The transcriptional landscape of cancer stem-like cell functionality in breast cancer.

Background: Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) have been extensively researched as the primary drivers of therapy resistance and tumor relapse in patients with breast cancer. However, due to lack of specific molecular markers, increased phenotypic plasticity and no clear clinicopathological features, the assessment of CSCs presence and functionality in solid tumors is challenging. While several potential markers, such as CD24/CD44, have been proposed, the extent to which they truly represent the stem cell potential of tumors or merely provide static snapshots is still a subject of controversy.

Centering Frontline Health Care Workers in Digital Innovation Design to Inform the Optimization of an App for Improved Male Circumcision Follow-up in South Africa: Qualitative Usability Study.

Background: Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is a safe and effective HIV prevention strategy. However, adherence to recommended in-person, postoperative follow-up is inefficient for procedures with few adverse events. Two-way texting (2wT)-based follow-up appears to be a safe and an efficient alternative to scheduled clinic visits for low-risk patients who underwent VMMC.

Knowledge of disease condition and medications among hypertension patients in Lesotho.

This study evaluated the levels of knowledge of hypertension and the associated medications among hypertension patients in Lesotho and assessed the significance of these indicators on hypertension treatment outcomes. About 81% (n = 212) of the patients had hypertension monocondition while the remaining had multiple chronic conditions. Seventy-six percent of the patients had uncontrolled hypertension.

Gene expression profiling reveals activation of the FA/BRCA pathway in advanced squamous cervical cancer with intrinsic resistance and therapy failure.

Background: Advanced squamous cervical cancer, one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women, still remains a major problem in oncology due to treatment failure and distant metastasis. Antitumor therapy failure is due to both intrinsic and acquired resistance; intrinsic resistance is often decisive for treatment response. In this study, we investigated the specific pathways and molecules responsible for baseline therapy failure in locally advanced squamous cervical cancer.

Scleroderma renal crisis analysis of prevalence and outcome in a large italian series.

During a 30-year period, 323 SSc patients were admitted to a tertiary center specialized in connective tissue diseases. Among them 13 (4|X%) developed scleroderma renal crisis (SRC). These 13 SRC patients with respect to the remaining SSc patients were older, were more often affected by diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc), and had slightly higher blood pressure and more frequent heart involvement at initial presentation.