Cell-Free Carbonic Anhydrase IX mRNA in Urine as Biomarker for Urogenital Cancers: The Relationship Between Urinary Extracellular RNA and Tumor-Cell-Associated RNA.

Circulating tumor cells and cell-free nucleic acids are novel diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tools for non-invasive and cost-effective cancer detection in liquid biopsy. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) has been proposed as a biomarker in urogenital tumors and urine sediment. Our aim was to evaluate CAIX full-length percentage (CAIX FL%) in urine-cell-free RNA (cfRNA) and its relationship with tumor-cell-associated RNA (TC-RNA).

Sex-Dependent Efficacy of Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor Agonist FTY720 in Mitigating Huntington's Disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by severe motor deficits, cognitive decline and psychiatric disturbances. An early and significant morphological hallmark of HD is the activation of astrocytes triggered by mutant huntingtin, leading to the release of inflammatory mediators. Fingolimod (FTY), an FDA-approved sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist is used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory disease, and has shown therapeutic promise in other neurological conditions.

Implementation of Regular Lifestyle Counseling During Long-Term Follow-Up Care of Childhood Cancer Survivors: Monocentric Prospective Study.

Background: Many childhood cancer survivors (CCS) develop treatment-related late effects, including an increased risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome. A healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of associated comorbidities. Therefore, at-risk CCS could benefit from lifestyle counseling during regular long-term follow-up (LTFU).

A multisite validation of brain white matter pathways of resilience to chronic back pain.

Chronic back pain (CBP) is a global health concern with significant societal and economic burden. While various predictors of back pain chronicity have been proposed, including demographic and psychosocial factors, neuroimaging studies have pointed to brain characteristics as predictors of CBP. However, large-scale, multisite validation of these predictors is currently lacking.

Development and evaluation of deuterated [F]JHU94620 isotopologues for the non-invasive assessment of the cannabinoid type 2 receptor in brain.

Background: The cannabinoid type 2 receptors (CB2R) represent a target of increasing importance in neuroimaging due to its upregulation under various neuropathological conditions. Previous evaluation of [F]JHU94620 for the non-invasive assessment of the CB2R availability by positron emission tomography (PET) revealed favourable binding properties and brain uptake, however rapid metabolism, and generation of brain-penetrating radiometabolites have been its main limitations. To reduce the bias of CB2R quantification by blood-brain barrier (BBB)-penetrating radiometabolites, we aimed to improve the metabolic stability by developing -d and -d deuterated isotopologues of [F]JHU94620.

Feasibility study of using next-generation reservoir computing (NG-RC) model to estimate liver tumor motion from external breathing signals.

Background: Respiratory motion is a challenge for accurate radiotherapy that may be mitigated by real-time tracking. Commercial tracking systems utilize a hybrid external-internal correlation model (ECM), integrating continuous external breathing monitoring with sparse X-ray imaging of the internal tumor position.

Purpose: This study investigates the feasibility of using the next generation reservoir computing (NG-RC) model as a hybrid ECM to transform measured external motions into estimated 3D internal motions.

Update vulval dermatology - diagnostics and therapy.

The vulva is a periorificial skin area and as such represents a transitional zone with unique functional and physiological characteristics. Knowledge of its anatomy is limited among both the general population and healthcare professionals, and unrealistic expectations of normal proportions are common. Ignorance of anatomical variations can cause unnecessary anxiety.

Impact of drug-resistant tuberculosis on socio-economic status, quality of life and psychological well-being of patients in Bucharest, Romania: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health challenge, with 1.3 million deaths in 2022. Ten countries in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) accounted for 88.

Single-cell RNA seq-derived signatures define response patterns to atezolizumab + bevacizumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: The combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab (atezo+bev) is the current standard of care for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), providing a median overall survival (OS) of 19.2 months. Here, we aim to uncover the underlying cellular processes driving clinical benefit versus resistance to atezo+bev.

cfDNA UniFlow: a unified preprocessing pipeline for cell-free DNA data from liquid biopsies.

Background: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA), a broadly applicable biomarker commonly sourced from urine or blood, is extensively used for research and diagnostic applications. In various settings, genetic and epigenetic information is derived from cfDNA. However, a unified framework for its processing is lacking, limiting the universal application of innovative analysis strategies and the joining of data sets.

Machine learning models for diagnosis and risk prediction in eating disorders, depression, and alcohol use disorder.

Background: Early diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses is hampered by the lack of reliable markers. This study used machine learning models to uncover diagnostic and risk prediction markers for eating disorders (EDs), major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods: Case-control samples (aged 18-25 years), including participants with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN), MDD, AUD, and matched controls, were used for diagnostic classification.

Prevalence and solving strategies of drug-related problems in adult psychiatric inpatients - a systematic review.

Introduction: Most psychiatric inpatients receive psychopharmacological treatment indicated for their mental diseases. The aim of this systematic review is to give clinical pharmacists and physicians a comprehensive summary of common drug-related problems (DRPs) in adult psychiatric inpatients and of potential interventions to solve them in clinical practice.

Methods: Six databases and registers were searched for English, German and French articles published between 1999 and 2023 with content regarding the prevalence and/or type or interventions to solve DRPs in adult psychiatric inpatients.

Core outcome set of daily monitoring of gastrointestinal function in adult critically ill patients: a modified Delphi consensus process (COSMOGI).

Purpose: Gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction is common in critically ill patients and associated with poor outcomes. There is a lack of standardised methods for daily monitoring of GI function. COSMOGI aimed to develop a Core Outcome Set (COS) for daily monitoring of GI function to improve consistency and comparability in future studies in critically ill patients.

