OncoAlert’s Post

The QR4 algorithm, a novel risk assessment tool for predicting 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in both men and women, integrates data from nearly 10 million and 7 million UK adults for derivation and validation, respectively. Employing cause-specific Cox models, QR4 incorporates seven novel risk factors for both genders, including brain cancer, lung cancer, Down syndrome, blood cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, oral cancer, and learning disability, along with two additional factors specific to women: pre-eclampsia and postnatal depression. In external validation, QR4 exhibits superior predictive performance compared to QRISK3, with higher C-statistics for both genders, and outperforms international scoring systems such as ASCVD and SCORE2. Thus, QR4 introduces new risk groups and enhances CVD risk prediction, offering an advanced tool for clinicians in the UK. Source: Nature Medicine Julia Hippisley-Cox, Carol Coupland, Mona Bafadhel, Sir Aziz Sheikh, Peter Brindle & Keith Chanon 

In the face of the escalating #globalcancer burden, projected to reach 23.6 million cases by 2030, the urgency for evidence-based strategies is paramount. The Third Expert Report equips medical professionals, researchers, policymakers, and communities with the tools to proactively combat cancer. At #LDSPharma & #GMS in Pakistan, we're driven by passion to innovate in both cancer diagnosis and cost-effective treatment options. Our commitment aligns with the broader goal of strengthening public health policies, advancing education, and enhancing overall well-being. #Together, let's make a positive impact in the fight against #cancer.

The Cancer Burden is Expected to Increase to 23.6 million cases by 2030. (1 min read) please keep learning on how to REDUCE your chances of getting cancer. Nobody is absolutely Free of developing cancer, but becoming aware of all the things that could cause cancer and making adjustments about our life style and eating habits could potentially save our lives. Ignoring all the Cancer Prevention Reports puts you on a higher risk of one day developing cancer. There are many cancer researchers created in multi-disciplinary panels of independent reputable experts who systematically review decades of scientific studies and evaluate evidence from hundreds of studies. this new year 2024, I invite you to take time to become educated about cancer prevention and make a few health adjustments in your lifestyle that could be life saving. https://bit.ly/2DYwp7C

Fatigue in Cancer: Success in Preserving Quality of Life? Managing fatigue in cancer patients is a complex challenge that requires a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating medical treatment, psychological support, and lifestyle modifications. While there have been advances in understanding and managing cancer-related fatigue, preserving the quality of life for these patients remains an ongoing effort.

As the global cancer burden is expected to increase to 23.6 million cases by 2030, the need for authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on how to reduce risk becomes more and more critical. The Third Expert Report gives medical professionals, researchers, policymakers and communities the resources and information they need to take a proactive approach in the fight against cancer. This comprehensive collection of information and evidence can be used to drive stronger public health policies, advance public education and improve the public’s overall health. Read the report here: https://bit.ly/2DYwp7C

Staging definitions in cancer change over time as the science advances and our methods of detection improve. One issue this creates in clinical trials is that by changing how we define a stage of disease, we shift patients from one group to another, creating the "Will Rogers effect." This is because with improved testing, patients are generally moved from lower disease stages to higher disease stages. For example, more sensitive PET/CT techniques would allow us to detect more disease, and as a result, a stage III patient may be reclassified as a stage IV patient, and so on. These "new" stage IV patients are generally healthier than the old stage IV patients, which may cause the overall survival of that group to increase. It also increases the overall survival of stage III patients, because these would have been the least healthy stage III patients. This is one of the reasons why we shouldn't compare trials that are conducted years apart and use different staging systems. #clinicaltrials https://lnkd.in/eXjvkVdE

Innovative research led by researchers from Imperial College London, UCL’s Department of Computer Science and Microsoft suggests that search engine data could be a game-changer for early detection of gynaecological cancer, especially ovarian cancer.   Ovarian cancer is the most lethal type in gynaecology, the eighth most common cancer globally in women, and the 18th most common cancer overall, yet it lacks a comprehensive screening programme. The new study unveils the potential of online search behaviour as an early detection tool, months sooner than GP referrals.   Google data demonstrated changes in search activities as early as 360 days before a GP referral, with good prediction accuracy at around 60 days in advance. Furthermore, unique symptom search patterns surfaced among malignant and benign groups, shedding light on disease presentation. For example, an increase in urinary symptoms emerged 140 days before GP referral, while pelvic pain and bloating were noted 70 days in advance compared to the benign group.   The authors commented that the research may pave the way towards early detection tools, helping identify women at higher risk of ovarian cancer in particular.   Barcroft et al. Using online search activity for earlier detection of gynaecological malignancy. BMC Public Health 24, 608 (2024).   #medicalinnovation #ovariancancerawarenessmonth #HIPEC #CombatMedical

