Self-supervised learning for automated anatomical tracking in medical image data with minimal human labeling effort.

Background And Objective: Tracking of anatomical structures in time-resolved medical image data plays an important role for various tasks such as volume change estimation or treatment planning. State-of-the-art deep learning techniques for automated tracking, while providing accurate results, require large amounts of human-labeled training data making their wide-spread use time- and resource-intensive. Our contribution in this work is the implementation and adaption of a self-supervised learning (SSL) framework that addresses this bottleneck of training data generation.

C reactive protein flare predicts response to checkpoint inhibitor treatment in non-small cell lung cancer.

Biomarkers for predicting response to anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain in demand. Since anti-tumor immune activation is a process, early dynamic changes of the acute-phase reactant C reactive protein (CRP) may serve as a predictive on-treatment biomarker. In a retrospective (N=105) and prospective (N=108) ICB-treated NSCLC cohort, early CRP kinetics were stratified after the start of immunotherapy until weeks 4, 6, and 12 as follows: an early doubling of baseline CRP followed by a drop below baseline (CRP flare-responder), a drop of at least 30% below baseline without prior flare (CRP responders), or those who remained as CRP non-responders.

Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, other antidepressant medication, and risk of cataract: a case-control study based on Swiss claims data.

Purpose: Three previous studies reported controversial results regarding selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) exposure and cataract development. We therefore aimed to assess risk of cataract associated with previous exposure to SSRI using data from a large health insurance in Switzerland.

Methods: In a case-control study, we analyzed individuals insured by the Helsana Group, a large Swiss health insurance provider.

Preoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy concomitant to cetuximab in resectable stage IIIB NSCLC: a multicentre phase 2 trial (SAKK 16/08).

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT) followed by radiotherapy (RT) and surgery showed a median survival of 28.7 months in resectable stage IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (pts). Here, we evaluate the impact of concomitant cetuximab to the same neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) in selected patients (pts) with NSCLC, stage IIIB.

Physician drug dispensing in Switzerland: association on health care expenditures and utilization.

Background: Several countries recently reassessed the roles of drug prescribing and dispensing, either by enlarging pharmacists' rights to prescribe (e.g. the US and the United Kingdom) or by limiting physicians' rights to dispense (e.