Artificial intelligence in surgical pathology - Where do we stand, where do we go?

Surgical and neuropathologists continuously search for new and disease-specific features, such as independent predictors of tumor prognosis or determinants of tumor entities and sub-entities. This is a task where artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) systems could significantly contribute to help with tumor outcome prediction and the search for new diagnostic or treatment stratification biomarkers. AI systems are increasingly integrated into routine pathology workflows to improve accuracy, reproducibility, productivity and to reveal difficult-to-see features in complicated histological slides, including the quantification of important markers for tumor grading and staging.

Anaesthesia practice in Europe: A survey of the National Anaesthesiologists Societies Committee of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care.

Background: Similar to other continents, Europe is experiencing a shortage of anaesthesia workforce, which profoundly impacts the national healthcare systems of affected countries.

Objective: To assess the current landscape of the anaesthesia workforce, organisational practices, rules and responsibilities of anaesthesiologists and other anaesthesia providers in operating rooms.

Design: Survey.

Nutritional Gender-Specific Differences in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Treated with (Chemo)Radiotherapy: Results from a Prospective Trial.

: This analysis aims to evaluate gender-specific differences in nutritional status, body weight changes, and their impact on overall survival (OS) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing (chemo)radiotherapy (CRT). : Between 2018 and 2020, 61 HNC (17 female and 44 male) patients were prospectively recruited to receive curative (chemo)radiotherapy. Nutritional assessments included dietary questionnaire screenings and records, anthropometric methods (body mass index, BMI, body composition via bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)), and the determination of biomarkers like albumin and CRP.

An Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach of Environmental Triggers in the Role of Daily Affect, Rumination, and Movement Patterns in Early Alcohol Use Among Healthy Adolescents: Exploratory Study.

Background: Adolescence is a period characterized by an increased susceptibility to developing risky alcohol consumption habits. This susceptibility can be influenced by social and situational factors encountered in daily life, which, in conjunction with emotions and thoughts, contribute to behavioral patterns related to alcohol use even in the early stages of alcohol experimentation, when initial experiences with alcohol are formed, and regular consumption is still evolving.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between detailed behavioral and movement patterns, along with emotional and cognitive factors, and the early onset of alcohol use in the everyday lives of adolescents.

Straight and helical plating with locking plates for proximal humeral shaft fractures - a biomechanical comparison under physiological load conditions.

Objectives: Helical plating is an established method for treating proximal humeral shaft fractures, mitigating the risk of iatrogenic radial nerve damage. However, biomechanical test data on helical plates under physiological load condition is limited. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical performance of helical and straight PHILOS Long plates in AO12C2 fractures using static and cyclic implant system testing.

Axillary Surgery in Breast Cancer - Primary Results of the INSEMA Trial.

Background: Whether surgical axillary staging as part of breast-conserving therapy can be omitted without compromising survival has remained unclear.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized, noninferiority trial, we investigated the omission of axillary surgery as compared with sentinel-lymph-node biopsy in patients with clinically node-negative invasive breast cancer staged as T1 or T2 (tumor size, ≤5 cm) who were scheduled to undergo breast-conserving surgery. We report here the per-protocol analysis of invasive disease-free survival (the primary efficacy outcome).

LBFextract: Unveiling transcription factor dynamics from liquid biopsy data.

Motivation: The analysis of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) holds immense promise as a non-invasive diagnostic tool across various human conditions. However, extracting biological insights from cfDNA fragments entails navigating complex and diverse bioinformatics methods, encompassing not only DNA sequence variation, but also epigenetic characteristics like nucleosome footprints, fragment length, and methylation patterns.

Results: We introduce Liquid Biopsy Feature extract (LBFextract), a comprehensive package designed to streamline feature extraction from cfDNA sequencing data, with the aim of enhancing the reproducibility and comparability of liquid biopsy studies.

Sialylation inhibition improves macrophage mediated tumor cell phagocytosis of breast cancer cells triggered by therapeutic antibodies of different isotypes.

Tumor cell phagocytosis by macrophages is considered a relevant mechanism of action for many therapeutic IgG antibodies. However, tumor cells employ several mechanisms to evade immune recognition, including hypersialylation. Here, we describe how reduction of sialic acid exposure on tumor cells promotes antibody-dependent tumor cell phagocytosis (ADCP) by macrophages.

High interobserver variability of PTEN immunohistochemistry defining PTEN status in low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer: results of the first German ring trial.

The prognostication of individual disease trajectory and selection of optimal therapy in patients with localized, low-grade prostate cancer often presents significant difficulty. The phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome 10 (PTEN) has emerged as a potential novel biomarker in this clinical context, based on its demonstrated prognostic significance in multiple retrospective studies. Incorporation into standard clinical practice necessitates exceptional diagnostic accuracy, and PTEN's binary readout-retention or loss-suggests its suitability as a biomarker.

Endoscopic papillectomy versus surgical ampullectomy for adenomas and early cancers of the papilla: a retrospective Pancreas2000/European Pancreatic Club analysis.

Objective: Ampullary neoplastic lesions can be resected by endoscopic papillectomy (EP) or transduodenal surgical ampullectomy (TSA) while pancreaticoduodenectomy is reserved for more advanced lesions. We present the largest retrospective comparative study analysing EP and TSA.

Design: Of all patients in the database, lesions with prior interventions, benign histology advanced malignancy (T2 and more), patients with hereditary syndromes and those undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy were excluded.