Publications by authors named "McDermott R"

Bone health is central to the management of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). International guidelines recommend giving a bone-protecting agent (BPA) to patients with mCRPC and bone metastases. However, the data supporting these recommendations were generated before androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) were available.

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  • Neoadjuvant radiotherapy is crucial for treating locally advanced rectal cancer, and this study compares the quality-of-life outcomes between two techniques: three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).
  • A phase II randomized trial involved 94 patients who received chemoradiotherapy and were assigned to either 3DCRT or IMRT; their quality of life was assessed using specific questionnaires throughout the treatment and at a six-month follow-up.
  • Although the trial ended early due to the futility of its primary endpoint, the results indicated that while emotional functioning improved, other aspects of quality of life declined; notably, IMRT showed better physical and role functioning during the final week
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Purpose: To describe the Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research (IPCOR) registry. The cohort was collected to inform and improve the prostate cancer journey of men in Ireland.

Participants: Established in 2015, IPCOR was a unique large-scale prospective cohort study registering men with prostate cancer in Ireland.

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Commercial activity has positive and negative effects on health. Adverse commercial impacts on health are underpinned by corporate power and economic models and policy that prioritize economic growth, rather than a wellbeing economy that prioritizes health, equity and sustainability. Health in all policies (HiAP) aims to ensure that all policies promote health and health equity, using processes including health impact assessment (HIA).

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Introduction: The Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research (IPCOR) Study collected longitudinal data on men newly diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (PC). Understanding the nuances of disease presentation is essential, considering the high incidence of PC in Ireland. This study aims to characterise disease presentation features, identify factors related to socio demographic disparities in presentation following opportunistic screening, and shed light on potential inequality challenges within Ireland's healthcare structure.

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Several life-prolonging therapies with diverse mechanisms of action (MoA) are available for the treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive/castration-resistant prostate cancer, with many patients requiring multiple lines of therapy. Nevertheless, treatment optimization to further delay disease progression and improve overall survival remains an unmet need. Despite the number of agents with differing MoAs approved for advanced prostate cancer, many patients receive only one or two life-prolonging therapies.

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Testicular cancer is a rare solid organ tumour associated with high cure rates and young age at diagnosis, hence it has a sizeable cohort of survivors worldwide. As it is one of the earliest tumours to be cured, a lot of studies have highlighted the late side effects of cancer and its different treatment modalities including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. While we are trying to identify the population at higher risk of platinum based chemotherapy and reduce its exposure, cisplatin based regimes remain an important tool to cure testicular cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • Innovations in advanced prostate cancer have improved outcomes, but there's still a lack of high-level evidence in clinical management, prompting the 2024 Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference to survey experts for insights.
  • A panel of 120 international experts developed and voted on 183 consensus questions through a web-based survey prior to the conference, defining consensus as ≥75% agreement.
  • The voting results highlight areas of agreement and disagreement that can guide clinical decisions and future research, with a focus on individualizing treatment based on patient characteristics and encouraging participation in clinical trials.
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The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) consists presently of 18 sites within the contiguous United States that are managed by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and its partners. The LTAR network focuses on developing national strategies for more efficient, resilient, and profitable agricultural production systems, improved environmental quality, and enhanced rural prosperity. The Platte River High Plains Aquifer (PRHPA) LTAR site is managed jointly by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and USDA-ARS and is one of the LTAR sites that conduct research on both integrated cropping and grazing systems.

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The expanding availability of real-world data (RWD) has led to an increase in both the interest and possibilities for using this information in postmarketing safety analyses and signal management. While there is enormous potential value from the safety insights generated through RWD, the analysis preparation, execution, and communication required to reliably deliver the evidence can be time consuming. Since the safety signal assessment process is a regulated and timebound process, any supporting RWD analyses require a rapid turnaround of well-designed and informative results.

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The technical aspects of global positioning system (GPS) sensors have been improved substantially over the years, making them valuable and popular tools for livestock tracking. Using GPS sensors allows producers and researchers to locate grazing livestock, monitor their behavior and distribution, and gather referencing information about the health status of the animals and pastures. However, interpreting the behavior of grazing livestock, such as cattle, from GPS data can be difficult due to positioning inaccuracies.

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Background: KEYNOTE-199 (NCT02787005) is a multicohort phase 2 study evaluating pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Results from cohorts 4 (C4) and 5 (C5) are presented.

Methods: Eligible patients had not received chemotherapy for mCRPC and had responded to enzalutamide prior to developing resistance as defined by Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 3 guidelines.

