Identifying Priority Science Information Needs for Managing Public Lands.

Public lands worldwide provide diverse resources, uses, and values, ranging from wilderness to extractive uses. Decision-making on public lands is complex as a result and is required by law to be informed by science. However, public land managers may not always have the science they need.

Predictive value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte-ratio in neoadjuvant-treated patients with breast cancer.

Purpose: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among women and prognosis is strongly influenced by tumor subtype. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is the standard treatment for both locally advanced- and early-stage triple-negative and Her2-positive BC. Pathologic complete response (pCR) to NAC is an important predictor of patient outcomes.

Circulating miR-200 family as predictive markers during systemic therapy of metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: Circulating miRNAs can provide valid prognostic and predictive information for breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent management. They may comprise quintessential biomarkers that can be obtained minimally invasively from liquid biopsy in metastatic breast cancer patients. Therefore, they would be clinically crucial for monitoring therapy response, with the goal of detecting early relapse.

Vaginal cancer treated with curative radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy: oncologic outcomes and prognostic factors.

Background: Vaginal cancer is a rare disease for which prospective randomized trials do not exist. We aimed to assess survival outcomes, patterns of recurrence, prognostic factors, and toxicity in the curative treatment using image-guided radiotherapy (RT).

Methods: In this retrospective review, we identified 53 patients who were treated at a single center with external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy from 2000 to 2021.

Disseminated tumour cells from the bone marrow of early breast cancer patients: Results from an international pooled analysis.

Purpose: Presence of disseminated tumour cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow (BM) has been described as a surrogate of residual disease in patients with early breast cancer (EBC). PADDY (Pooled Analysis of DTC Detection in Early Breast Cancer) is a large international analysis of pooled data that aimed to assess the prognostic impact of DTCs in patients with EBC.

Experimental Design: Individual patient data were collected from 11 centres.

Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands.

Understanding the structure and composition of landscapes can empower agencies to effectively manage public lands for multiple uses while sustaining land health. Many landscape metrics exist, but they are not often used in public land decision-making. Our objectives were to (1) develop and (2) apply a process for identifying a core set of indicators that public land managers can use to understand landscape-level resource patterns on and around public lands.

Do hospital type or caseload make a difference in chemotherapy treatment patterns for early breast cancer? Results from 104 German institutions, 2008-2017.

Background: Over the past decade, chemotherapy has been used more selectively in early breast cancer (EBC) due to better risk stratification. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has evolved to the primary treatment option. The type and size of hospitals is known to have a substantial influence on the kinds of treatment they provide, and therefore on patient outcomes (e.

Evaluating the influence of music at different sound pressure levels on medical students' performance of standardized laparoscopic box training exercises.

Background: The influence of music on the performance of surgical procedures such as laparoscopy is controversial and methodologically difficult to quantify. Here, outcome measurements using laparoscopic box training tools under standardized conditions might offer a feasible approach. To date, the effect of music exposure at different sound pressure levels (SPL) on outcome has not been evaluated systematically for laparoscopic novices.

The Influence of Different Genres of Music on the Performance of Medical Students on Standardized Laparoscopic Exercises.

Purpose: Whether and how music influences the performance of surgical procedures such as laparoscopy is unclear and can be feasibly determined using laparoscopic box training tools under standardized conditions. The aim of this prospective study is to evaluate the effect of different genres of music on the performance of laparoscopic novices.

Methods: Between May 2018 and December 2018, n = 82 students (38 male, 44 female) from Heidelberg University Medical School performed 3 different laparoscopic exercises (A, B, C) from the "Luebecker Toolbox" with 2 repetitions each under standardized conditions.

Common clonal origin of conventional T cells and induced regulatory T cells in breast cancer patients.

Regulatory CD4 T cells (Treg) prevent tumor clearance by conventional T cells (Tconv) comprising a major obstacle of cancer immune-surveillance. Hitherto, the mechanisms of Treg repertoire formation in human cancers remain largely unclear. Here, we analyze Treg clonal origin in breast cancer patients using T-Cell Receptor and single-cell transcriptome sequencing.

Analyzing non-sentinel axillary metastases in patients with T3-T4 cN0 early breast cancer and tumor-involved sentinel lymph nodes undergoing breast-conserving therapy or mastectomy.

Purpose: In the ACOSOG Z0011 trial, completing axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) did not benefit patients with T1-T2 cN0 early breast cancer and 1-2 positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCT). This paper reports cALND rates in the clinical routine for patients who had higher (T3-T4) tumor stages and/or underwent mastectomy but otherwise met the ACOSOG Z0011 eligibility criteria. Aim of this study is to determine cALND time trends and non-sentinel axillary metastases (NSAM) rates to estimate occult axillary tumor burden.

Cut-Off Analysis of CTC Change under Systemic Therapy for Defining Early Therapy Response in Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) can distinguish between aggressive and indolent metastatic disease in breast cancer patients and is thus considered an independent, negative prognostic factor. A clear decline in CTCs is observed in patients who respond to systemic therapy. Nevertheless, CTCs can decrease in patients experiencing disease progression during systemic therapy, too.

