Increasing prevalence of gonorrhoea and chlamydia among female sex workers in northern Sydney, 2005-2019.

Background: Recent reports indicate increasing gonorrhoea and chlamydia among female sex workers (FSWs) in Australia, with decreasing condom use for oral sex.

Methods: We determined trends in prevalence and positivity of gonorrhoea and chlamydia among FSWs attending our clinic from 2005 to 2019, by analysing data from medical and pathology records. We conducted a sensitivity analysis by using an alternative prevalence definition of first test result only per calendar year.

Re-Shaping the Pancreatic Cancer Tumor Microenvironment: A New Role for the Metastasis Suppressor NDRG1.

Pancreatic cancer (PaC) is a highly aggressive disease, with poor response to current treatments and 5-year survival rates of 10-15%. PaC progression is facilitated by its interaction with the complex and multifaceted tumor microenvironment (TME). In the TME, cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells constantly communicate with each other via the secretion and uptake of factors including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, metabolites, and extracellular vesicles (EVs), reshaping the landscape of PaC.

Mast cell activation and degranulation in acute artery injury: A target for post-operative therapy.

The increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has led to a significant ongoing need to address this surgically through coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). From this, there continues to be a substantial burden of mortality and morbidity due to complications arising from endothelial damage, resulting in restenosis. Whilst mast cells (MC) have been shown to have a causative role in atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases, including restenosis due to vein engraftment; here, we demonstrate their rapid response to arterial wire injury, recapitulating the endothelial damage seen in PCI procedures.

Breast cancer screening participation in women using mental health services in NSW, Australia: a population study.

Purpose: Population screening programs have contributed to reduced breast cancer mortality, but disadvantaged or vulnerable groups may not have shared these improvements. In North American and European studies, women living with mental health conditions have reduced breast screening rates. There are no current Australasian data to support health system planning and improvement strategies.

More than just body mass index: Using the Edmonton obesity staging system for pediatrics to define obesity severity in a multi-ethnic Australian pediatric clinical cohort.

Background: Despite advancements in the use of body mass index (BMI) to categorize obesity severity in pediatrics, its utility in guiding individual clinical decision making remains limited. The Edmonton Obesity Staging System for Pediatrics (EOSS-P) provides a way to categorize the medical and functional impacts of obesity according to the severity of impairment. The aim of this study was to describe the severity of obesity among a sample of multicultural Australian children using both BMI and EOSS-P tools.

Once-daily roflumilast foam 0.3% for scalp and body psoriasis: a randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled phase IIb study.

Background: Scalp psoriasis affects most patients with psoriasis, but it can be difficult to treat.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of once-daily roflumilast foam 0.3% on scalp and body psoriasis.

Evaluation of testosterone, estradiol and progesterone immunoassay calibrators by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.

Objectives: In clinical practice, steroid measurements are performed mainly by direct, non-extraction immunoassays adapted to high throughput, automated immunoassay platforms and employing secondary calibrators. The accuracy of such steroid immunoassays is limited by cross-reactivity with structurally related steroids and nonspecific matrix interference as well as the metrological traceability of manufacturer supplied calibrators. The accuracy of steroid immunoassay calibrators has been little investigated by independent chemical methods.

Student drinking cultures in tertiary education residential accommodation: A contextual research study.

In Australia, harmful drinking among students aged 18-24 years in tertiary education residential accommodation (TRA) remains high, placing students at higher risk of harms than non-TRA and university peers. The aim of this study was to identify the context-specific factors distinctive to TRAs that supported a heavy drinking culture among students. Conducted across three sites in Melbourne, Australia, the purpose of the study was to inform the development of context-specific harm reduction interventions for these sites.

Innovative thiosemicarbazones that induce multi-modal mechanisms to down-regulate estrogen-, progesterone-, androgen- and prolactin-receptors in breast cancer.

The estrogen receptor-α (ER-α) is a key driver of breast cancer (BC) and the ER-antagonist, tamoxifen, is a central pillar of BC treatment. However, cross-talk between ER-α, other hormone and growth factor receptors enables development of de novo resistance to tamoxifen. Herein, we mechanistically dissect the activity of a new class of anti-cancer agents that inhibit multiple growth factor receptors and down-stream signaling for the treatment of ER-positive BC.

Implementation of Australia's primary human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical screening program: The STakeholders Opinions of Renewal Implementation and Experiences Study.

