Power of Light: Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning for the Detection of Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, emphasizing the urgent need for reliable and efficient diagnostic methods. Conventional approaches often involve invasive procedures and can be time-consuming and costly, thereby delaying the effective treatment. The current study explores the potential of Raman spectroscopy, as a promising noninvasive technique, by analyzing human blood plasma samples from lung cancer patients and healthy controls.

European value-based healthcare benchmarking: moving from theory to practice.

Background: Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is a conceptual framework to improve the value of healthcare by health, care-process and economic outcomes. Benchmarking should provide useful information to identify best practices and therefore a good instrument to improve quality across healthcare organizations. This paper aims to provide a proof-of-concept of the feasibility of an international VBHC benchmarking in breast cancer, with the ultimate aim of being used to share best practices with a data-driven approach among healthcare organizations from different health systems.

Functional Engagement of the PD-1/PD-L1 Complex But Not PD-L1 Expression Is Highly Predictive of Patient Response to Immunotherapy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: In many cancers, the expression of immunomodulatory ligands leads to immunoevasion, as exemplified by the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Profound advances in cancer treatments have come with the advent of immunotherapies directed at blocking these immuno-suppressive ligand-receptor interactions. However, although there has been success in the use of these immune checkpoint interventions, correct patient stratification for these therapies has been challenging.

Prediction of Chemotoxicity, Unplanned Hospitalizations and Early Death in Older Patients with Colorectal Cancer Treated with Chemotherapy.

Purpose: To identify risk factors for toxicity, unplanned hospitalization (UH) and early death (ED) in older patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC) initiating chemotherapy.

Methods: 215 patients over 70 years were prospectively included. Geriatric assessment was performed before treatment, and tumor and treatment variables were collected.

Development and Validation of an Early Mortality Risk Score for Older Patients Treated with Chemotherapy for Cancer.

Estimation of life expectancy in older patients is relevant to select the best treatment strategy. We aimed to develop and validate a score to predict early mortality in older patients with cancer. A total of 749 patients over 70 years starting new chemotherapy regimens were prospectively included.

Undertreatment and overtreatment in older patients treated with chemotherapy.

Background: Inconsistent doses and schemes are commonly used in older patients receiving cancer chemotherapy. We performed this study in patients with cancer and age ≥ 70 years to determine the frequency of undertreatment and overtreatment as well as factors influencing the decision to modify chemotherapy doses.

Patients And Methods: Patients aged ≥70 years starting new chemotherapy regimens were prospectively included in a multicentre study.