METHODS: The development data set comprised 138,309 women from 17 case-control studies. PRSs were generated using a clumping and thresholding method, lasso penalized regression, an Empirical Bayes approach, a Bayesian polygenic prediction approach, or linear combinations of multiple PRSs. These PRSs were evaluated in 89,898 women from 3 prospective studies (1592 incident cases).
RESULTS: The best performing PRS (genome-wide set of single-nucleotide variations [formerly single-nucleotide polymorphism]) had a hazard ratio per unit SD of 1.62 (95% CI = 1.46-1.80) and an area under the receiver operating curve of 0.635 (95% CI = 0.622-0.649). Combined Asian and European PRSs (333 single-nucleotide variations) had a hazard ratio per SD of 1.53 (95% CI = 1.37-1.71) and an area under the receiver operating curve of 0.621 (95% CI = 0.608-0.635). The distribution of the latter PRS was different across ethnic subgroups, confirming the importance of population-specific calibration for valid estimation of breast cancer risk.
CONCLUSION: PRSs developed in this study, from association data from multiple ancestries, can enhance risk stratification for women of Asian ancestry.
METHODS: Data were retrospectively extracted from all the Chemotherapy Return Forms in 2016, which is a compulsory documentation accompanying each return of parenteral chemotherapy regimen. The following data were extracted: patient's diagnosis, gender, location of treatment (i.e. ward/daycare clinic), start date of chemotherapy regimen, type of cytotoxic drug returned, dose of cytotoxic drug returned, number of cytotoxic drug preparations returned and reason for return as well as whether the returned cytotoxic drug preparations could be re-dispensed. The cost of wastage was calculated based on the cost per mg (or per unit) of the particular returned cytotoxic drug.
RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-nine cases of returned chemotherapy regimen comprising of 231 parenteral cytotoxic drug preparations were analysed. The total cost of returned chemotherapy regimen for 2016 was €3632, with €756 (20.8%) worth of chemotherapy regimens returned due to preventable reasons and €2876 (79.2%) worth of chemotherapy regimens returned due to non-preventable reasons. Approximately 50% of cases returned chemotherapy regimen were due to deterioration of patient's clinical condition and another 24.5% of cases of returned chemotherapy regimen were attributed to adverse drug reactions.
CONCLUSION: Wastage associated to non-preventable reasons such as adverse drug reactions and preventable causes like refusal of patients can be further reduced by using newer healthcare innovations and establishment of written institutional protocols or standard operating procedures as references for in-charge healthcare personnel when cytotoxic drug-related issues occur. Adoption of cost-saving strategies that have been proven by studies could further improve current cost containment strategies.
METHODS: The study involved conducting intradermal injections on four cadavers and participants using a 2 mm length, 34-gauge needle (N-Finders, Inc., South Korea). During the cadaveric study, the polynucleotide prefilled syringe was dyed green, and an anatomist performed dissections, removing only the skin layer. Ultrasonographic observations were carried out to ensure accurate intradermal injection placement.
RESULTS: In all four cadavers, the facial injections at the anterior cheek region were precisely administered intradermally at a 30-degree injection angle. However, the 90-degree injection was found just below the dermal layer upon skin layer removal.
DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that using a 2 mm needle length allows for easy and convenient intradermal injections.