Emotional-approach coping (EAC), including emotional expression (EE) and emotional processing (EP), may impact stress and quality of life (QOL) in cancer populations, with some evidence that EAC effects vary by sex.

Men (n = 85) and women (n = 63) with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) completed the EAC Scale, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and 36-item Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Survey (SF-36) physical component scale (PCS) and mental component scale (MCS) at study entry and 10 months later. The PROCESS macro (model 7) was used to examine the indirect effect of baseline EAC (EE, EP) on 10-month QOL (PCS, MCS) via baseline PSS, with sex as a moderator of the association between EAC and PSS (i.e., four models of moderated mediation).

Bootstrap estimates of indirect effects revealed significant moderated mediation, such that, for female participants, greater EE at study entry was associated with lower PSS, which in turn was associated with higher PCS and MCS 10 months later; whereas for males, EE was not associated with PSS and was not indirectly associated with physical and mental health-related QOL via PSS. Models examining the indirect effects of EP on QOL via PSS were nonsignificant for male and female participants.

EE is an important correlate of perceived stress for females but not males with RCC. Perceived stress early in treatment has a robust association with subsequent health-related QOL. Interventions aimed at supporting EE for females with RCC may have long-term QOL benefits.

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite capable of establishing lifelong latent infections in the central nervous system. Previous epidemiological studies have suggested a potential association between T. gondii infection and an increased risk of brain cancer, but the causal relationship remains unclear.

We conducted a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study to assess the causal relationship between T. gondii infection and brain tumor risk. Genetic instruments for T. gondii seropositivity were derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the UK Biobank, while genetic data for brain tumors were obtained from the FinnGen R12 dataset. Standard MR methods, including inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, and MR-Egger, were applied to infer causality, with generalized summary Mendelian randomization (GSMR) used for further validation. Sensitivity analyses, including heterogeneity and pleiotropy assessments, were performed to ensure robustness. Additionally, reverse MR analyses were conducted to evaluate whether brain tumors influence genetic liability to T. gondii seropositivity.

Our MR analyses found no evidence of a causal relationship between genetic liability to T. gondii seropositivity, as indicated by P22 and SAG1 antibody levels, and the risk of brain tumors. Across all tumor subtypes, IVW, weighted median, MR-Egger, and GSMR analyses consistently yielded non-significant results. However, reverse MR analysis suggested that genetic liability to malignant brain tumors is associated with increased odds of T. gondii seropositivity. For P22, a strong association was observed across methods (IVW: OR = 1.234, p = 0.004; GSMR: OR = 1.228, p = 0.006). In contrast, for SAG1 the evidence was weaker, with IVW indicating a suggestive association (OR = 1.094, p = 0.048) and GSMR showing a borderline association (OR = 1.088, p = 0.052). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings, with no evidence of heterogeneity or pleiotropy. No significant associations were observed for meningioma, glioblastoma, or benign brain tumors.

Our study provides no evidence for a causal relationship between genetic liability to T. gondii seropositivity and brain tumor risk. However, reverse MR suggests that genetic liability to malignant brain tumors may be associated with increased odds of T. gondii infection.

Breast cancer survivors often face persistent physical and emotional challenges. Evidence suggests that physical exercise and group psychological interventions can improve well-being and illness adjustment. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of a combined intervention delivered in a natural environment. Sixty female breast cancer survivors (Mage = 51.0; SD = 5.5) participated in a 1-week program consisting of daily sailing lessons and group psychological sessions designed to address cancer-related issues. Assessments were conducted 1 week before and 1 week after the intervention using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) to assess quality of life and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Linear mixed-effects models tested changes over time in quality of life and anxiety and whether previous psychotherapy or physical activity influenced these outcomes. FACT-B total scores significantly improved over time (P = 0.004), with gains in physical well-being (P < 0.001), emotional well-being (P < 0.001), and breast cancer-specific concerns (P = 0.018). No changes over time were observed in social or functional well-being. Anxiety levels remained moderate and stable (P = 0.250). Previous psychotherapy and physical activity did not significantly influence changes in quality of life or anxiety. A short-term group intervention combining sailing lessons and psychological sessions in a natural environment may enhance quality of life in breast cancer survivors, particularly in physical and emotional domains. These findings suggest that integrative approaches addressing both physical and psychological health are feasible and warrant further investigation in larger controlled studies.

