Vaccines for cancer prevention: exploring opportunities and navigating challenges.

Improved understanding of cancer immunology has gradually brought increasing attention towards cancer-preventive vaccines as an important tool in the fight against cancer. The aim of this approach is to reduce cancer occurrence by inducing a specific immune response targeting tumours at an early stage before they can fully develop. The great advantage of preventive cancer vaccines lies in the potential to harness a less-compromised immune system in vaccine recipients before their immune responses become affected by the advanced status of the disease itself or by aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy.

Hydrotherapy after Rotator Cuff Repair Improves Short-Term Functional Results Compared with Land-Based Rehabilitation When the Immobilization Period Is Longer.

The evidence of hydrotherapy after rotator cuff repair (RCR) is limited as most studies either used it as an adjuvant to standard land-based therapy, or have different initiation timing. This study aimed to compare hydrotherapy and land-based therapy with varying immobilization time. Patients who underwent RCR with a 10-days or 1-month immobilization duration (early or late rehabilitation) were prospectively randomized.

Impact of Pharmaceutical Interventions with STOPP/START and PIM-Check in Older Hospitalized Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Pharmaceutical interventions can reduce negative outcomes related to potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs).

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the impact of interventions on the reduction of PIPs and on different clinical outcomes using two electronic explicit tools.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in patients hospitalized between 2018 and 2019 at the Acute Care for Elders unit at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland.

ESTRO ACROP guidelines for the delineation of lymph nodal areas in upper gastrointestinal malignancies.

The European SocieTy for Radiation and Oncology -Advisory Committee on Radiation Oncology Practice (ESTRO-ACROP) endorsed a project to provide guidelines (GL) for the identification and delineation of clinically negative lymph-nodal stations (LNs) involved in upper gastrointestinal clinical scenarios. The presented GL is focused on preoperative (or definitive) setting. The project aim is to improve the consistency of clinical target volume (CTV) delineation by providing: a description of the anatomical boundaries of the LNs; a radiological computed tomography-based atlas depicting the LNs areas; a free, web-based, interactive example case for independent training of radiation oncologists on LNs delineation according to the presented GL, by both qualitative and quantitative analysis (through the FALCON EduCase platform).

Ability to detect potentially inappropriate prescribing in older patients: comparative analysis between PIM-Check and STOPP/STARTv2.

Purpose: Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) is a source of preventable adverse drug events. The objective of this study was a comparative analysis (quantitative and qualitative) between two tools used to detect PIP, PIM-Check and STOPP/START.

Methods: First, a qualitative analysis (QAC) was conducted to evaluate the concordance between the criteria, which constitute PIM-Check and the gold standard STOPP/START.

Vaccination for quality of life: herpes-zoster vaccines.

Current vaccination policy in most high-income countries aims to counteract the decline in cell-mediated immunity to varicella zoster virus that occurs with advancing age or immunosuppression. The aim of this review was to describe the burden of illness associated with herpes zoster (HZ) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) risks and their impact on the social and common life in infected people. The effectiveness/efficacy and cost effectiveness of the immunization strategy will be presented through the review of the literature relevant to the live attenuated HZ vaccine (ZLV) licensed in 2006 and the recombinant HZ vaccine (RZV).

Pooled Analysis of external-beam RADiotherapy parameters in phase II and phase III trials in radiochemotherapy in Anal Cancer (PARADAC).

Purpose: Concomitant external-beam radiochemotherapy (5-fluorouracil-mitomycin C) has become the standard of care in anal cancer since the '90s. A pooled analysis of individual patient data from 7 major trials was performed quantifying the effect of radiation therapy (RT)-related parameters on the outcome of patients with anal cancer.

Materials And Methods: Pooling databases from combined modality trials, the impact of RT parameters (total dose, gap duration, OTT: overall treatment time) on outcome including locoregional failure (LRF), 5-year progression free survival (PFS) and toxicities were investigated.

Postmastectomy radiotherapy in T1-2 patients with one to three positive lymph nodes - Past, present and future.