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Purpose: TransCelerate BioPharma surveyed its member biopharmaceutical companies to understand current practices and identify opportunities to complement safety signal assessment with rapid real-world data (RWD) analysis.

Methods: A voluntary 30-question questionnaire regarding the use of RWD in safety signal assessment was disseminated to subject matter experts at all TransCelerate member companies in July 2022. Responses were blinded, aggregated, summarized, and presented.

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Objective: Dementia disproportionately affects First Nations populations. Biomarkers collected in primary care may assist with determining dementia risk. Our previous underpowered study showed some suggestive associations between baseline biomarkers with follow-up dementia or cognitive impairment.

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Nearly 85 % of emerging adults report using at least one social media site. Research suggests that viewing and internalizing unrealistic body ideals often displayed online may pose harmful effects on young people's body image. However, studies on the relationships between social media usage and body image have predominantly focused on women's drive for thinness.

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Early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC), defined as colorectal cancer in individuals under 50 years of age, has shown an alarming increase in incidence worldwide. We report a case of a twenty-four-year-old female with a strong family history of colorectal cancer (CRC) but without an identified underlying genetic predisposition syndrome. Two years after primary surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, the patient developed new liver lesions.

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Objectives: Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an evidence-based approach to assess the likely public health impacts of a policy or plan in any sector. Several HIA frameworks are available to guide practitioners doing a HIA. This systematic review sought to determine whether these support practitioners to meet best practice principles defined by the International Association for Impact Assessment.

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To predict outcome to combination bevacizumab (BVZ) therapy, we employed cell-free DNA (cfDNA) to determine chromosomal instability (CIN), nucleosome footprints (NF) and methylation profiles in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing (LC-WGS) was performed on matched tumor and plasma samples, collected from 74 mCRC patients from the AC-ANGIOPREDICT Phase II trial (NCT01822444), and analysed for CIN and NFs. A validation cohort of plasma samples from the University Medical Center Mannheim (UMM) was similarly profiled.

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The landscape of treating metastatic prostate cancer has evolved with the addition of Androgen Receptor pathway inhibitor (ARPI) to Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT), significantly improving survival rates. However, prolonged use of these therapies introduces notable side effects, prompting a need to revisit intermittent treatment duration. The EORTC 2238 De-Escalate trial is a pragmatic trial seeking to reassess the role of intermittent therapy in patients undergoing maximal androgen blockade (MAB) for metastatic hormone naïve prostate cancer (mHNPC), i.

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Antennas that can operate across multiple communication standards have remained a challenge. To address these limitations, we propose a Field-Programmable Radio Frequency Surface (FPRFS), which is based on manipulating current flow on its surface to achieve desirable RF characteristics. In this work, we demonstrate that substantial enhancements in radiation efficiency can be achieved while preserving the high reconfigurability of antenna structures implemented on the FPRFS.

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Background And Purpose: The CardioSwitch-study demonstrated that patients with solid tumors who develop cardiotoxicity on capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment can be safely switched to S-1, an alternative fluoropyrimidine (FP). In light of the European Medicines Agency approval of S-1 in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), this analysis provides more detailed safety and efficacy information, and data regarding metastasectomy and/or local ablative therapy (LAT), on the mCRC patients from the original study.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at 12 European centers.

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Targeting the RAS pathway remains the holy grail of precision oncology. In the case of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), 90-92% harbor mutations in the oncogene KRAS, triggering canonical MAPK signaling. The smooth structure of the altered KRAS protein without a binding pocket and its affinity for GTP have, in the past, hampered drug development.

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The politics of disease.

Politics Life Sci

April 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights a long-known but often neglected aspect of international relations: the ability of disease to challenge and change all aspects of security, as well as the ability of public policies to change the course of disease progression. Diseases, especially mass epidemics like COVID-19, clearly affect political, economic, and social structures, but they can also be ameliorated or exacerbated by political policies, including public health policies. The threat of pandemic disease poses a widespread and increasing threat to international stability.

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The study objective was to determine the effects of corn processing method and Sweet Bran (Cargill, Blair, NE) inclusion in beef finishing diets on performance and carcass characteristics. Four hundred and eighty crossbred yearling steers (363 ± 15 kg) were assigned to a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments, consisting of two corn processing methods, steam-flaked corn (SFC) or a high-moisture corn: dry-rolled corn blend (HMC: DRC), and three inclusions of Sweet Bran (0%, 20%, or 40% of diet dry matter). Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS as a generalized block design with pen as the experimental unit and block as a fixed effect.

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