A Comparison of Different Machine Learning Classifiers in Predicting Xerostomia and Sticky Saliva due to Head and Neck Radiotherapy using a Multi-objective, Multimodal Radiomics Model.

Although radiotherapy techniques are the primary treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC), they are still associated with substantial toxicity, and side effect. Machine learning (ML) based radiomics models for predicting toxicity mostly rely on features extracted from pre-treatment imaging data. This study aims to compare different models in predicting radiation-induced xerostomia and sticky saliva in both early and late stage of HNC patients using CT and MRI image features along with demographics and dosimetric information.

Constructing TheKeep.Ca With Thrivers of Cancer in Manitoba, Canada, in Support of Enhancing Patient Engagement: Protocol for a Pragmatic Multimethods Study.

Background: TheKeep.Ca was built to facilitate engagement with those experiencing cancer in Manitoba, Canada. Constructed between 2020 and 2024 with a group of patient advisors, the website includes information on engagement activities including research participation, the patient advisor role, and how those experiencing cancer can access these Manitoba activities.

Concepts of Suffering at the End of Life Amongst Emergency, Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine Physicians in Malaysia.

Background: Palliative Care, Geriatrics and Emergency physicians are exposed to death, terminally ill patients and distress of patients and their families. As physicians bear witness to patients' suffering, they are vulnerable to the costs of caring-the emotional distress associated with providing compassionate and empathetic care to patients. If left unattended, this may culminate in burnout and compromise professional identity.

First-Line Mobocertinib Versus Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Patients With Exon 20 Insertion-Positive Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in the Phase III EXCLAIM-2 Trial.

Purpose: Mobocertinib is an oral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets exon 20 insertion (ex20ins) mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This open-label, phase III trial (EXCLAIM-2: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04129502) compared mobocertinib versus platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment of ex20ins+ advanced/metastatic NSCLC.

Key Strategies to Promote Professional Wellness and Reduce Burnout in Oncology Clinicians.

Burnout in oncologists has been increasing, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is concerning because burnout can have both personal and professional repercussions, as well as a negative impact on patients and organizational financial health. Drawing on information and ideas discussed at an ASCO Town Hall session at the 2023 Annual Meeting developed by the State of Cancer Care in America Editorial Board, this study reviews key organizational strategies for improving professional well-being and argues for the importance of measuring and researching the well-being of the oncology workforce to ensure healthy work environments.

Provision of Radiology Reports Simplified With Large Language Models to Patients With Cancer: Impact on Patient Satisfaction.

Purpose: To explore the perceived utility and effect of simplified radiology reports on oncology patients' knowledge and feasibility of large language models (LLMs) to generate such reports.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the Institute Ethics Committee. In phase I, five state-of-the-art LLMs (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer-4o [GPT-4o], Google Gemini, Claude Opus, Llama-3.

Organ-specific microenvironments drive divergent T cell evolution in acute graft-versus-host disease.

Tissue-specific T cell immune responses play a critical role in maintaining organ health but can also drive immune pathology during both autoimmunity and alloimmunity. The mechanisms controlling intratissue T cell programming remain unclear. Here, we leveraged a nonhuman primate model of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to probe the biological underpinnings of tissue-specific alloimmune disease using a comprehensive systems immunology approach including multiparameter flow cytometry, population-based transcriptional profiling, and multiplexed single-cell RNA sequencing and TCR sequencing.

AGER-dependent macropinocytosis drives resistance to KRAS-G12D-targeted therapy in advanced pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) driven by the mutation presents a formidable health challenge because of limited treatment options. MRTX1133 is a highly selective and first-in-class KRAS-G12D inhibitor under clinical development. Here, we report that the advanced glycosylation end product-specific receptor (AGER) plays a key role in mediating MRTX1133 resistance in PDAC cells.

Imiquimod Cream Preceded by Superficial Curettage vs Surgical Excision for Nodular Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Interest in noninvasive treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has been increasing. For superficial BCC, it has been demonstrated that imiquimod cream, 5%, has high long-term efficacy, but for nodular BCC (nBCC), long-term evidence is sparse.

Objectives: To evaluate whether superficial curettage (SC) followed by imiquimod cream, 5%, is noninferior to surgical excision (SE) in nBCC after 5 years of treatment.

Impact of tissue-independent positron range correction on [Ga]Ga-DOTATOC and [Ga]Ga-PSMA PET image reconstructions: a patient data study.

Purpose: The positron range effect can impair PET image quality of Gallium-68 (Ga). A positron range correction (PRC) can be applied to reduce this effect. In this study, the effect of a tissue-independent PRC for Ga was investigated on patient data.

Bright and Specific Targeting of Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Orthotopic Mouse Models of Gastric Cancer with a Fluorescent Anti-CEA Antibody.

Background: Gastric cancer poses a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Improved visualization of tumor margins and lymph node metastases with tumor-specific fluorescent markers could improve outcomes.

Methods: To establish orthotopic models of gastric cancer, one million cells of the human gastric cancer cell line, MKN45, were suspended in 50 μl of equal parts PBS and Matrigel and injected into the nude mouse stomach with a 29-gauge needle.