In this study, we aimed to document stakeholders' experiences of implementing Australia's renewed National Cervical Screening Program. In December 2017, the program changed from 2nd yearly cytology for 20-69 year olds to 5 yearly human papillomavirus (HPV) screening for women 25-74 years. We undertook semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders including government, program administrators, register staff, clinicians and health care workers, non-government organisations, professional bodies, and pathology laboratories from across Australia between Nov 2018 - Aug 2019.

Real-world tolerance and outcomes of oxaliplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer-Does dose intensity matter?

Introduction: Fluoropyrimidine and oxaliplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy delivered as 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX), or capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CAPOX) is the standard of care for resected stage III colon cancer. Without randomized trial data, we compared real-world dose intensity, survival outcomes, and tolerability of these regimens.

Methods: Records of patients treated with FOLFOX or CAPOX in the adjuvant setting for stage III colon cancer across four institutions in Sydney during 2006-2016 were reviewed.

Dental Infection Requiring Hospitalisation Is a Public Health Problem in Australia: A Systematic Review Demonstrating an Urgent Need for Published Data.

: The aim of this systematic review was to analyse the published literature on dental infections leading to hospitalisations in Australia. It was hoped that understanding the patterns and trends would form a basis for improved preventive and management policies. An electronic search was performed using Web of Science, Medline via Ovid and Google Scholar.

Polygenic risk scores point toward potential genetic mechanisms of type 2 myocardial infarction in people with HIV.

Background: People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (PWH) are at higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) than those without HIV. About half of MIs in PWH are type 2 (T2MI), resulting from mismatch between myocardial oxygen supply and demand, in contrast to type 1 MI (T1MI), which is due to primary plaque rupture or coronary thrombosis. Despite worse survival and rising incidence in the general population, evidence-based treatment recommendations for T2MI are lacking.

A novel echocardiographic risk score for light-chain amyloidosis.

Aims: The prognosis of light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, a plasma cell dyscrasia, is largely determined by the presence of cardiac involvement. Conventional staging is achieved using cardiac biomarkers (high-sensitivity troponin, -terminal pro-beta natriuretic peptide) and free light-chain difference (Mayo staging). We sought to evaluate the role of echocardiographic parameters as prognostic markers in AL amyloidosis and examine their utility compared with conventional staging.

Background incidence rates of selected adverse events of special interest (AESI) to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

Background: Determining background rates of medical conditions identified as adverse events of special interest (AESI) that may occur following COVID-19 vaccination is important for contextualising and investigating potential vaccine safety signals.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using linked emergency department, hospitalisation and death data for 2017 and 2018 from Australia's most populous state, New South Wales. Incident cases of select neurological conditions, arterial or venous thromboembolic conditions, secondary thrombocytopenia, myocarditis/pericarditis, and unique events of anaphylaxis and generalised convulsions were identified using internationally agreed upon diagnostic (ICD-10) codes.

CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, a 2023 perspective.

CDK4/6 inhibitors have become game-changers in the treatment of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, and in combination with endocrine therapy are the standard of care first-line treatment for ER+/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. Although CDK4/6 inhibitors prolong survival for these patients, resistance is inevitable and there is currently no clear standard next-line treatment. There is an urgent unmet need to dissect the mechanisms which drive intrinsic and acquired resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors and endocrine therapy to guide the subsequent therapeutic decisions.

Analysis of Part 1 of the latest Austroads Guidelines, June 2022.

The Austroads Fitness to Drive Guidelines were updated in 2022. Most of the focus to date has been on Part 2 of the Guidelines, which provide guidance as to specific medical conditions. Less attention has been paid to Part 1 of the Guidelines, which cover a medical practitioner's ethical and legal obligations.

"What do I think about implementing lung cancer screening? It all depends on how." Acceptability and feasibility of lung cancer screening in Australia: The view of key stakeholders about health system factors.

Background: Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death worldwide. Although international trials demonstrate that targeted screening using low dose computed tomography (LDCT) significantly reduces lung cancer mortality, implementation of screening in the high-risk population presents complex health system challenges that need to be thoroughly understood to support policy change.

Aim: To elicit health care providers' and policymakers' views about the acceptability and feasibility of lung cancer screening (LCS) and barriers and enablers to implementation in the Australian setting.

Vaccine-preventable hospitalisations in adult mental health service users: a population study.

Background: Vaccine-preventable conditions cause preventable illness and may increase mortality in people living with mental illness. We examined how risks of hospitalisation for a wide range of vaccine-preventable conditions varied by age and sex among mental health (MH) service users.

Methods: Linked population data from New South Wales (NSW), Australia were used to identify vaccine-preventable hospitalisations (VPH) for 19 conditions from 2015 to 2020.