Characteristics of immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced encephalitis and comparison with HSV-1 and anti-LGI1 encephalitis: A retrospective multicentre cohort study.

Aim: Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced encephalitis (ICI-iE) is a rare but life-threatening toxicity of immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. We aim to identify the characteristics of ICI-iE and describe factors that discriminate it from herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 encephalitis and anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (anti-LGI1) encephalitis, as two alternative entities of encephalitis.

Methods: In this retrospective multicentre cohort study, we collected patients with ICI-iE reported to the Side Effect Registry Immuno-Oncology from January 2015 to September 2021 and compared their clinical features and outcome with 46 consecutive patients with HSV-1 or anti-LGI1 encephalitis who were treated at a German neurological referral centre.

Interactive Evidence-Based Pressure Injury Education Program for Hospice Nursing: A Quality Improvement Approach.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to develop and implement an interactive, evidence-based pressure injury (PI) education program and evaluate the impact on frontline hospice nursing staff knowledge and practice.

Participants And Setting: The QI setting was a 12-bed inpatient hospice unit in a tertiary care Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Nineteen licensed and unlicensed hospice nursing staff participated in this pre-/postworkshop project.

Tumor immune microenvironment of primary prostate cancer with and without germline mutations in homologous recombination repair genes.

Background: Aberrations in homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes are emerging as important biomarkers for personalized treatment in prostate cancer (PCa). HRR deficiency (HRD) could affect the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), potentially contributing to differential responses to poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Spatial distribution of immune cells in a range of cancers identifies novel disease subtypes and is related to prognosis.

Capecitabine for hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.

Background: Retrospective analyses suggest that capecitabine may carry superior activity in hormone receptor-positive relative to hormone receptor-negative metastatic breast cancer. This review examined the veracity of that finding and explored whether this differential activity extends to early breast cancer.

Objectives: To assess effects of chemotherapy regimens containing capecitabine compared with regimens not containing capecitabine for women with hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative breast cancer across the three major treatment scenarios: neoadjuvant, adjuvant, metastatic.

Early Post-treatment Prostate-specific Antigen at 4 Weeks and Abiraterone and Enzalutamide Treatment for Advanced Prostate Cancer: An International Collaborative Analysis.

Background: Declines in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels at 12wk are used to evaluate treatment response in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). PSA fall by ≥30% at 4wk (PSA4w30) has been reported to be associated with better outcome in a single-centre cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate clinical relevance of early PSA decline in mCRPC patients treated with next-generation hormonal treatments (NGHTs) such as abiraterone and enzalutamide.

Bevacizumab as a steroid-sparing agent during immunotherapy for melanoma brain metastases: A case series.

Background: Brain metastases are common in advanced melanoma and often necessitate corticosteroids such as dexamethasone to control symptoms and reduce peritumoral edema. Immunotherapy improves survival in metastatic melanoma, but concomitant treatment with corticosteroids may reduce efficacy. Here, we report the use of bevacizumab, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor, as a steroid-sparing agent in melanoma patients with brain metastases treated with immunotherapy.

Incidence, features and management of radionecrosis in melanoma patients treated with cerebral radiotherapy and anti-PD-1 antibodies.

Background: Brain radiotherapy is used in the management of melanoma brain metastases (MBM) and can result in radionecrosis. Anti-PD-1 is active in the brain and may increase the risk of radionecrosis when combined with radiotherapy. We studied the incidence, associated factors and management of radionecrosis in longer-term survivors with MBM treated with this combination.

Independent home use of a brain-computer interface by people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: To assess the reliability and usefulness of an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI) for patients with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who used it independently at home for up to 18 months.

Methods: Of 42 patients consented, 39 (93%) met the study criteria, and 37 (88%) were assessed for use of the Wadsworth BCI. Nine (21%) could not use the BCI.

Relevance of DNA damage repair in the management of prostate cancer.

Recent insights into the genomic aberrations that underlie and drive prostate cancer have redoubled efforts to molecularly stratify treatments based on predictive markers. Approximately 23% of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer exhibit somatic or germline aberrations in genes implicated in DNA repair, such as BRCA2, BRCA1, ATM, CHEK2, and PALB2, as well as mismatch repair genes. At least 10% of men with advanced disease have germline mutations in DNA-repair genes (DRG).

Direct access colonoscopy: impact of intervention on time to colorectal cancer diagnosis and treatment in North West Tasmania.

Background: Direct access colonoscopy (DAC) allows general practitioners to refer directly for colonoscopy, without specialist review. Research suggests DAC reduces times to diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. However, there is no information about outcomes of DAC in Australia.

Developing a Manually Annotated Corpus of Clinical Letters for Breast Cancer Patients on Routine Follow-Up.

This paper introduces the annotation schema and annotation process for a corpus of clinical letters describing the disease course and treatment of oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients, after completion of primary surgery and radiotherapy treatment. Concepts related to therapy, clinical signs, and recurrence, as well as relationships linking these, are identified and annotated in 200 letters. This corpus will provide the basis for development of natural language processing tools for automatic extraction of key clinical factors from such letters.

Recent Insights and Advances in the Management of Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and highly aggressive neuroendocrine malignancy with a propensity for recurrence and a poor prognosis. Incidence of MCC is on the rise and is known to increase with advanced age, immunosuppression, and UV exposure. Merkel cell polyomavirus is implicated in the pathogenesis of virus-positive MCC and accounts for 80% of MCCs in the northern hemisphere and 25% in southern latitudes.

Drug Dosing and Pharmacokinetics in Children With Obesity: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Obesity affects nearly one-sixth of US children and results in alterations to body composition and physiology that can affect drug disposition, possibly leading to therapeutic failure or toxic side effects. The depth of available literature regarding obesity's effect on drug safety, pharmacokinetics, and dosing in obese children is unknown.

Objective: To perform a systematic literature review describing the current evidence of the effect of obesity on drug disposition in children.

Characteristics of cancer diagnoses and staging in South Western Victoria: a rural perspective.

Objective: Australian states and territories have legislation mandating reporting of cancer diagnoses; however, tumour stage at diagnosis, treatment plan and associated outcomes are not routinely recorded in cancer registries for all tumour types. This study describes the Evaluation of Cancer Outcomes study that collects detailed information for patients diagnosed with cancer in south-western Victoria.

Design: Retrospective data collection.

A novel topical oxygen treatment for chronic and difficult-to-heal wounds: case studies.

Background: Pressure ulcers are one of the most prevalent causes of morbidity in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). For those requiring hospital-based management, conventional wound management may necessitate a prolonged institutional stay. This may subsequently increase the likelihood of comorbidities and increase the social, psychological, and financial burdens associated with wound management.

Reliability of electronic versus manual wound measurement techniques.

Objective: To compare the accuracy and reliability of 3 wound measurement techniques, including linear and 2 electronic techniques--Visitrak and the VeV MD system.

Design: Repeated measures involving forty 2-dimensional "wounds" with a range of clinically relevant sizes were created using regular paper. Blinded observers measured the surface areas of wounds in 2 sessions, using 3 techniques.