The Potential Impact of a Single-Dose HPV Vaccination Schedule on Cervical Cancer Outcomes in Kenya: A Mathematical Modelling and Health Economic Analysis.

: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer. Single-dose HPV vaccination can effectively prevent high-risk HPV infection that causes cervical cancer and accelerate progress toward achieving cervical cancer elimination goals. We modelled the potential impact of adopting single-dose HPV vaccination strategies on health and economic outcomes in Kenya, where a two-dose schedule is the current standard.

Routine HPV vaccination: Reflection on delivery strategies based on countries' experiences.

Despite the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), countries are still struggling to maintain HPV vaccination coverage and manage sustainable delivery strategies. This article explores the challenges and effective strategies for HPV vaccine delivery in LMICs, with a focus on reflecting upon current HPV vaccine delivery strategies in the World Health Organization (WHO) HPV vaccine introduction guidelines to align with practical implementation experiences. The article utilizes presentations and discussions from Coalition to Strengthen the HPV Immunization Community (CHIC) symposia, field experiences of program implementers who participated in the meeting and immunization expert opinions, to inform its findings.

Pandemic-related resilience in HPV vaccination programmes - Perspectives from selected countries in Africa on what it will take to vaccinate 90 % of girls by 2030.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread disruptions to primary health care and other sectors, halting the majority of routine immunisation services and particularly impacting newer, less routinized HPV vaccine programmes. We present a series of five country case studies, drawing directly from frontline experiences in Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Zambia, and Senegal to explore potential barriers and enablers of national HPV vaccine programme resiliency in the aftermath of a pandemic. A series of common themes emerged, articulating common challenges to maintaining HPV vaccine programmes, common factors that supported programme resilience, and common themes of resource needs to rebuild stronger routine immunisation programmes to face future threats.

A qualitative assessment of influenza vaccine uptake among children in Kenya.

Background: Influenza is a significant contributor to acute respiratory infections (ARI), and children < 5 years are at increased risk of severe influenza disease. In Kenya the influenza vaccine is not included in the Kenya Expanded Programme on Immunization (KEPI). To inform roll-out of a national influenza vaccination program, we implemented an influenza vaccine demonstration project in Nakuru and Mombasa counties in Kenya from 2019 to 2021 and set out to establish factors driving influenza vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among caregivers of children aged 6-23 months.

BMP7 promotes cardiomyocyte regeneration in zebrafish and adult mice.

Zebrafish have a lifelong cardiac regenerative ability after damage, whereas mammals lose this capacity during early postnatal development. This study investigated whether the declining expression of growth factors during postnatal mammalian development contributes to the decrease of cardiomyocyte regenerative potential. Besides confirming the proliferative ability of neuregulin 1 (NRG1), interleukin (IL)1b, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand (RANKL), insulin growth factor (IGF)2, and IL6, we identified other potential pro-regenerative factors, with BMP7 exhibiting the most pronounced efficacy.

Impact, cost-effectiveness, and budget implications of HPV vaccination in Kenya: A modelling study.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of cervical cancer cases and deaths worldwide. Kenya introduced a quadrivalent HPV vaccine (GARDASIL, hereafter referred to as GARDASIL-4) for ten-year-old girls in late 2019 with donor support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. As Kenya may soon graduate from Gavi support, it is important to evaluate the potential cost-effectiveness and budget impact of the current HPV vaccine, and potential alternatives.

Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma Developed on Chronic Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Successfully Treated with Cemiplimab: A Case Report.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory skin disease showing a chronic-remitting course. It has been rarely reported that long-term inflammation in HS could lead to serious complications like cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Cemiplimab is a fully human antibody immunotherapy that inhibits programmed cell death protein-1, approved for the treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma, or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma, in patients not eligible for curative surgery or radiotherapy.

Adaptations to water stress and pastoralism in the Turkana of northwest Kenya.

The Turkana people inhabit arid regions of east Africa-where temperatures are high and water is scarce-and they practice subsistence pastoralism, such that their diet is primarily composed of animal products. Working with Turkana communities, we sequenced 367 genomes and identified 8 regions putatively involved in adaptation to water stress and pastoralism. One of these regions includes a putative enhancer for STC1-a kidney-expressed gene involved in the response to dehydration and the metabolism of purine-rich foods such as red meat.

A Case of Recalcitrant Circinate Generalized (Lapière) Psoriasis Successfully Treated with Risankizumab.

Circinate (Lapière) psoriasis represents a rare variety of generalized subacute pustular psoriasis clinically characterized by rapid onset of annular circinate lesions with micro-pustules at the borders without classic plaque psoriasis manifestations. Most reported cases have been described in childhood with a relative benign course, fast and long-term remission after treatment. However, the recalcitrant course may result in an important negative impact on patients' quality of life.

