Quality of life, healthcare usage and finances of UK cancer survivors five years post-diagnosis: a matched controlled study.

Purpose: Assessing the long-term impact of cancer on people's lives is challenging due to confounding issues such as aging and comorbidities. We aimed to investigate this impact by comparing the outcomes of cancer survivors with a matched control cohort.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of breast, colorectal and ovarian cancer survivors approximately 5 years post-diagnosis and a cohort of age, sex and social deprivation-matched controls who had never had a cancer diagnosis.

A systematic review of the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in surgery.

Background: Surgeons are likely to encounter patients on GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and should be aware of any associated risks or complications. Here we review the existing literature on GLP-1RA use as it pertains to non-bariatric surgeons.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA 2020 guidelines.

Corpus callosum granuloma after endovascular squid embolisation of a ruptured arteriovenous malformation.

A late adolescent patient was admitted after a collapse and was found to have an intracranial haemorrhage due to an underlying midline arteriovenous malformation (AVM). The patient underwent trans-arterial squid embolisation of the AVM with good radiological resolution. 18 months later, the patient presented with new onset headaches.

Rare genomic copy number variants implicate new candidate genes for bicuspid aortic valve.

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), the most common congenital heart defect, is a major cause of aortic valve disease requiring valve interventions and thoracic aortic aneurysms predisposing to acute aortic dissections. The spectrum of BAV ranges from early onset valve and aortic complications (EBAV) to sporadic late onset disease. Rare genomic copy number variants (CNVs) have previously been implicated in the development of BAV and thoracic aortic aneurysms.

Vaginal pessary: a culprit for intraperitoneal bladder perforation.

Vaginal pessaries are widely considered to be a safe and effective non-surgical management option for women with pelvic organ prolapse. Complications may occur, and are more frequent with improper care and certain device designs and materials. It is imperative to provide information to patients about potential complications.

Burden of adult-onset Still's disease: A systematic review of health-related quality of life, utilities, costs and resource use.

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) poses a not well estimated burden on patients and healthcare systems. To assess this burden, a systematic review (SR) was undertaken to identify health-related quality of life (HRQoL), utilities, costs and healthcare resource use data. Searches of twelve databases, four conferences, and three key technology assessment and regulatory agency websites were conducted in August 2022.

Cataloging Existing Hearing Loss Cohort Data to Guide the Development of Precision Medicine for Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review of Hearing Repositories.

Recent breakthroughs in our understanding of sensorineural hearing loss etiology have encouraged the identification of novel hearing therapeutics, paving the way for precision hearing medicine. Critical to this field is the curation of health resources on hearing data. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to map existing (inter)national and regional datasets that include hearing data to inform the development of future hearing repositories.

Investigation of the Incidence and Geographic Distribution of Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas in Canada: A National Population-Based Study.

Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal malignancies with various genetic and environmental risk factors. This study analyzed the epidemiology of sarcomas to gain insight into the incidence and mortality rates of these cancers in Canada, as well as to elucidate their potential environmental risk factors. Data for this study were obtained from le Registre Québécois du Cancer (LRQC) and from the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) for the period from 1992 to 2010.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy in microsatellite unstable colorectal cancer: Are we in the era of nonoperative management?

Microsatellite unstable (MSI-H) colorectal cancers (CRC) are the hallmark of Lynch Syndrome. Advances in immunotherapy have yielded a change in the treatment of those cancers. Recent publications about neoadjuvant immunotherapy in CRC are triggering a high interest to use under the umbrella of achieving a complete clinical response.

Pro- and anti-tumour activities of CD146/MCAM in breast cancer result from its heterogeneous expression and association with epithelial to mesenchymal transition.

CD146, also known as melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM), is expressed in numerous cancers and has been implicated in the regulation of metastasis. We show that CD146 negatively regulates transendothelial migration (TEM) in breast cancer. This inhibitory activity is reflected by a reduction in MCAM gene expression and increased promoter methylation in tumour tissue compared to normal breast tissue.