Psychometric validation of the Breast Cancer Treatment Outcome Scale (BCTOS-12): a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: The Breast Cancer Treatment Outcome Scale (BCTOS) is a questionnaire to evaluate the aesthetic and functional outcome after breast conserving surgery (BCS). The original BCTOS with its 22 items on three subscales was refined to a shorter, improved, and easier to administer patient-reported outcome measure, the BCTOS-12. The BCTOS-12 consists of 12 items on two distinct subscales, the Functional Status and the Aesthetic Status.

Tumor-Specific Regulatory T Cells from the Bone Marrow Orchestrate Antitumor Immunity in Breast Cancer.

Endogenous antitumor effector T-cell responses and immune-suppressive regulatory T cells (Treg) critically influence the prognosis of patients with cancer, yet many of the mechanisms of how this occurs remain unresolved. On the basis of an analysis of the function, antigen specificity, and distribution of tumor antigen-reactive T cells and Tregs in patients with breast cancer and transgenic mouse tumor models, we showed that tumor-specific Tregs were selectively activated in the bone marrow (BM) and egressed into the peripheral blood. The BM was constantly depleted of tumor-specific Tregs and was instead a site of increased induction and activity of tumor-reactive effector/memory T cells.

Efficacy of intraoperative specimen radiography as margin assessment tool in breast conserving surgery.

Purpose: To explore the ability of intraoperative specimen radiography (SR) to correctly identify positive margins in patients receiving breast conserving surgery (BCS). To assess whether the reoperation rate can be reduced by using this method.

Methods: This retrospective study included 470 consecutive cases receiving BCS due to a primarily diagnosed breast cancer.

Immunooncology in Breast Cancer: Active and Passive Vaccination Strategies.

Immunotherapies are set to become part of the therapeutic repertoire for breast cancer in the near future. Active vaccination is a promising strategy, especially in tumors that have a specific tumor-associated antigen. Although cellular immunotherapies have not yet shown efficacy, new technologies are on the way to improve this approach.

Parity improves anti-tumor immunity in breast cancer patients.

Compared to nulliparous women, parous women have an up to 50% lower lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. An endogenous mechanism to prevent the development of cancer is the destruction of tumor cells by T cells that recognize tumor-associated antigens (TAA). Since a number of TAA are also highly present in the breast and placenta of pregnant women, we investigated the induction and characteristics of spontaneous T cell responses against TAA during pregnancy.

Tumor biomarker conversion between primary and metastatic breast cancer: mRNA assessment and its concordance with immunohistochemistry.

Biomarker changes between primary (PT) and metastatic tumor (MT) site may be significant in individualizing treatment strategies and can result from actual clonal evolution, biomarker conversion, or technical limitations of diagnostic tests. This study explored biomarker conversion during breast cancer (BC) progression in 67 patients with different tumor subtypes and metastatic sites via mRNA quantification and subsequently analyzed the concordance between real-time qPCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Immunostaining for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2, and Ki-67 was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded PT and MT tissue sections.

Implementation of a novel efficacy score to compare sealing and cutting devices in a porcine model.

Background: In general surgery, minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures have been steadily increasing over the last decade. The application of advanced bipolar and ultrasonic energy devices for sealing and cutting of blood vessels plays a vital role in routine clinical procedures. The advantages of energy-based instruments are enhanced sealing capability combined with both fast sealing time and minimal thermal injury.

Inter-rater reliability and double reading analysis of an automated three-dimensional breast ultrasound system: comparison of two independent examiners.

Purpose: Breast ultrasound could be a valuable tool complementary to mammography in breast cancer screening. Automated 3D breast ultrasound (ABUS) addresses challenges of hand-held ultrasound and could allow double reading analysis of ultrasound images. This trial assesses the inter-rater reliability and double reading analysis of an ABUS system.

PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway in Breast Cancer.

The programmed cell death-1 receptor (PD-1) is an immune checkpoint inhibitor which is expressed on the surface of immune effector cells. It is activated mainly by PD-L1 which can be expressed by all human cells. The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway plays a subtle role in maintaining peripheral T-lymphocyte tolerance and regulating inflammation.

Tumor specific regulatory T cells in the bone marrow of breast cancer patients selectively upregulate the emigration receptor S1P1.

Regulatory T cells (Treg) hamper anti-tumor T-cell responses resulting in reduced survival and failure of cancer immunotherapy. Among lymphoid organs, the bone marrow (BM) is a major site of Treg residence and recirculation. However, the process governing the emigration of Treg from BM into the circulation remains elusive.

Impact of reproductive factors on breast cancer subtypes in postmenopausal women: a retrospective single-center study.

Purpose: Some reproductive factors are well-known general risk factors for breast cancer (BC). On the other hand, BC subtypes also have a high prognostic value. Correlations, however, that link these risk factors to the development of a particular one of the different BC subtypes are still poorly understood.

Detection of Human Papillomavirus Infection in Patients with Vaginal Intraepithelial Neoplasia.

Introduction: Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) is a pre-malignant lesion, potentially leading to vaginal cancer. It is a rare disease, representing less than 1% of all intraepithelial neoplasia of the female genital tract. Similar to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), there are three different grades of VAIN.

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) focused on adverse events (PRO-AEs) in adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer: clinical and translational implications.

Purpose: The capture of adequate treatment outcomes and quality of life (QOL) of advanced breast cancer patients in clinical routine represents a great challenge. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are data elements directly reported by patients about experiences with care, including symptoms, functional status, or quality of life. There is growing interest in the medical community for the evaluation and implementation of PROs of adverse events (PRO-AEs).