Glucocorticoid receptor antagonization propels endogenous cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac regeneration.

In mammals, the physiological activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) by glucocorticoids (GCs) promotes the maturation of cardiomyocytes during late gestation, but the effect on postnatal cardiac growth and regenerative plasticity is unclear. Here we demonstrate that the GC-GR axis restrains cardiomyocyte proliferation during postnatal development. Cardiomyocyte-specific GR ablation in conditional knockout (cKO) mice delayed the postnatal cardiomyocyte cell cycle exit, hypertrophic growth and cytoarchitectural maturation.

Neuregulin 4 Boosts the Efficacy of Anti-ERBB2 Neutralizing Antibodies.

ERBB4 is a tyrosine kinase receptor reported to exert both oncogenic and tumor suppressor activities. These paradoxical effects were suggested to stem from different ERBB4 homo-/hetero-dimers and/or isoforms. By stratifying breast cancer patients for clinical and molecular subtypes and ERBB4 mRNA abundance, we here report that higher ERBB4 levels correlate with longer relapse-free survival in breast cancer patients of HER2-enriched and luminal A molecular subtypes, proposing a cancer-protecting role for this receptor in these specific subgroups.

Cardiotoxicity of Anticancer Drugs: Molecular Mechanisms and Strategies for Cardioprotection.

Chemotherapy and targeted therapies have significantly improved the prognosis of oncology patients. However, these antineoplastic treatments may also induce adverse cardiovascular effects, which may lead to acute or delayed onset of cardiac dysfunction. These common cardiovascular complications, commonly referred to as cardiotoxicity, not only may require the modification, suspension, or withdrawal of life-saving antineoplastic therapies, with the risk of reducing their efficacy, but can also strongly impact the quality of life and overall survival, regardless of the oncological prognosis.

NRG1/ERBB3/ERBB2 Axis Triggers Anchorage-Independent Growth of Basal-like/Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells.

ERBB3, also known as HER3, is a tyrosine kinase transmembrane receptor of the ERBB family. Upon binding to neuregulin 1 (NRG1), ERBB3 preferentially dimerizes with HER2 (ERBB2), in turn inducing aggressive features in several cancer types. The analysis of a dataset of breast cancer patients unveiled that higher mRNA expression correlates with shorter relapse-free survival in basal-like breast cancers, despite low expression in this breast cancer subtype.

The autocrine loop of ALK receptor and ALKAL2 ligand is an actionable target in consensus molecular subtype 1 colon cancer.

Background: In the last years, several efforts have been made to classify colorectal cancer (CRC) into well-defined molecular subgroups, representing the intrinsic inter-patient heterogeneity, known as Consensus Molecular Subtypes (CMSs).

Methods: In this work, we performed a meta-analysis of CRC patients stratified into four CMSs. We identified a negative correlation between a high level of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) expression and relapse-free survival, exclusively in CMS1 subtype.

Senescence-associated reprogramming induced by interleukin-1 impairs response to EGFR neutralization.

Background: EGFR targeting is currently the main treatment strategy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Results of different clinical trials show that patients with wild-type KRAS and BRAF benefit from anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies (moAbs) cetuximab (CTX) or panitumumab. Unfortunately, despite initial response, patients soon became refractory.

Reawakening the Intrinsic Cardiac Regenerative Potential: Molecular Strategies to Boost Dedifferentiation and Proliferation of Endogenous Cardiomyocytes.

Despite considerable efforts carried out to develop stem/progenitor cell-based technologies aiming at replacing and restoring the cardiac tissue following severe damages, thus far no strategies based on adult stem cell transplantation have been demonstrated to efficiently generate new cardiac muscle cells. Intriguingly, dedifferentiation, and proliferation of pre-existing cardiomyocytes and not stem cell differentiation represent the preponderant cellular mechanism by which lower vertebrates spontaneously regenerate the injured heart. Mammals can also regenerate their heart up to the early neonatal period, even in this case by activating the proliferation of endogenous cardiomyocytes.

Erythrodermic pityriasis rubra pilaris treatment: Two case reports and literature review.

Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) is a rare inflammatory dermatosis characterized by hyperkeratotic follicular papules and erythematous-desquamative plaques that tend to progressively evolve into erythroderma. Treatment is challenging given that international guidelines are not available and large-scale trials do not exist. Traditionally, many topical and systemic drugs had been used as consolidated agents; recently, biologicals are gaining increasing importance, promisingly dominating the therapeutic scenario ahead.