Health care system factors associated with receipt of treatment and treatment intent in stage III non-small cell lung cancer: A population-based study in Ontario.

Purpose: Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous disease, with a spectrum of anatomic extent, health status, and treatment approaches. Receipt of treatment and its intent should be independent of health system factors where care quality is optimal. We investigated the degree that modifiable health system factors are associated with receipt of treatment and treatment intent in stage III NSCLC in a large, universal health system.

Cluster effect for SNP-SNP interaction pairs for predicting complex traits.

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) interactions are the key to improving polygenic risk scores. Previous studies reported several significant SNP-SNP interaction pairs that shared a common SNP to form a cluster, but some identified pairs might be false positives. This study aims to identify factors associated with the cluster effect of false positivity and develop strategies to enhance the accuracy of SNP-SNP interactions.

A murine model of hypertensive heart disease in older women.

We propose a new mouse (C57Bl6/J) model combining several features of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction encountered in older women, including hypertension from Angiotensin II infusion (AngII), menopause, and advanced age. To mimic menopause, we delayed ovariectomy (Ovx) at 12 months of age. We also studied the effects of AngII infusion for 28 days in younger animals and the impact of losing gonadal steroids earlier in life.

Biological sex, sex steroids and sex chromosomes contribute to mouse cardiac aging.

After menopause, the incidence of cardiovascular disease rapidly rises in women. The disappearing protection provided by sex steroids is a consequence of the development of many risk factors. Preclinical studies are necessary to understand better the effects of ovarian hormones loss cardiac aging.

Cardiac reverse remodeling in a mouse model with many phenotypical features of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: effects of modifying lifestyle.

Multiple factors cause heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and involve various systems. HFpEF prevalence is rapidly rising, and its prognosis remains poor after the first hospitalization. Adopting a more active lifestyle has been shown to provide beneficial clinical outcomes for patients with HFpEF.

Optimizing Clinical Implementation of Hypofractionation: Comprehensive Evidence Synthesis and Practical Guidelines for Low- and Middle-Income Settings.

The global cancer burden, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), worsens existing disparities, amplified by the rising costs of advanced treatments. The shortage of radiation therapy (RT) services is a significant issue in LMICs. Extended conventional treatment regimens pose significant challenges, especially in resource-limited settings.

Lessons learned for spine SABR?

•SABR has shown survival benefits in oligometastatic cases, particularly in low-volume metastatic disease states.•Spine SABR offers potential improvements in local control, and pain response for metastatic spine tumors.•Technical requirements for SABR, like advanced image guidance and immobilization systems, are increasingly available.

A Precise Approach for Radiotherapy of Breast Cancer.

Radiotherapy is an integral part of the multidisciplinary management of breast cancer (BC). There have been multiple recent advances in the delivery of radiotherapy, reviewed with a critical discussion of the evidence from trials investigating adjuvant ultra-hypofractionation and partial breast irradiation for early-stage BC, and the locoregional management of lymph nodes in locally advanced BC. Multiple precision medicine-based approaches have been developed as prognostic and/or predictive for BC patients and identifying biomarkers of radioresistance could help identify patients that may benefit from dose-escalated radiotherapy or radiosensitizers.

Analysis of multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy: Accelerated partial breast irradiation in a retrospective cohort of early-stage breast cancer patients.

Purpose: To determine cardiac dose received by patients treated with high dose rate interstitial brachytherapy. Patients with early-stage, node negative breast cancer can be treated using multi-catheter interstitial brachytherapy accelerated partial breast irradiation (MIB-APBI), with the benefit of reduced treatment volumes and favorable toxicity.

Methods And Materials: We conducted a retrospective review of left-sided breast cancer patients treated using MIB-APBI at our institution since 2014.

Evaluating approaches for constructing polygenic risk scores for prostate cancer in men of African and European ancestry.

Genome-wide polygenic risk scores (GW-PRSs) have been reported to have better predictive ability than PRSs based on genome-wide significance thresholds across numerous traits. We compared the predictive ability of several GW-PRS approaches to a recently developed PRS of 269 established prostate cancer-risk variants from multi-ancestry GWASs and fine-mapping studies (PRS). GW-PRS models were trained with a large and diverse prostate cancer GWAS of 107,247 cases and 127,006 controls that we previously used to develop the multi-ancestry PRS.

Body mass index and molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer.

Background: Obesity is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), but the evidence for the association is inconsistent across molecular subtypes of the disease.

Methods: We pooled data on body mass index (BMI), tumor microsatellite instability status, CpG island methylator phenotype status, BRAF and KRAS mutations, and Jass classification types for 11 872 CRC cases and 11 013 controls from 11 observational studies. We used multinomial logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for covariables.

Age and sex hormones modulate left ventricle regional response to angiotensin II in male and female mice.

Age, hypertension, and the female sex are among the risk factors in the development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. We studied by standard and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE), the response of the left ventricle (LV) to aging and angiotensin II continuous infusion (ANG II; 1.5 mg/kg/day for 28 days) in 2- and 12-mo-old male and female C57Bl6/J mice.