Alkaline phosphatase decline and pain response as predictors of overall survival benefit in patients treated with radium-223: a post hoc analysis of the REASSURE study.

Background: Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) declines and pain responses can occur during radium-223 (Ra) treatment, but their association with treatment outcomes is unclear.

Methods: For patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with Ra in the REASSURE study, we investigated whether ALP decline (Week 12) and/or pain response (during treatment) are associated with improved overall survival (OS). The Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) was used to assess pain at baseline and pain response (in patients with baseline BPI-SF score ≥2).

Different measures of ventilatory efficiency in preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing are useful for predicting postoperative complications in abdominal cancer surgery.

Background: Ventilation as a function of elimination of CO during incremental exercise (VE/VCO slope) has been shown to be a valuable predictor of complications and death after major non-cardiac surgery. VE/VCO slope and partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (PetCO) are both affected by ventilation/perfusion mismatch, but research on the utility of PetCO for risk stratification in major abdominal surgery is limited.

Aim: We aimed to determine the correlation between VE/VCO slope and PetCO measured during preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and its association with major cardiopulmonary complications (MCPCs) or death following oesophageal and other major abdominal cancer surgeries.

Detectability of cytokine and chemokine using ELISA, following sample-inactivation using Triton X-100 or heat.

Clinical samples are routinely inactivated before molecular assays to prevent pathogen transmission. Antibody-based assays are sensitive to changes in analyte conformation, but the impact of inactivation on the analyte detectability has been overlooked. This study assessed the effects of commonly used inactivation-methods, Triton X-100 (0.

Joint HIV and hepatitis C virus phylogenetic analyses signal network overlap among women engaged in sex work and men who purchase sex.

Background: Transmission of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are heavily influenced by complex interactions within sexual or injecting networks where risk behaviors occur. In Ukraine, women engaged in sex work (WSW) and men who purchase sex (MWPS) are disproportionately affected by both viruses. The aim of our study was to the investigate the influence of underlying networks on transmission of HIV and HCV.