A bifunctional antibody targeting PD-1 and TGF-β signaling has antitumor activity in combination with radiotherapy and attenuates radiation-induced lung injury.

Radio-immunotherapy has antitumor activity but also causes toxicity, which limits its clinical application. JS-201 is a dual antibody targeting PD-1 and TGF-β signaling. We investigated the antitumour effect of JS-201 combined with radiotherapy and the effect on radiation-induced lung injury (RILI).

Neuro-computational simulation of blood flow loaded with gold and maghemite nanoparticles inside an electromagnetic microchannel under rapid and unexpected change in pressure gradient.

In cardiovascular research, electromagnetic fields generated by Riga plates are utilized to study or manipulate blood flow dynamics, which is particularly crucial in developing treatments for conditions such as arterial plaque deposition and understanding blood behavior under varied flow conditions. This research predicts the flow patterns of blood enhanced with gold and maghemite nanoparticles (gold-maghemite/blood) in an electromagnetic microchannel influenced by Riga plates with a temperature gradient that decays exponentially, under sudden changes in pressure gradient. The flow modeling includes key physical influences like radiation heat emission and Darcy drag forces in porous media, with the flow mathematically represented through unsteady partial differential equations solved using the Laplace transform (LT) method.

Hepatocyte-derived liver progenitor-like cells attenuate liver cirrhosis via induction of apoptosis in hepatic stellate cells.

Background: Cell therapy demonstrates promising potential as a substitute therapeutic approach for liver cirrhosis. We have developed a strategy to effectively expand murine and human hepatocyte-derived liver progenitor-like cells (HepLPCs) in vitro. The primary objective of the present study was to apply HepLPCs to the treatment of liver cirrhosis and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms responsible for their therapeutic efficacy.

Diagnostic Feasibility of Cardiac PET CT in the Evaluation of Inflammatory, Infectious, and Malignant Heart Disease.

Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a power- ful imaging tool with diverse applications in the detection and diagnosis of various cardiac conditions, including inflammatory, infectious, and neoplastic processes. Using the radiotracer 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), cardiac PET enables the identification of cardiac involvement in diseases such as sarcoidosis and severe infections affecting the heart tissue. Additionally, 18F-FDG PET is valuable in the evaluation of cardiac masses, helping to assess their metabolic activity and potential malignancy.

HBV and HBsAg strongly reshape the phenotype, function, and metabolism of DCs according to patients' clinical stage.

Background: Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by HBV. Infected individuals who fail to control the viral infection develop chronic hepatitis B and are at risk of developing life-threatening liver diseases, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. Dendritic cells (DCs) play important roles in the immune response against HBV but are functionally impaired in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Radiogenomic explainable AI with neural ordinary differential equation for identifying post-SRS brain metastasis radionecrosis.

Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is widely used for managing brain metastases (BMs), but an adverse effect, radionecrosis, complicates post-SRS management. Differentiating radionecrosis from tumor recurrence non-invasively remains a major clinical challenge, as conventional imaging techniques often necessitate surgical biopsy for accurate diagnosis. Machine learning and deep learning models have shown potential in distinguishing radionecrosis from tumor recurrence.

EZH2 inhibition enhances the activity of Carboplatin in aggressive-variant prostate cancer cell lines.

Background: Aggressive Variant Prostate Cancers (AVPCs) are incurable malignancies. Platinum-based chemotherapies are used for the palliative treatment of AVPC. The Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) promotes prostate cancer progression histone H3 Lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3).

LONG-TERM PROGNOSIS OF NON-CELIAC ENTEROPATHIES AND A SCORE TO IDENTIFY PATIENTS WITH POOR OUTCOMES: A 30-YEAR MULTICENTER LONGITUDINAL STUDY.

Introduction: Long-term prognosis of non-celiac enteropathies (NCEs) is poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate long-term outcomes and develop a prognostic score for NCEs.

Methods: NCEs patients from an international multicenter cohort (4 Italian centers,1 UK, 1 French,1 Norwegian,1 USA,1 Indian) followed-up over 30 years were enrolled.

Cost-Utility Analysis of Non-Invasive Tests to Initiate Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.

Background Aims: Non-invasive tests (NITs), e.g. Fibrosis-4 Index (FIB-4) and vibration-controlled elastography (VCTE), have been used to identify metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) patients at high risks for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Associations between colonization with Helicobacter pylori and risk of gastrointestinal tract cancers: An umbrella review of meta-analyses.

Background: Several studies have investigated the association between Helicobacter pylori colonization and gastrointestinal malignancies. However, inconsistent results have been found, leaving no clear consensus.

Materials And Methods: Umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies aiming to understand the association between Helicobacter pylori colonization and gastrointestinal cancers in humans.

Transcriptome-Wide Association Study Identified Novel Blood Tissue Gene Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Risk.

Objective: A number of susceptibility genes in prostate tissue have been identified to be associated with prostate cancer (PCa) risk. However, the reported genes based on assessing prostate tissue could not fully explain PCa genetic susceptibility. It is believed that genes functioning in the immune system may fill in the gap of some missing heritability.