Emerging Role of Gut Microbiota in Breast Cancer Development and Its Implications in Treatment.

The human digestive system contains approximately 100 trillion bacteria. The gut microbiota is an emerging field of research that is associated with specific biological processes in many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, brain disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Emerging evidence indicates that the gut microbiota affects the response to anticancer therapies by modulating the host immune system.

Unlocking the Secrets of Extracellular Vesicles: Orchestrating Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics in Metastasis, Drug Resistance, and Immune Evasion.

Extracellular vehicles (EVs) are gaining increasing recognition as central contributors to the intricate landscape of the tumor microenvironment (TME). This manuscript provides an extensive examination of the multifaceted roles played by EVs in shaping the TME, with a particular emphasis on their involvement in metastasis, drug resistance, and immune evasion. Metastasis, the process by which cancer cells disseminate to distant sites, remains a formidable challenge in cancer management.

Field cycling imaging to characterise breast cancer at low and ultra-low magnetic fields below 0.2 T.

Background: This prospective feasibility study explores Field-Cycling Imaging (FCI), a new MRI technology that measures the longitudinal relaxation time across a range of low magnetic field strengths, providing additional information about the molecular properties of tissues. This study aims to assess the performance of FCI and investigate new quantitative biomarkers at low fields within the context of breast cancer.

Methods: We conducted a study involving 9 people living with breast cancer (10 tumours in total, mean age, 54 ± 10 years).

Peri-Tumoural Lipid Composition and Hypoxia for Early Immune Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer.

The deregulation of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids (MUFAs, PUFAs, SFAs) from de novo synthesis and hypoxia are central metabolic features of breast tumour. Early response markers for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) are critical for stratified treatment for patients with breast cancer, and restoration of lipid metabolism and normoxia might precede observable structural change. In this study, we hypothesised that peri-tumoural lipid composition and hypoxia might be predictive and early response markers in patients with breast cancer undergoing NACT.

Retrospective Cohort Study Comparing the Clinical Profile and Outcomes of Critically Ill Pregnant Patients in Kuwait during the COVID-19 Pandemic Waves.

Objectives: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2 virus). This virus evolved into several variants, each with different severity. There are surges in the number of infected patients, commonly described as "waves.

Spatial heterogeneity of peri-tumoural lipid composition in postmenopausal patients with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer.

Deregulation of lipid composition in adipose tissue adjacent to breast tumour is observed in ex vivo and animal models. Novel non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows rapid lipid mapping of the human whole breast. We set out to elucidate the spatial heterogeneity of peri-tumoural lipid composition in postmenopausal patients with oestrogen receptor positive (ER +) breast cancer.

Towards detection of early response in neoadjuvant chemotherapy of breast cancer using Bayesian intravoxel incoherent motion.

Introduction: The early identification of good responders to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) holds a significant potential in the optimal treatment of breast cancer. A recent Bayesian approach has been postulated to improve the accuracy of the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model for clinical translation. This study examined the prediction and early sensitivity of Bayesian IVIM to NACT response.

The Effects and Outcomes of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pregnant Women in Kuwait.

Objectives: This retrospective study reports the effects of COVID-19 among hospitalized pregnant women infected with COVID-19 and compares them to a control group.

Methods: A multi-center retrospective cohort study, in which data of pregnant women with COVID-19, admitted to five different hospitals in Kuwait, were collected. Two groups were included, the first group were women with COVID-19 who were admitted between March 22, 2020 until December 31, December 2020.

Cutaneous Sebaceous Carcinoma Presenting as a Large Fungating Breast Tumour in Synchronicity With Primary Carcinomata of the Breasts.

Sebaceous carcinomas are rare malignant tumours which arise from sebaceous glands. They are subclassified into ocular and extraocular subtypes and most commonly occur in the head and neck region. Tumours below the neck occur infrequently, and most commonly resemble benign skin lesions such as pyogenic granulomata and molluscum contagiosum, or malignant skin tumours like basal and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs).

BCG Vaccine-associated Complications in a Large Cohort of Children With Combined Immunodeficiencies Affecting Cellular and Humoral Immunity.

Aims: To present the details of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-vaccine associated complications (VACs) in combined immunodeficiencies (CID) patients.

Methods: Five centers participated in this retrospective study and completed a data form, which included general patients' information, clinical and laboratory data.

Results: Among 236 CID patients, 127 were BCG vaccinated.

Peri-tumoural spatial distribution of lipid composition and tubule formation in breast cancer.

Background: Response guided treatment in breast cancer is highly desirable, but the effectiveness is only established based on residual cellularity from histopathological analysis after surgery. Tubule formation, a key component of grading score, is directly associated with cellularity, with significant implications on prognosis. Peri-tumoural lipid composition, a potential marker, can be rapidly mapped across the entire breast using novel method of chemical shift-encoded imaging, enabling the quantification of spatial distribution.

A case report of dyshidrotic bullous pemphigoid developing after partial anterior circulation ischaemic stroke.

