Patient and Staff Experiences of Embedding Electronic Patient Reported Outcome Measures for Distress Screening and Quality of Life Assessment, Into Routine Melanoma Care: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Objective: Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are commonly collected in melanoma research. However, they are not used to guide immediate clinical care in Australia. This study explored the views and experiences of patients with Stage III melanoma and clinic staff during implementation of an electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in melanoma (ePROMs-MEL) pilot to assess distress and quality of life.

Clinical significance of intra-thoracic and intra-abdominal sentinel lymph nodes detected on lymphoscintigraphy in truncal melanoma patients.

Background: Although most melanomas drain to the more common major lymph node basins (axilla, groin, neck), rarely they drain to deep SLN locations such as intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic (including intercostal and internal mammary) sites, which pose a higher surgical risk and complexity for procurement. Our study is aimed at determining the rate of positivity and likelihood of recurrence in these nodal sites to guide management decisions for patients with truncal melanomas which drain to these 'deep' SLN locations.

Methods: Retrospective data collected between May 2008 and May 2022 including all patients with truncal melanomas who underwent lymphoscintigraphy resulting in the identification of deep SLNs in intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic sites were included.

Impact of personalized response-directed surgery and adjuvant therapy on survival after neoadjuvant immunotherapy in stage III melanoma: Comparison of 3-year data from PRADO and OpACIN-neo.

Background: Pathologic response following neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in stage III melanoma serves as a surrogate marker for long-term outcomes. This may support more personalized, response-directed treatment strategies.

Methods: The OpACIN-neo and PRADO trials were phase 2 studies evaluating neoadjuvant treatment with ipilimumab and nivolumab in stage III melanoma.

Understanding activity and physiology at scale: The Apple Heart & Movement Study.

Physical activity or structured exercise is beneficial in a wide range of circumstances. Nevertheless, individual-level data on differential responses to various types of activity are not yet sufficient in scale, duration or level of annotation to understand the mechanisms of discrete outcomes nor to support personalized recommendations. The Apple Heart & Movement Study was designed to passively collect the dense physiologic data accessible on Apple Watch and iPhone from a large real-world cohort distributed across the US in order to address these knowledge gaps.

Exploring locoregional treatment reporting in neoadjuvant systemic breast cancer treatment studies: A systematic review.

Accurate information about locoregional treatments in breast cancer neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) trials is vital to support surgical decision-making and allow meaningful interpretation of long-term oncological outcomes. This systematic review (PROSPERO registration CRD42023470891) aimed to describe the current practice of outcome reporting in NST studies. A systematic search identified primary research studies published 01/01/2018-08/09/2023 reporting outcomes in patients receiving NST for breast cancer followed by locoregional treatment.

Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab, dabrafenib and trametinib in BRAF-mutant resectable melanoma: the randomized phase 2 NeoTrio trial.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors and BRAF-targeted therapy each improve survival in melanoma. Immune changes early during targeted therapy suggest the mechanisms of each drug class could work synergistically. In the non-comparative, randomized, phase 2 NeoTrio trial, we investigated whether targeted therapy could boost the proportion of patients achieving long-term recurrence-free survival with neoadjuvant immunotherapy in resectable stage III BRAF-mutant melanoma.

The Effect of Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy on Surgical Outcomes After Lymph Node Dissections for Stage III Melanoma; An Australian Cohort.

Background: Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) for patients with stage III melanoma achieves high major pathologic response rates and high recurrence-free survival rates. This study aimed to determine how NAST with targeted therapies (TTs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) influences surgical outcomes after lymph node dissection in terms of complications, morbidity, and textbook outcomes.

Methods: Patients who underwent a lymph node dissection after either NAST in a clinical trial or upfront surgery for stage III melanoma between 2014 and 2022 were identified from an institutional research database.

Five-year analysis of neoadjuvant dabrafenib and trametinib for stage III melanoma.

Background: Neoadjuvant dabrafenib plus trametinib has a high pathological response rate and impressive short-term survival in patients with resectable stage III melanoma. We report 5-year outcomes from the phase II NeoCombi trial.

Patients And Methods: NeoCombi (NCT01972347) was a single-arm, open-label, single-centre, phase II trial.

Protocol for the development of a core outcome set and reporting guidelines for locoregional treatment in neoadjuvant systemic breast cancer treatment trials: the PRECEDENT project.

Introduction: Neoadjuvant systemic anticancer therapy (neoSACT) is increasingly used in the treatment of early breast cancer. Response to therapy is prognostic and allows locoregional and adjuvant systemic treatments to be tailored to minimise morbidity and optimise oncological outcomes and quality of life. Accurate information about locoregional treatments following neoSACT is vital to allow the translation of downstaging benefits into practice and facilitate meaningful interpretation of oncological outcomes, particularly locoregional recurrence.

Leg Lymphoedema After Inguinal and Ilio-Inguinal Lymphadenectomy for Melanoma: Results from a Prospective, Randomised Trial.

Background: The Evaluation of Groin Lymphadenectomy Extent for Melanoma (EAGLE FM) study sought to address the question of whether to perform inguinal (IL) or ilio-inguinal lymphadenectomy (I-IL) for patients with inguinal nodal metastatic melanoma who have no clinical or imaging evidence of pelvic disease. Primary outcome measure was disease-free survival at 5 years, and secondary endpoints included lymphoedema.

Methods: EAGLE FM was designed to recruit 634 patients but closed with 88 patients randomised because of slow recruitment and changes in melanoma management.

Using co-design to develop the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire for adolescents in Ireland.

Health literacy measurement studies are important for the success of health promotion efforts targeting adolescents. However, the majority of health literacy measurement tools were originally developed for adult populations and may not be reflective of health literacy in the context of adolescence. The present study sought to co-design a health literacy questionnaire and vignettes for adolescents in Ireland aged 12-18 years.

Prognostic Significance of Incipient Ulceration in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma.

Importance: Ulceration represents a key feature in cutaneous melanoma, contributing to staging according to the current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) system. However, cases with incipient ulceration do not quite fulfill the AJCC definition of ulceration and are consequently classified as nonulcerated, presenting interpretive difficulty for pathologists. The prognostic implication of incipient ulceration is uncertain.

Patient-reported health-related quality of life outcomes following mastectomy for breast cancer, with immediate, delayed or no breast reconstruction: Four-year follow-up from a prospective cohort study.

Background: Breast reconstruction (BR) improves women's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following mastectomy for breast cancer, yet factors contributing to improved HRQOL remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the overall impact of mastectomy with or without BR on participants' perceptions of HRQOL over time in a cohort of women with high-risk breast cancer; to examine differences in mean HRQOL scores between immediate BR, delayed BR and no BR groups; to assess the influence of patient characteristics potentially associated with HRQOL scores; and to determine the feasibility of long-term collection of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical settings.

Methods: A prospective, longitudinal study of 100 women with high-risk breast cancer who underwent mastectomy with or without breast reconstruction and were likely to require post-mastectomy radiotherapy.

Nonviral base editing of KCNJ13 mutation preserves vision in a model of inherited retinal channelopathy.

Clinical genome editing is emerging for rare disease treatment, but one of the major limitations is the targeting of CRISPR editors' delivery. We delivered base editors to the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) in the mouse eye using silica nanocapsules (SNCs) as a treatment for retinal degeneration. Leber congenital amaurosis type 16 (LCA16) is a rare pediatric blindness caused by point mutations in the KCNJ13 gene, a loss of function inwardly rectifying potassium channel (Kir7.