Context: Gastrointestinal (GI) carcinoid tumors elaborate serotonin and other vasoactive substances, causing the carcinoid syndrome. Based on developmental biology data, we hypothesized that basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors, including achaete-scute complex homolog-like 1 (Ascl1)/hASH1, and the Notch signaling pathway might regulate the neuroendocrine phenotype in GI carcinoids.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate expression of developmental transcription factors and Notch signaling components in GI carcinoids and model their interaction in a relevant GI carcinoid cell line.

Desmoid tumors of the head and neck: a review.

Desmoid tumors of the head and neck are locally invasive neoplasms with a high propensity for inadequate resection and recurrence. The rarity of these neoplasms accounts for the fact that there are no prospective randomized data to evaluate the influence of adjuvant therapies, including radiotherapy, hormonal therapy, or cytotoxic chemotherapy. Several comprehensive retrospective series in the literature suggest that the margin status following resection does not necessarily correlate with local disease recurrence.

Notch in lung development and lung cancer.

Although data regarding the role of the Notch pathway in human lung cancer are still limited, fetal lung developmental studies suggest that Notch signaling plays a critical role in regulating airway epithelial development. The moderate hypotrophic phenotype of lungs from animals bearing a Hes1 mutation, and the expression of Notch components in the distal lung bud during branching morphogenesis, together suggest that Notch may play a role in normal lung growth, especially in Clara cell precursors. Non-small cell lung cancers, including adenocarcinoma, appear to actively utilize this conserved developmental pathway.

Colorectal cancer mortality in first-degree relatives of early-onset colorectal cancer cases.

Purpose: Estimates of familial colorectal cancer risks are useful in genetic counseling and as a guide to determining entry into screening programs and trials of chemoprevention. Furthermore, they provide an insight into the contribution of the known colorectal cancer genes to the familial risk of the disease. There is a paucity of data about the familial colorectal cancer risk associated with early-onset disease outside the recognized cancer predisposition syndromes.