Dyshidrotic bullous pemphigoid is a rare form of bullous pemphigoid that affects predominantly a patient's hands and feet. It has been associated in the literature with neurologic, psychiatric and cerebrovascular disorders. We present an interesting case of this rare skin condition developing in a patient following a diagnosis of partial anterior circulation stroke.

Intra-tumoural lipid composition and lymphovascular invasion in breast cancer via non-invasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Objectives: Despite improved survival due to new treatments, the 10-year survival rate in patients with breast cancer is approximately 75%. Lymphovascular invasion (LVI), a prognostic marker independent from histological grade and stage, can only be fully determined at final histological examination. Lipid composition is deregulated in tumour via de novo lipogenesis, with alteration in lipogenic genes in LVI.

Lactate concentration in breast cancer using advanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Background: Precision medicine in breast cancer demands markers sensitive to early treatment response. Aerobic glycolysis (AG) upregulates lactate dehydrogenase A (LDH-A) with elevated lactate production; however, existing approaches for lactate quantification are either invasive or impractical clinically.

Methods: Thirty female patients (age 39-78 years, 15 grade II and 15 grade III) with invasive ductal carcinoma were enrolled.

Incidence of male breast cancer in Scotland over a twenty-five-year period (1992-2017).

Male breast cancer (MBC) accounts for around 1% of all breast cancers diagnosed. There are inconsistent reports on the incidence of MBC which some propose may be rising. Here, for the first time, the incidence of MBC in Scotland over 25 years from 1992 to 2017 was examined through interrogating the Information Services Division Scotland database.

Author Correction: Metastatic-niche labelling reveals parenchymal cells with stem features.

An Amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

q-Space Imaging Yields a Higher Effect Gradient to Assess Cellularity than Conventional Diffusion-weighted Imaging Methods at 3.0 T: A Pilot Study with Freshly Excised Whole-Breast Tumors.

Purpose: To determine whether q-space imaging (QSI), an advanced diffusion-weighted MRI method, provides a higher effect gradient to assess tumor cellularity than existing diffusion imaging methods, and fidelity to cellularity obtained from histologic analysis.

Materials And Methods: In this prospective study, diffusion-weighted images were acquired from 20 whole-breast tumors freshly excised from participants (age range, 35-78 years) by using a clinical 3.0-T MRI unit.

Metastatic-niche labelling reveals parenchymal cells with stem features.

Direct investigation of the early cellular changes induced by metastatic cells within the surrounding tissue remains a challenge. Here we present a system in which metastatic cancer cells release a cell-penetrating fluorescent protein, which is taken up by neighbouring cells and enables spatial identification of the local metastatic cellular environment. Using this system, tissue cells with low representation in the metastatic niche can be identified and characterized within the bulk tissue.

Occult disease in reduction mammoplasties and prophylactic mastectomies.

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of occult breast carcinoma and significant breast disease in clinically and radiologically unremarkable breast reduction specimens and prophylactic mastectomies. A retrospective search using specimen type codes was performed in the computerized histopathology archive from April 2007 to April 2016. The pathology results of 505 patients were analyzed (782 specimens).

Kuwait Recommendations on Vaccine Use in People with Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases.

People with IRD are at increased risk of infection, and in 2011 EULAR made general recommendations for vaccination in these patients. Global and European perspectives are important, but they cannot accurately reflect the individual situations of patients in different countries and regions. Based on our clinical experience and opinions, we have sought to tailor the original EULAR recommendations to include advice for vaccination with new agents approved in the intervening years-including the new class of targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

Pleomorphic LCIS what do we know? A UK multicenter audit of pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in situ.

Aims: Pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in situ (PLCIS) is a relatively newly described pathological lesion that is distinguished from classical LCIS by its large pleomorphic nuclei. The lesion is uncommon and its appropriate management has been debated. The aim of this study is to review data from a large series of PLCIS to examine its natural history in order to guide management plans.

Social partnering alters sleep in fear-conditioned Wistar rats.

Social support, when provided following a traumatic experience, is associated with a lower incidence of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Our hypothesis was that providing a social interaction period with a naive conspecific would improve sleep architecture in response to cued fear conditioning in Wistar rats. Rats were randomly assigned to either the socially isolated or socially partnered groups.

Childhood meningitis in Kuwait in the era of post pneumococcal conjugate vaccination: A multicenter study.

This is a retrospective study to evaluate epidemiology and etiologies of childhood meningitis in Kuwait after the routine introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. The data was collected from 196 patients in the period of 2010-2014. Aseptic meningitis accounted for 51% of the cases, bacterial meningitis accounted for 29% cases and partially treated meningitis were 20%.

Trends and variations in the epidemiology of meningococcal disease in Kuwait 1987-2013.

The introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine and conjugate pneumococcal vaccine into routine childhood vaccination in Kuwait has resulted in the emergence of Neisseria meningitidis as the leading cause of invasive bacterial infection in children. Currently, a quadrivalent ACYW-135 meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine is administered as part of routine childhood vaccination in Kuwait at the age of 2 years. Conjugate meningococcal vaccines have been shown to be more effective in preventing meningococcal infection in young children.