Patient perspective: Is intensive screening of women at high risk of breast cancer evidence-based medicine or ?

In 2023, a breast cancer risk assessment and a subsequent positive test for the BRCA-2 genetic mutation brought me to the uncomfortable intersection of a longstanding career as an advocate for high-quality medical evidence to support shared patient-provider decision making and a new role as a high-risk patient. My search for studies of available risk-management options revealed that the most commonly recommended approach for women with a ⩾20% lifetime breast cancer risk, intensive screening including annual mammography and/or magnetic resonance imaging beginning at age 25-40 years, was supported only by cancer-detection statistics, with almost no evidence on patient-centered outcomes-mortality, physical and psychological morbidity, or quality of life-compared with standard screening or a surgical alternative, bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy. In this commentary, I explore parallels between the use of the intensive screening protocol and another longstanding women's health recommendation based on limited evidence, the use of hormone therapy (HT) for postmenopausal chronic disease prevention, which was sharply curtailed after the publication of the groundbreaking Women's Health Initiative trial in 2002.

Complete genome sequence of bacteriophage Godfather isolated from .

Microbacteriophage Godfather was collected from a soil sample in Stephenville, Texas. The 17,452-bp double-stranded genome contains 24 protein-coding genes. The genome shares >99% nucleotide sequence identity with cluster EE microbacteriophages Scamander, Danno, Kojax4, and Burgy.

Comparing field and lab quantitative stable isotope probing for nitrogen assimilation in soil microbes.

Unlabelled: Soil microbial communities play crucial roles in nutrient cycling and can help retain nitrogen in agricultural soils. Quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) is a useful method for investigating taxon-specific microbial growth and utilization of specific nutrients, such as nitrogen (N). Typically, qSIP is performed in a highly controlled lab setting, so the field relevance of lab qSIP studies remains unknown.

Leveraging Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF) for community impact: what have we learned about how to make a difference.

Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF) practitioners are increasingly engaged in projects meant to centre underserved communities and reduce inequities. The subdiscipline of E/HF that has emerged to explore the application of E/HF in this way is called community ergonomics. In this qualitative-descriptive study, we reflect on the progress made in the field of community ergonomics since its original conceptualisation in 1994.

Supporting community translation of lung cancer screening: A web-based decision aid to support informed decision making.

Background: Results of the National Lung Screening Trial create the potential to reduce lung cancer mortality, but community translation of lung cancer screening (LCS) has been challenging. Subsequent policies have endorsed informed and shared decision-making and using decision support tools to support person-centered choices about screening to facilitate implementation. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of LuCaS CHOICES, a web-based decision aid to support delivery of accurate information, facilitate communication skill development, and clarify personal preferences regarding LCS-a key component of high-quality LCS implementation.

Use of nicotine vaping products during an attempt to quit smoking by Canadian adults who smoke or recently quit: findings from the 2022 Canada International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey.

An analysis of 1771 Canadian adults who smoke or used to smoke cigarettes was conducted using data from the 2022 International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey. Using weighted data, we estimated the prevalence of Canadian adults who tried to quit smoking between 2020 and 2022, and the use of a nicotine vaping product (NVP) and the flavours and devices used most often at their most recent quit attempt. Overall, 36.

Predictions of adolescents' responses to the Youth Self-Report from parental attachment interviews collected during pregnancy: a 17-year longitudinal study.

This study investigated the influence of parents' Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) responses prior to the birth of a first child, on self-reported mental health symptoms of the first-born child in mid-adolescence. The sample comprised 51 first-born children aged 16 years, their mothers and fathers from a low-risk community urban sample, White, British and 70% middle class. AMothers' responses to the AAI were the strongest predictor of their adolescent children's self-reported mental health symptoms.

Body Temperature Regulation in Domestic Dogs After Agility Trials: The Effects of Season, Training, Body Characteristics, Age, and Genetics.

An animal's body mass is said to be indirectly related to its rate of heat loss; that is, smaller animals with higher surface area to volume tend to lose heat faster than larger animals. Thus, thermoregulation should be related to body size, however, generalizable patterns are still unclear. Domestic dogs are a diverse species of endothermic mammals, including a 44-fold difference in body size.

Sleep and breathing in children with Joubert syndrome and a review of other rare congenital hindbrain malformations.

Background: Joubert syndrome (JS) is an autosomal recessive disorder with a distinctive mid-hindbrain malformation known as the "molar tooth sign" which involves the breathing control center and its connections with other structures. Literature has reported significant respiratory abnormalities which included hyperpnea interspersed with apneic episodes during wakefulness. Larger-scale studies looking at polysomnographic findings or subjective reports of sleep problems in this population have not yet been published.