Pathway Of Low Anterior Resection syndrome relief after Surgery (POLARiS) feasibility trial protocol: a multicentre, feasibility cohort study with embedded randomised control trial to compare sacral neuromodulation and transanal irrigation to optimised conservative management in the management of major low anterior resection syndrome following rectal cancer treatment.

Introduction: Rectal cancer is common with a 60% 5-year survival rate. Treatment usually involves surgery with or without neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or adjuvant chemotherapy. Sphincter saving curative treatment can result in debilitating changes to bowel function known as low anterior resection syndrome (LARS).

Identifying the Transcriptional Drivers of Metastasis Embedded within Localized Melanoma.

Unlabelled: In melanoma, predicting which tumors will ultimately metastasize guides treatment decisions. Transcriptional signatures of primary tumors have been utilized to predict metastasis, but which among these are driver or passenger events remains unclear. We used data from the adjuvant AVAST-M trial to identify a predictive gene signature in localized tumors that ultimately metastasized.

Mutually exclusive genetic interactions and gene essentiality shape the genomic landscape of primary melanoma.

Melanoma is a heterogenous malignancy with an unpredictable clinical course. Most patients who present in the clinic are diagnosed with primary melanoma, yet large-scale sequencing efforts have focused primarily on metastatic disease. In this study we sequence-profiled 524 American Joint Committee on Cancer Stage I-III primary tumours.

The Grb2 splice variant, Grb3-3, is a negative regulator of RAS activation.

Activation of RAS is crucial in driving cellular outcomes including proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis via the MAPK pathway. This is initiated on recruitment of Grb2, as part of a Grb2-Sos complex, to an up-regulated receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), enabling subsequent interaction of Sos with the plasma membrane-localised RAS. Aberrant regulation at this convergence point for RTKs in MAPK signalling is a key driver of multiple cancers.

Childhood Obesity and Health Care Utilization: Empirical Evidence from Austrian Administrative Data.

Increases in pediatric obesity have been associated with higher levels of health care utilization. There is currently a lack of knowledge on the therapeutic drivers of increased health care use. To examine the association between different measures of health care utilization and BMI among children.

Developing a method to capture parental experience in a neonatal surgical centre in the context of COVID-19: a qualitative study.

Introduction: Improved parental experience is related to improved mental and physical health outcomes for the infant. The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly impacted on healthcare delivery and services need information to shape how to manage the disruption and recovery.

Methods: Our aim was to develop a systematic process to capture parents' experience of their neonatal surgical healthcare journey during the pandemic.

Paediatric gonad shielding in pelvic radiography: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: The British Institute of Radiology (BIR) and American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) have recommended that gonad shielding is no longer used during pelvic X-ray examinations. The BIR guidance states that shielding may still be considered for use on males, but should not be used on females. This paper aimed to evaluate if this decision was supported by evidence from practice, by comparing the accuracy of gonad shield placement in paediatric males and females.

Collection of cancer Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS) to link with primary and secondary electronic care records to understand and improve long term cancer outcomes: A protocol paper.

Introduction: More people are living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis. There is limited understanding of the long-term effects of cancer and cancer treatment on quality of life and personal and household finances when compared to people without cancer. In a separate protocol we have proposed to link de-identified data from electronic primary care and hospital records for a large population of cancer survivors and matched controls.

Tolosa-Hunt syndrome presenting with features of a trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias and pituitary enlargement.

Tolosa-Hunt syndrome is understood as a steroid-responsive, relapsing-remitting, unilateral headache disorder associated with ipsilateral cranial neuropathies, of a probable granulomatous aetiology. The diagnosis is made clinically from the history and examination, supported by appropriate imaging. Here the authors report a case of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome with a headache phenotype mimicking a trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (hemicrania continua), and serial MRI studies showing a stable enlarged pituitary.