Innovative research led by researchers from Imperial College London, UCL’s Department of Computer Science and Microsoft suggests that search engine data could be a game-changer for early detection of gynaecological cancer, especially ovarian cancer.   Ovarian cancer is the most lethal type in gynaecology, the eighth most common cancer globally in women, and the 18th most common cancer overall, yet it lacks a comprehensive screening programme. The new study unveils the potential of online search behaviour as an early detection tool, months sooner than GP referrals.   Google data demonstrated changes in search activities as early as 360 days before a GP referral, with good prediction accuracy at around 60 days in advance. Furthermore, unique symptom search patterns surfaced among malignant and benign groups, shedding light on disease presentation. For example, an increase in urinary symptoms emerged 140 days before GP referral, while pelvic pain and bloating were noted 70 days in advance compared to the benign group.   The authors commented that the research may pave the way towards early detection tools, helping identify women at higher risk of ovarian cancer in particular.   Barcroft et al. Using online search activity for earlier detection of gynaecological malignancy. BMC Public Health 24, 608 (2024).   #medicalinnovation #ovariancancerawarenessmonth #HIPEC #CombatMedical

🔔 GOOD NEWS ALERT 🔔 Sometimes it is difficult to say positive in the endometriosis space when it comes to treatments and research progress, it feels often like we are moving at a 🐌 pace when we are trying day in and day out to manage our illnesses. But there is reason to celebrate this week, as across in the US the first project from the government-mandated spending on endometriosis research in the country, was launched! Led by The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in collaboration with UConn Health, this initiative aims to collect and analyze tissue samples to advance research, improve diagnosis, and develop better treatments for endometriosis. These samples are to be collected from the roughly 150 endometriosis surgeries conducted annually at the hospital. Researchers will also sample blood, urine, and fluid that lubricates the membranous lining of the pelvic cavity and organs in both patients and controls, to study the impact of the disease across the body and identify new biomarkers. Although as always, we are reminded of why the gender health gap is so large, as " U.S. investment in endometriosis research has risen from $13 million in 2019, spending by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was $29 million in 2023, or 0.06% of the $47 billion agency’s budget. That’s in contrast with the $1.2 billion NIH spent last year on diabetes, which has a roughly similar prevalence in women, and $305 million it spent on prostate cancer, which affects 2.4% of U.S. men and kills about one in 44 of those diagnosed" Read more about it in Meredith Wadman's piece for Science.org (linked below in comments) #EndometriosisResearch #HealthEquity #WomensHealthResearch #EndometriosisAwareness

🌟Word choice matters…as we can see in this week’s Weekly Wednesday guideline update. NCCN released their guidelines Version 1.2024 Prostate Cancer Early Detection on January 2, 2024, with a number of changes from the 2023 version. ✔️Updated the wording used for risk assessment for high-risk patients aged 40-75 years. Previously, it stated, “Those with suspicious family history”. (How many of us have suspicious families…or is it just me?) Now, the update states, “Those with concerning family or personal history”. Much clearer now. ✔️Substantially changed the wording regarding Black/African American individuals based on the findings of Vince RA, et al. JAMA Netw Open 2023;6:e2250416 as well as other studies. Now, the NCCN notes that the survival disparities within this population are related to social determinants of health and lack of access to care rather than either race itself or differences in the frequency of tumor acquired genomic variants. NCCN goes on to state, “In fact, data show that Black patients who receive equitable prostate cancer treatment have similar outcomes to white patients… Therefore, there is a need for higher vigilance in this population in the form of appropriate screening and treatment.” ✔️Updated the recommendation regarding further evaluation in patients who do not meet the threshold of >3 ng/mL PSA to state: “Further evaluation…can be considered for patients who have PSA levels that are above the median for their age group, even if they do not meet the threshold of >3 ng/mL. ✔️Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is now a category 1 recommendation within the algorithm for further evaluation and indications for biopsy. I hope your new year is off to a great start! #NCCN #Guidelines #MedicalPolicy