Muscle and Metabolic Genes Are Differentially Expressed During Thermal Acclimation by the Brook Trout Myotome.

Cold-water fishes, such as Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), are being challenged by the consequences of climate change. The ability of these fish to acclimate to warmer environmental conditions is vital to their survival. Acclimation to warmer water may allow brook trout to reduce the metabolic costs of higher temperatures.

Cancer statistics, 2025.

Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in the United States and compiles the most recent data on population-based cancer occurrence and outcomes using incidence data collected by central cancer registries (through 2021) and mortality data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (through 2022). In 2025, 2,041,910 new cancer cases and 618,120 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States. The cancer mortality rate continued to decline through 2022, averting nearly 4.

BMP and STRA8 act collaboratively to ensure correct mitotic-to-meiotic transition in the fetal mouse ovary.

A successful mitosis-to-meiosis transition in germ cells is essential for fertility in sexually reproducing organisms. In mice and humans, it is established that expression of STRA8 is critical for meiotic onset in both sexes. Here we show that BMP signalling is also essential, not for STRA8 induction but for correct meiotic progression in female mouse fetal germ cells.

Ecological Drivers of Evolution of Swine Influenza in the United States: A Review.

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose a major public health threat due to their wide host range and pandemic potential. Pigs have been proposed as "mixing vessels" for avian, swine, and human IAVs, significantly contributing to influenza ecology. In the United States, IAVs are enzootic in commercial swine farming operations, with numerous genetic and antigenic IAV variants having emerged in the past two decades.

Knowledge of Mandatory Reporting Laws and Recording of Clients' Abuse Data: Effects of a Sexual Health Curriculum Training for Health Students in Tanzania.

Tanzania mandated reporting laws aim to identify and address child abuse, yet healthcare students' awareness and reporting are limited. This study assessed training's impact on their knowledge of reporting laws and handling confidential child abuse data. The study involved 412 medical and nursing students in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), with 206 participants receiving sexual health training and a waitlist control group of equal size receiving no intervention.

'Why Did They Migrate Here'?: A Qualitative Descriptive Study Exploring Nurses' Motivations for Migration and Regional Relocation.

Aim: To explore migrant nurses' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for migration and regional relocation.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 17 migrant nurses working in a hospital in regional Australia.

Open-label, phase Ia study of STING agonist BI 1703880 plus ezabenlimab for patients with advanced solid tumors.

BI 1703880, a novel STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) agonist, has demonstrated preclinical antitumor activity. As STING activation can upregulate programmed death ligand 1 and human leukocyte antigen in tumor cells, a combination of BI 1703880 and an anti-programmed cell death protein 1-antibody, such as ezabenlimab, may improve efficacy. This first-in-human phase Ia study (NCT05471856) is evaluating BI 1703880 plus ezabenlimab in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of catatonia in a patient with Budd Chiari syndrome: a case report.

Catatonia may manifest as an independent entity or as a feature of a neuropsychiatric or medical illness. While electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the gold standard treatment for catatonia, it is typically administered if the patient's symptoms fail to respond to benzodiazepines. We describe the case of a 22-year-old male with Budd Chiari induced cirrhosis and no prior psychiatric history, who presented with symptoms of psychosis and hepatic encephalopathy, was treated in the ICU for multi-factorial delirium, developed symptoms of catatonia that failed to respond to lorazepam, ultimately requiring ECT with a favorable response.

Olaparib as treatment for platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer by BRCA mutation and homologous recombination deficiency: Phase 2 LIGHT study final overall survival analysis.

Background: LIGHT (oLaparib In HRD-Grouped Tumor types; NCT02983799) prospectively evaluated olaparib treatment in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer (PSROC) assigned to cohorts by known BRCA mutation (BRCAm) and homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) status: germline BRCAm (gBRCAm), somatic BRCAm (sBRCAm), HRD-positive non-BRCAm, and HRD-negative. At the primary analysis, olaparib treatment demonstrated activity across all cohorts, with greatest efficacy in terms of objective response rate and progression-free survival observed in the g/sBRCAm cohorts. The authors report final overall survival (OS).

Utilization of the QuPath open-source software platform for analysis of mammalian spermatogenesis.

The adult mammalian testis is filled with seminiferous tubules, which contain somatic Sertoli cells along with germ cells undergoing all phases of spermatogenesis. During spermatogenesis in postnatal mice, male germ cells undergo at least 17 different nomenclature changes as they proceed through mitosis as spermatogonia (=8), meiosis as spermatocytes (=6), and spermiogenesis as spermatids (=3) [1-6]. Adding to this complexity, combinations of germ cells at each of these stages of development are clumped together along the length of the seminiferous tubules.