AREAS COVERED: The review provides a brief overview of the use of LCN in the treatment of NSCLC. It explores their composition, fabrication methods, and characterization processes. The article further addresses several nanoparticle-based approaches for the treatment of NSCLC. Ultimately, it underscores the promise of LCNs as a promising drug delivery system for NSCLC and discusses the obstacles and outlook in this field.
EXPERT OPINION: LCN represents a promising frontier in the treatment of NSCLC, offering several specific advantages over conventional therapies. Utilizing their intrinsic self-assembly characteristics, LCN provides meticulous control over drug encapsulation, release kinetics, and cellular absorption, which are crucial for improving therapy success. LCN also has the capability for co-delivery of various drugs, facilitating synergistic therapeutic benefits and addressing multidrug resistance, a prevalent issue in NSCLC treatment.
AIM: This study evaluated the health beliefs regarding colorectal cancer and factors affecting the participation of men aged 50-75 in colorectal cancer screening in three selected Muslim countries (Turkey (TR), Saudi Arabia (SA), and Malaysia (MY)).
METHODS: This study employed a descriptive comparative design with stratified sampling, with the sample size of 540 participants. The Colorectal Cancer Health Belief Model (HBM) Scale and the Fatalism Tendency scale were used to evaluate men's health beliefs about colorectal cancer. The scales were in a 5-point Likert scale. The SPSS 22.0 statistical package program evaluated the data using descriptive statistics and ANOVA tests.
RESULTS: The average self-report risk in terms of cancer was 3.9 ± 2.20 (TR), 2.6 ± 2.69 (SA), and 3.9 ± 2.20 (MY), 75% don't know how to prevent colorectal cancer (TR) 84% (SA) and 82.2% (MY). The HBM Scale and sub-dimensions and Fatalism Tendency scale average scores of Malaysian participants were higher than Turkish and Saudi participants. A positive, statistically significant relationship existed between the scales and sub-scales mean score (p
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the morphological variations of the foot lumbricals and their clinical significance using cadaveric dissection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study examined 150 lower limbs from 75 formalin-embalmed human cadavers (43 males and 32 females) over the period of 2019-2024. Morphological characteristics of the lumbrical muscles, including origin, insertion, number, and nerve supply, were recorded.
RESULTS: The study revealed a gender variation in the anatomical patterns of the foot lumbricals. In total, 5.33% of cadavers exhibited bilateral unipennate second, third, and fourth lumbricals, with a higher prevalence in females (five cases) compared to males (three cases). Similarly, 8% of cadavers had unilateral unipennate lumbricals, with a dominant occurrence in females (nine cases) versus males (three cases). The absence of the fourth lumbrical was seen in 6% of cadavers, again more frequently in females (six cases) than males (three cases). In addition, accessory lumbricals arising from the flexor hallucis brevis were noted in 2.67% of cadavers, with a higher occurrence in females (three cases) than males (one case). Overall, the findings indicate a gender-based disparity, with females showing a greater frequency of these variations.
CONCLUSION: Morphological variations in foot lumbricals variations have potential implications in conditions like claw toe deformity and altered gait mechanics and may influence foot biomechanics and surgical outcomes. Recognizing these anomalies is essential for clinicians and surgeons to enhance diagnostic accuracy and optimize therapeutic interventions.
METHODS: Prospectively data of 115 adult patients with bilateral kidney stone disease undergoing SSB-RIRS across 14 global centers between July 2023 and March 2024 were analyzed. Patient demographics, stone characteristics and operative outcomes were recorded. A low-dose non contrast CT scan was performed at 30 days to assess the stone-free rate and clinical outcomes.
RESULTS: Overall bilateral zero residual fragment(ZRF) was 42.6%; unilateral ZRF was 75.7%. Only two patients were noted to have residual fragments > 4 mm. 1.7% experienced Traxer-Thomas grade 1 ureteric injury which was managed with a ureteral stent for four weeks. No pelvicalyceal injury occured. Postoperative mean loin pain score was 1.7 ± 1.0. None had sepsis nor required blood transfusion. 4.3% required readmission within 30 days of surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated longer total operation time correlated with lower odds of achieving a 100% bilateral stone-free (ZRF) (OR 0.978, 95%CI = 0.959-0.994, p = 0.013).
CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first multicenter study demonstrating the use of FANS in SSB-RIRS can achieve bilateral ZRF with low complication and re-intervention rates. However, prolonged surgical time may negatively impact outcomes. The indications of bilateral renal stones management with FURS can be expanded in appropriate chosen patients.
RECENT FINDINGS: Due to the heterogeneity of diseases, biologic therapies may efficiently control CRSwNP but give inadequate control for asthma, or vice versa. Changing an ineffective first-line biologic to a second-line treatment or others is generally referred to as switching. The most common reasons for switching biologics are poor symptom management or ineffectiveness, and undesirable adverse effects. The ineffectiveness was largely due to the use of omalizumab or mepolizumab, whereas the adverse effects were due to dupilumab.
SUMMARY: Switching biologics is a nuanced process influenced by a variety of patient-specific and clinical factors. Biologics that effectively treat upper and lower airway diseases are recommended for optimal control in CRSwNP patients with concurrent asthma. There was no difference in outcomes between switching biologics with and without a washout period. Switching between biologics in the same class is generally not recommended. Dupilumab serves as an effective treatment option for refractory cases particularly aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease.
METHODS: Eight databases were searched, with the search period was limited to April 2024. Quality assessment of the included randomized controlled trials was performed according to the criteria for evaluating randomized controlled trials in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The RevMan 5.4 software was used for the data analysis.
RESULTS: Nine randomized controlled trials were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The quality of the included studies was relatively high. The results showed that laughter therapy can effectively improve cancer patients' stress, anxiety, depression, pain, and fatigue, but has no effect on sleep quality.
CONCLUSIONS: Laughter therapy is a low-cost, easy-to-implement intervention that may have potential benefits in improving psychological symptoms (stress, anxiety, and depression) and physical symptoms (pain and fatigue) among cancer patients. Laughter therapy has the characteristics of high safety, strong interaction, and strong feasibility. It may promote communication between patients and between patients and medical healthcare, enhance the trust relationship between medical staff, and potentially improve the quality of life for cancer patients. Healthcare professionals should consider laughter therapy as a potential adjunctive therapy, but its implementation should be tailored to individual patient needs and supported by robust evidence.
METHODOLOGY: Forty-nine children with CLP (age range 7-11 years) completed an online or in-person speech assessment and filled in the CLEFT-Q (Malay Version) questionnaire, which assessed QoL. An experienced SLP rated the nasality and speech intelligibility of the patients' speech samples.
RESULTS: Based on the auditory-perceptual ratings, 63.3 % of the children had normal resonance, and 71.5 % had normal or near-normal speech intelligibility. The appearance of "teeth'' was rated as the poorest feature by all participants (52.71), while "psychological function" was rated as the best outcome (83.49). Weak correlations were found between speech intelligibility and speech distress (r = -0.450, p