Therapy Intensity Outweighs the Prognostic Importance of the Timing of Chemoradiotherapy in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients.

Background/aim: To investigate the significance of the timing of chemoradiotherapy together with clinical and laboratory features in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Patients And Methods: Clinical and laboratory parameters of 209 patients with glioblastoma potentially influencing overall (OS) and progression-free (PFS) survival were analyzed in univariable and multivariable models.

Results: On univariable analyses, Karnofsky performance status (p<0.

Changes in Bladder Volume During Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer.

Background/aim: Patients irradiated for prostate cancer may experience urinary toxicity, particularly if the bladder volume is small. A mobile application (app) that reminds the patients to drink water prior to each radiation fraction may help avoid small volumes. This study investigating bladder volumes during a radiotherapy course is a prerequisite for a prospective trial testing such a reminder app.

Safety and efficacy of conventional compared to segmented esophageal fully covered self-expanding metal stents: a retrospective multicenter case-control study.

Background: Segmented self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) are an alternative to conventional unsegmented SEMS in the treatment of esophageal strictures. Due to their segmented design, they may adapt better to the surrounding structures making them less likely to migrate or cause trauma. We examined if there are clinically relevant differences between segmented and conventional esophageal SEMS in benign and malignant stenosis in terms of their functionality and safety.

Long-term impact of maternal prenatal smoking on EEG brain activity and internalizing/externalizing problem symptoms in young adults.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of smoking during pregnancy on the development of the child. While previous research has established its detrimental effects during early childhood, understanding potential long-term consequences into adulthood remains limited. This study specifically aimed to explore the influence of prenatal smoking exposure on brain activity and whether internalizing and externalizing symptoms are influenced by prenatal smoking exposure in a cohort of young adults.

Retrospective Analysis of Clinicopathological Characteristics of Surgically Treated Basal Cell Carcinomas of the Face: A Single-Centre Maxillofacial Surgery Experience.

: Basal cell carcinoma is the most common nonmelanoma skin cancer, followed by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. The objective of the current study was to retrospectively evaluate the epidemiology, characteristic variations, histological aspects, and prognosis of basal cell carcinoma of the facial region based on a single-centre experience. : Data from 125 patients admitted to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Kiel, for surgical treatment of basal cell carcinomas of the face between January 2015 and April 2021 were evaluated.

Variation in moment-to-moment brain state engagement changes across development and contributes to individual differences in executive function.

Neural variability, or variation in brain signals, facilitates dynamic brain responses to ongoing demands. This flexibility is important during development from childhood to young adulthood, a period characterized by rapid changes in experience. However, little is known about how variability in the engagement of recurring brain states changes during development.

Computer-aided pattern scoring (C@PS): a novel cheminformatic workflow to predict ligands with rare modes-of-action.

The identification, establishment, and exploration of potential pharmacological drug targets are major steps of the drug development pipeline. Target validation requires diverse chemical tools that come with a spectrum of functionality, e.g.

ctDNA responds to neoadjuvant treatment in locally advanced rectal cancer.

Background: Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive procedure investigating tumor mutations.

Methods: In our retrospective study, we investigated whether molecular therapy monitoring of patients receiving neoadjuvant radio(chemo)therapy on a daily routine is possible in 17 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Six patients received short-course radiotherapy (5 × 5 Gy) with subsequent surgery, six patients were treated according RAPIDO protocol with short-course radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy (FOLFOX4) and subsequent surgery and five patients received conventional neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy with 5-FU followed by surgery.

CAR-T cells for the treatment of pediatric chronic myeloid leukemia in repeatedly relapsed lymphoid blast phase.

Chronic myeloid leukemia presenting de novo in the blast phase (CML-BP) is a rare diagnosis among pediatric malignancies. We report on a 16-year-old male who presented with CML-BP lymphoid at diagnosis. He was treated with shortened acute lymphoblastic leukemia induction plus the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib followed by dasatinib.

Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of subcutaneous efgartigimod in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (ADHERE): a multicentre, randomised-withdrawal, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial.

Background: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is an autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system that can lead to severe disability from muscle weakness and sensory disturbances. Around a third of patients do not respond to currently available treatments, and many patients with a partial response have residual neurological impairment, highlighting the need for effective alternatives. Efgartigimod alfa, a human IgG1 antibody Fc fragment, has demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis.

Focus on fungi.

Fungi play critical roles in the homeostasis of ecosystems globally and have emerged as significant causes of an expanding repertoire of devastating diseases in plants, animals, and humans. In this Commentary, we highlight the importance of fungal pathogens and argue for concerted research efforts to enhance understanding of fungal virulence, antifungal immunity, novel drug targets, antifungal resistance, and the mycobiota to improve human health.

Clinical Care for Cardiovascular Disease in Patients With Williams-Beuren Syndrome.

Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) is a congenital multisystem disorder affecting the cardiovascular, central nervous, and musculoskeletal systems. Cardiovascular abnormalities, which consist principally of vascular stenoses, occur in approximately 80% of people with WBS and are the predominant cause of early morbidity and mortality. Supravalvar aortic stenosis and peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis are the most common stenotic lesions in WBS, though other stenoses often occur, including stenoses of the coronary arteries.

Regional patterns of human cortex development correlate with underlying neurobiology.

Human brain morphology undergoes complex changes over the lifespan. Despite recent progress in tracking brain development via normative models, current knowledge of underlying biological mechanisms is highly limited. We demonstrate that human cortical thickness development and aging trajectories unfold along patterns of molecular and cellular brain organization, traceable from population-level to individual developmental trajectories.

Implementing stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation with STOPSTORM.eu consortium support: intermediate results of a prospective Israeli single-institutional trial.

Background: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a life-threatening arrhythmia originating from the heart's ventricles. Traditional treatments include antiarrhythmic medications, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), and catheter ablation. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) targeting the arrhythmogenic focus in the left ventricle-stereotactic arrhythmia radioablation (STAR)-is an emerging treatment and may offer a potential solution for patients with refractory VT.

Neural dynamics of pain modulation by emotional valence.

Definitions of human pain acknowledge at least two dimensions of pain, affective and sensory, described as separable and thus potentially differentially modifiable. Using electroencephalography, we investigated perceptual and neural changes of emotional pain modulation in healthy individuals. Painful electrical stimuli were applied after presentation of priming emotional pictures (negative, neutral, positive) and followed by pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings.

Effectiveness of structured, multidisciplinary long-term care for pediatric cancer survivors: protocol of the multicenter, randomized-controlled AELKI study.

Background: In Germany, around 2.250 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year. Despite generally positive long-term survival rates, many patients must cope with late effects of the disease and its treatment.

Self-supervised learning of wrist-worn daily living accelerometer data improves the automated detection of gait in older adults.

Progressive gait impairment is common among aging adults. Remote phenotyping of gait during daily living has the potential to quantify gait alterations and evaluate the effects of interventions that may prevent disability in the aging population. Here, we developed ElderNet, a self-supervised learning model for gait detection from wrist-worn accelerometer data.