Concurrent epirubicin and trastuzumab use increases complete pathological response rate without additional cardiotoxicity in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive early breast cancer: A meta-regression analysis.

Background: Due to cardiotoxicity concerns, the concurrent use of epirubicin and trastuzumab has not been fully studied. This study aimed to examine the cardiotoxicity and pathological complete response (pCR) rate associated with the concurrent regimens in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer (EBC).

Methods: We conducted a systematic search for relevant literature in the NCBI/PubMed, the Cochrane database, and international conference abstracts for phase II or III randomized controlled trials between January 1, 2000, and February 28, 2021, focusing on the concurrent regimens in patients with HER2-positive EBC.

Disparity in survival benefits of pembrolizumab between Asian and non-Asian patients with advanced cancers: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of malignancies. However, disproportionate enrollment among races and ethnicities places the generalizability of global trial results in doubt.

Methods: In this systematic review, phase 3 randomized controlled trials investigating pembrolizumab in advanced cancers and providing subgroup analyses of Asian and non-Asian participants were included.

Quality of life outcomes after surgical intervention in patients with multiple rib fractures: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Optimized conservative treatment of rib fractures has long been practiced, but surgical fixation has not been promising until recently. We aimed to examine and analyze immediate postoperative outcomes and 6-month quality of life after injury in patients with moderately severe traumatic rib fractures.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study between July 2017 and June 2019 at the National Taiwan University Hospital.

Estrogen-DNA Adducts and Breast Cancer Risk in Premenopausal Asian Women.

Unlabelled: The incidence of breast cancer among premenopausal women has been increasing rapidly in recent decades in East Asia. This case-control study investigated whether estrogen-DNA adducts were associated with breast cancer risk in Taiwan. The control group (n = 146) comprised healthy female volunteers and women with non-proliferative breast disease.

Predictors of Prolonged Euthyroidism After Radioactive Iodine Treatment for Graves' Disease: A Pilot Study.

Objective: Patients with Graves' disease who remain hyperthyroid under the treatment of antithyroid drugs (ATD) or cannot tolerate ATD usually receive radioactive iodine (RAI) to control disease activity. This pilot study aimed to identify predictors of prolonged euthyroidism > 12 months after receiving RAI.

Methods: Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data from 117 patients receiving RAI were retrospectively collected, including age, gender, body surface area, smoking status, free thyroxine, thyrotropin, thyrotropin binding inhibiting immunoglobulin, microsomal antibody, thyroglobulin antibody, medication history, and thyroid volume.

Lymphocyte count is a universal predictor of health outcomes in COVID-19 patients before mass vaccination: A meta-analytical study.

Background: Several laboratory data have been identified as predictors of disease severity or mortality in COVID-19 patients. However, the relative strength of laboratory data for the prediction of health outcomes in COVID-19 patients has not been fully explored. This meta-analytical study aimed to evaluate the prediction capabilities of laboratory data on the prognosis of COVID-19 patients during 2020 while mass vaccination has not started yet.

COQ2 and SNCA polymorphisms interact with environmental factors to modulate the risk of multiple system atrophy and subtype disposition.

Background And Purpose: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) has no definitive genetic or environmental (G-E) risk factors, and the integrated effect of these factors on MSA etiology remains unknown. This study was undertaken to investigate the integrated effect of G-E factors associated with MSA and its subtypes, MSA-P and MSA-C.

Methods: A consecutive case-control study was conducted at two medical centers, and the interactions between genotypes of five previously reported susceptible single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; SNCA_rs3857059, SNCA_rs11931074, COQ2_rs148156462, EDN1_rs16872704, MAPT_rs9303521) and graded exposure (never, ever, current) of four environmental factors (smoking, alcohol, drinking well water, pesticide exposure) were analyzed by a stepwise logistic regression model.

Are the measurement structures of the Traditional Chinese Dispositional Flow Scale-2 equivalent between schizophrenic patients and healthy subjects?

Background: The Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2) is an instrument for measuring the flow experiences of the general population while participating in daily activities. This study aimed to examine the equivalence in the measurement structure of Traditional Chinese DFS-2 (TCDFS-2) between the schizophrenic patients and healthy subjects.

Methods: We recruited 100 adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder from the psychiatric clinics or the centers for daycare or rehabilitation and 104 healthy adults.

Factors predicting one or two sentinel lymph nodes to be accepted for sentinel lymph node biopsy alone after neoadjuvant therapy in initially node-positive breast cancer patients.

Background: Current guidelines recommend harvesting ≥3 sentinel nodes if sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) alone is considered after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) for initially node-positive (cN+) breast cancer. We attempted to investigate factors predicting one or two sentinel lymph nodes harvested to be accepted for SLNB alone after NAT in initially cN + patients.

Methods: Overall, 157 patients who received NAT (clinically T1-3/N1-2/M0) and underwent SLNB were identified from a prospectively maintained database.

Anti-HER2 antibody prolongs overall survival disproportionally more than progression-free survival in HER2-Positive metastatic breast cancer patients.

Background: This meta-analysis aimed to test the hypothesis that the HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patients treated with anti-HER2 antibodies in trial intervention arms have a greater prolongation of overall survival (OS) than of progression-free survival (PFS) and this extra-prolongation of median survival time in OS relates specifically to the anti-HER2 antibody.

Methods: The NCBI/Pubmed and Cochrane databases were searched systematically for HER2-positive or mBC trials published in English during January 1999-November 2017. Treatment arms with shorter PFS were considered as the "control" arm, whereas those with longer PFS as the "test" arm.

Characteristics and outcomes of second cancers in patients with childhood cancer: A report from the Taiwan Pediatric Oncology Group.

