Study protocol: multi-centre, randomised controlled clinical trial exploring stromal targeting in locally advanced pancreatic cancer; STARPAC2.

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PDAC: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the commonest form), a lethal disease, is best treated with surgical excision but is feasible in less than a fifth of patients. Around a third of patients presentlocally advanced, inoperable, non-metastatic (laPDAC), whose stadrd of care is palliative chemotherapy; a small minority are down-sized sufficiently to enable surgical excision. We propose a phase II clinical trial to test whether a combination of standard chemotherapy (gemcitabine & nab-Paclitaxel: GEM-NABP) and repurposing All Trans Retinoic Acid (ATRA) to target the stroma may extend progression-free survival and enable successful surgical resection for patients with laPDAC, since data from phase IB clinical trial demonstrate safety of GEM-NABP-ATRA combination to patients with advanced PDAC with potential therapeutic benefit.

The impact of gender-affirming interventions on eating disorder diagnosis risk among transgender and gender-diverse individuals.

Background: The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk of being diagnosed with an eating disorder among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals, specifically examining how this risk differs following gender-affirming medical therapy (GAMT).

Methods: The study utilizes electronic medical record (EMR) data from the TriNetX database. A total of 90,955 TGD individuals were identified in the TriNetX database.

Efficacy of traditional and gamified attention bias modification for depression: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Cognitive models posit that negatively biased attention toward dysphoric information has a causal role in the maintenance of depression-related psychopathology. Attention bias modification (ABM) tests this idea by altering an attentional bias and examining subsequent effects on depression. Prior work finds that ABM alters negatively biased attention for dysphoric information and reduces depression; however, a number of studies have failed to show these effects.

Adjuvant Therapy after Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer: Who Needs It?: Multi-institution Worldwide Observational Study.

Objective: Based on current practice guidelines, we hypothesized that most patients with esophageal cancer, particularly those with locally advanced cancer, would benefit from adjuvant therapy after esophagectomy esophagectomy alone. We sought to obtain a granular estimate of patient-level risk-adjusted survival for each therapeutic option by cancer histopathology and stage.

Background: Although esophagectomy alone is now an uncommon therapy for treating locally advanced esophageal cancer, the value of adjuvant therapy after esophagectomy is unknown.