Aspirin after completion of standard adjuvant therapy for colorectal cancer (ASCOLT): an international, multicentre, phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Aspirin is a simple, globally available medication that has been shown to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of aspirin in the secondary prevention of colorectal cancer.

Methods: This phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at 66 centres across 11 countries and territories (ten in Asia-Pacific; one in the Middle East).

Simulating 500 million years of evolution with a language model.

More than three billion years of evolution have produced an image of biology encoded into the space of natural proteins. Here we show that language models trained at scale on evolutionary data can generate functional proteins that are far away from known proteins. We present ESM3, a frontier multimodal generative language model that reasons over the sequence, structure, and function of proteins.

Targeted Sleep Enhancement Reduces Residual Anxiety Symptoms in Peri-Adolescents Previously Treated for Anxiety Disorders.

Sleep-related problems (SRPs) are a common precursor to anxiety disorders, especially during peri-adolescence, and may be a predictor of treatment response. However, evidence-based anxiety treatments do not alleviate SRPs to a clinically significant degree. The current study examines whether improving sleep in a sample of young adolescents previously treated for anxiety disorders can further reduce anxiety severity.

Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation for Analgesia During Outpatient Endometrial Biopsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate whether transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) decreases pain at the time of outpatient endometrial biopsy.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of active TENS compared with placebo TENS at the time of endometrial biopsy. The primary outcome was pain measured on a 0- to 100-mm visual analog scale immediately after biopsy, with secondary outcomes including satisfaction and tolerability of TENS and pain scores at other procedural time points.

Real-world impact of pembrolizumab availability for deficient mismatch repair metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: Immunotherapy has emerged as a standard treatment for deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Pembrolizumab became widely available as a first-line (1L) option in Australia following the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listing in August 2021. The uptake of new treatment options can be lengthy.