A real-world study of treatment sequences and second-line clinical outcomes in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in US community practice.

Purpose: Standard-of-care for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (HER2 + mBC) patients consists of trastuzumab ± pertuzumab with chemotherapy in first-line (1L), and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) or the more recently approved trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) in second-line (2L). Contemporary data on treatment sequencing and real-world effectiveness is limited. This study aims to report 2L treatments and outcomes among HER2 + mBC patients in the United States (US).

Differences and Disparities Among Self-Referred and Physician-Referred Populations Undergoing Coronary Artery Calcium Scanning.

Background: Coronary artery calcium computed tomography (CAC) is an important tool for identifying subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk stratification. Despite robust evidence and inclusion in current guidelines, CAC is considered investigational by some US insurance carriers and requires out-of-pocket expenses. CAC can be obtained via self-referral (SR) or physician referral (PR).

Myocardial Work in Echocardiography.

Myocardial work is an emerging tool in echocardiography that incorporates left ventricular afterload into global longitudinal strain analysis. Myocardial work correlates with myocardial oxygen consumption, and work efficiency can also be assessed. Myocardial work has been evaluated in a variety of clinical conditions to assess the added value of myocardial work compared to left ventricular ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain.

Age-associated thin hair displays molecular, structural and mechanical characteristic changes.

Hair thinning occurs during normal chronological aging in women and in men leading to an increased level of thinner hair shafts alongside original thicker shafts. However, the characteristics of age-associated thin hairs remain largely unknown. Here we analyzed these characteristics by comparing at multiscale thin and thick hairs originated from Caucasian women older than 50 years.