PAST: The role of post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in patients with tumor <5 cm and one to three positive lymph nodes after axillary dissection (ALND) is vigorously debated. Initial doubts over the efficacy and safety of PMRT in these patients were partially overcome by improvement in technology and systemic treatments. Several randomized controlled clinical trials confirmed benefit of PMRT in N1 patients, which were meta-analyzed by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG).

Precision medicine for early breast cancer radiotherapy: Opening up new horizons?

So far most efforts put forth to test the value of predictive and prognostic tools in the field of breast radiotherapy remained globally disappointing, or at least below the convincing levels reached for systemic therapy. Nevertheless the addition of predictive tools to the clinical armament tends to prevail over the use of the sole prognostic factors, also in radiotherapy. A number of predictive assays, clinically validated or not, have recently elicited significant associations between molecular profiles and tumor biological aggressiveness and/or radiosensitivity levels.

The role of postoperative chemoradiation for oropharynx carcinoma: A critical appraisal revisited.

A recent review in this Journal, which criticizes NCCN’s recommendations based, in part, on the RTOG 9501 and the EORTC 22931 trials, warrants comment. We herein provide additional data addressing many of the points and misinterpretations raised in that review which convincingly supports the use of concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy in patients with good performance status and high-risk pathologic features after surgery for mucosal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Memory Profiles after Unilateral Paramedian Thalamic Stroke Infarction: A Comparative Study.

We performed extensive neuropsychological assessment of two male patients (matched for age and educational level) with similar (localization and size) unilateral paramedian ischemic thalamic lesions (AB on the left and SD on the right). Both patients showed severe memory impairments as well as other cognitive deficits. In comparison to SD, AB showed severe impairment of executive functions and a more severe deficit of episodic/anterograde memory, especially in the verbal modality.

Sepsis in head and neck cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation: Literature review and consensus.

The reporting of infection/sepsis in chemo/radiation-treated head and neck cancer patients is sparse and the problem is underestimated. A multidisciplinary group of head and neck cancer specialists from Italy met with the aim of reaching a consensus on a clinical definition and management of infections and sepsis. The Delphi appropriateness method was used for this consensus.

Renal effects of molecular targeted therapies in oncology: a review by the Cancer and the Kidney International Network (C-KIN).

A number of cancer therapy agents are cleared by the kidney and may affect renal function, including cytotoxic chemotherapy agents, molecular targeted therapies, analgesics, antibiotics, radiopharmaceuticals and radiation therapy, and bone-targeted therapies. Many of these agents can be nephrotoxic, including targeted cancer therapies. The incidence, severity, and pattern of renal toxicities may vary according to the respective target of the drug.

Hysteria around the world.

In the 20th century the term hysteria declined and the interest in the hysteria-related diseases decreased in comparison to the florid period of studies that was inspired by Charcot's legacy in the second half of the 19th century. Scientific interest has once again increased in the 21st century, and dissociative and somatoform disorders (previously indicated as hysteria or hysterical neurosis) have come to be regarded as conditions that are known to be much more prevalent than formerly estimated. Available current epidemiological data from several countries on different continents (adopting DSM criteria for diagnosis) suggest not only that the prevalence is probably similar, but also that there is a consistency in their clinical manifestation around the world and across different cultures, social classes, and institutional settings.

The achromatic 'philosophical zombie', a syndrome of cerebral achromatopsia with color anopsognosia.

We describe a patient with persistent cerebral achromatopsia occurring after bilateral occipital strokes. Blinded color recognition was assessed with a computerized experimental paradigm and the patient reported the degree of confidence in the response exactness on a visual percent scale. Color recognition was accurate and above chance (Fisher's exact test, p < 0.

Alcoholism between Fiction and Reality.

Alcoholism has always been emphasized in literature, narratives, and theater as its prevalence and related disability are very high, is found throughout the world, and affects women and men of all ages and social classes. There is a tragic or romantic fascination in the deep sense of personal failure that drinking is able to relieve and in the uncontrollable inability to stop drinking. These aspects have been portrayed well by fictional alcoholics in movies and novels.