Background: Patients with childhood cancer are at increased risk for the development of second cancers.

Methods: A national multicenter survey of second cancers conducted by the Taiwan Pediatric Oncology Group retrieved retrospective data from the database at the Children Cancer Foundation in Taiwan beginning in 1995. The characteristics of second cancers and associations of patient demographic and clinical characteristics with time to death due to a second cancer were analyzed.

Contrasting Epidemiology and Clinicopathology of Female Breast Cancer in Asians vs the US Population.

Background: The incidence of breast cancer among younger East Asian women has been increasing rapidly over recent decades. This international collaborative study systemically compared the differences in age-specific incidences and pathological characteristics of breast cancer in East Asian women and women of predominantly European ancestry.

Methods: We excerpted analytic data from six national cancer registries (979 675 cases) and eight hospitals (18 008 cases) in East Asian countries and/or regions and, for comparisons, from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program database.

Traditional-Chinese Dispositional Flow Scale-2 and Flow State Scale-2 in Taiwanese subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Introduction: The 36-item Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2) and Flow State Scale-2 (FSS-2) were developed to assess flow experience in daily and specific activities. Although their validity and reliability had been examined in general populations and different cultures, little is known for schizophrenic subjects. Thus, this study aimed to validate Traditional-Chinese DFS-2 (TCDFS-2) and FSS-2 (TCFSS-2) in Taiwanese subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Klotho-beta and fibroblast growth factor 19 expression correlates with early recurrence of resectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aims: Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) signalling play critical roles in hepatocarcinogenesis. This study explored the potential of FGF19- and FGFR4-related biomarkers in predicting early tumour recurrence (ETR) and survival in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: We examined the mRNA expressions of FGF19, FGFR4, klotho-beta (KLB), cyclin D1 (CCND1) and FGF4 in 151 surgically resected, primary unifocal HCCs through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Diabetes mellitus, superoxide dismutase and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma polymorphisms modify the outcome of end-stage renal disease patients of Han Chinese origin.

Aim: Increased oxidative stress significantly modifies the outcome of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and is counteracted by antioxidative capacity. We aimed to investigate whether antioxidant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) influence the outcome of ESRD individuals and the influences exerted by DM, which has not been tested before.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled multi-centre ESRD patients of Han Chinese origin between 2002 and 2003, recording their antioxidant (superoxide dismutase [SOD2], glutathione peroxidase [GPX1]) and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) genotyping results, and stratified based on DM.

Predictors of survival in adults undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with severe infections.

Background: To identify novel factors associated with the survival of septic adults receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to improve patient selection and outcomes.

Methods: Cases were identified from our ECMO registry from 2001 to 2011 if they were ≥16 years and received ECMO for life-threatening sepsis.

Results: A total of 151 adults with a median (25th-75th percentile) age of 51 (37-63) years were analyzed.

Detecting Visual Function Abnormality with a Contrast-Dependent Visual Test in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

In addition to diabetic retinopathy, diabetes also causes early retinal neurodegeneration and other eye problems, which cause various types of visual deficits. This study used a computer-based visual test (Macular Multi-Function Assessment (MMFA)) to assess contrast-dependent macular visual function in patients with type 2 diabetes to collect more visual information than possible with only the visual acuity test. Because the MMFA is a newly developed test, this study first compared the agreement and discriminative ability of the MMFA and the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) contrast acuity charts.

Nationwide epidemiology and prognosis of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury (NEP-AKI-D) study: Design and methods.

Aim: Acute kidney injury (AKI) carries an increasing incidence rate worldwide and increases the risk of developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD) as well as the medical expenses during the post-AKI course. The Taiwan Consortium for Acute Kidney Injury and Renal Diseases (CAKs) has thus launched a nationwide epidemiology and prognosis of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury (NEP-AKI-D) study, which prospectively enrols critically ill patients with AKI. Through thoroughly evaluating the risk and prognostic factors of AKI, we hope to lower the incidence of AKI and ESRD from the perspective of AKI-ESRD interaction.

TP53 Mutational Analysis Enhances the Prognostic Accuracy of IHC4 and PAM50 Assays.

IHC4 and PAM50 assays have been shown to provide additional prognostic information for patients with early breast cancer. We evaluated whether incorporating TP53 mutation analysis can further enhance their prognostic accuracy. We examined TP53 mutation and the IHC4 score in tumors of 605 patients diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer at National Taiwan University Hospital (the NTUH cohort).

Short-Term Effects of Kefir-Fermented Milk Consumption on Bone Mineral Density and Bone Metabolism in a Randomized Clinical Trial of Osteoporotic Patients.

Unlabelled: Milk products are good sources of calcium that may reduce bone resorption and help prevent bone loss as well as promote bone remodeling and increase bone formation. Kefir is a product made by kefir grains that degrade milk proteins into various peptides with health-promoting effects, including antithrombotic, antimicrobial and calcium-absorption enhancing bioactivities. In a controlled, parallel, double-blind intervention study over 6 months, we investigated the effects of kefir-fermented milk (1,600 mg) supplemented with calcium bicarbonate (CaCO3, 1,500 mg) and bone metabolism in 40 osteoporosis patients, and compared them with CaCO3 alone without kefir supplements.

High Risk of Herpes Zoster among Patients with Advance Acute Kidney Injury--A Population-Based Study.

The risk for herpes zoster (HZ) in acute kidney injury (AKI) survivors was never explored. We identified 2,387 adults in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database who recovered from dialysis-requiring AKI and matched them with non-recovery and non-AKI patients by propensity score. During a mean follow-up of 2.