Altered glymphatic function is observed for many neurological diseases. Glioma, one of the most common brain cancers, is known to have altered fluid dynamics in terms of edema and blood-brain barrier breakdown, both features potentially impacting the glymphatic function. To study glioma and its fluid dynamics, we propose a flexible mathematical model, including the tumor, the peri-tumoral edema and the healthy tissue. From a mechanical point of view, we consider the brain as a multicompartment porous medium and model both the fluid movement and the clearance of solutes within the brain. Our results indicate that the impairment of the glymphatic system due to glioma growth is two-fold. First, edema resulting from the leakage of fluid at the blood-brain barrier and/or the occlusion of the interstitial fluid exit routes (notably the perivascular spaces) due to migratory tumor cells result in a slight localized increase of pressure, consequently impairing negatively glymphatic clearance. Second, local changes of porosity (i.e. the volume fraction of certain compartments such as perivascular or extracellular spaces), result in a disruption of the transport of solutes in the brain. Our results indicate that an effect similar to the enhanced permeability and retention is obtained using biologically relevant changes of parameter values of our model. Our mathematical model is the first step towards a digital twin for drug or contrast product delivery within the cerebro-spinal fluid directly (e.g. from intrathecal injection) for patients suffering from gliomas.

Regular physical activity improves quality of life in cancer patients, yet adherence to guidelines remains low. Community-based exercise programmes offer scalable solutions, but determinants of programme completion and engagement are underexplored.

This study evaluated factors associated with completion of a 12-session community-based cancer exercise programme. It also examined factors related to achieving ≥ 150 min of weekly physical activity following programme completion, considering sociodemographic characteristics, cancer type, prior exercise history, and referral pathway.

Data from 918 cancer patients enrolled in the programme were analysed. Associations between age, gender, ethnicity, education, housing status, referral location, referrer type, prior exercise history, and cancer type with programme completion and post-programme physical activity levels were examined using chi-squared tests and logistic regression.

Participants from multiple ethnic backgrounds had higher odds of completing the 12-session programme compared with White participants (OR = 2.529, 95% CI 1.217-5.259, p = .013). Asian participants had lower odds of meeting physical activity guidelines of ≥ 150 min per week (OR = 0.532, 95% CI 0.294-0.965, p = .038). Achieving ≥ 150 min of weekly physical activity was positively associated with higher education (OR = 1.862, p < .001), homeownership (OR = 0.177, p < .001), self-referral (OR = 1.875, p = .035), referral from Barnet (OR = 2.410, p = .002) or Islington & Camden (OR = 2.425, p < .001), female gender (OR = 1.650, p = .004), and age ≥ 72 years (OR = 2.494, p = .002). Non-homeownership was the strongest negative factor associated with not reaching the ≥ 150-min physical activity guideline (p < .001).

Ethnicity was the only factor significantly associated with programme completion. In contrast, multiple factors, particularly non-homeownership, strongly influenced achieving recommended activity levels post-programme. These findings suggest the potential importance of social and environmental factors in shaping engagement and sustained physical activity in community cancer exercise programmes. Addressing these factors may improve participation, inclusivity, and long-term health outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer.

To investigate the diagnostic utility of asymmetrical tonsils in detecting tonsillar malignancy.

PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library; from inception until December 17, 2024.

We included observational studies of adult/pediatric patients undergoing excisional tonsillectomy or incisional tonsillar biopsy that reported at least one diagnostic accuracy outcome for tonsillar asymmetry in predicting malignancy. We pooled estimates using frequentist univariate random-effects generalized linear mixed models, examined and adjusted for publication bias via visual inspection, Egger's test, and trim-and-fill, performed influence and cumulative meta-analyses, and used a Bayesian bivariate model as a sensitivity analysis. Outcome measures included the following: sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative likelihood ratio (LR+/LR-), and positive/negative predictive value (NPV/PPV) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

Twenty-nine studies (5178 participants) from 422 records were included. The risk of bias was low-moderate. The sensitivity and specificity of tonsillar asymmetry as a diagnostic marker for malignancy were 77.2% (95% CI: 68.6%-84.0%) and 96.4% (95% CI: 91.6%-98.6%), respectively. The LR- was 0.24 (0.17-0.34) and LR+ was 21.44 (8.05-57.0). The NPV and PPV were 99.8% (95% CI: 99.1%-99.9%) and 4.31% (95% CI: 1.83%-9.80%), without considering clinical risks. With concomitant high-risk clinical features such as lymphadenopathy, the PPV (probability of malignancy given asymmetrical tonsils) was 38.5% (30.3%-47.4%). Without other high-risk features, the PPV was 0.16% (0.15%-0.18%). The overall quality of evidence was high.

Tonsillar asymmetry has a high specificity and moderate sensitivity for tonsillar malignancy. Due to the low prevalence of malignancy, the probability of malignancy is less than 1% if no other suspicious clinical features are present.

The epigenetic deregulation of CpG islands (CGIs) plays a crucial role in cancer initiation and progression. CGIs comprise 1%-2% of the human genome and are rich in differentially methylated regions (DMRs) that can serve as biomarkers in clinical samples and liquid biopsies. Focusing epigenetic sequencing on CpG-rich regions, including CGIs, while avoiding non-informative sequences, offers an efficient and sensitive approach for cancer detection and monitoring, especially in samples with excess normal DNA. To this end, we developed adaptor-anchored methylation amplification via proximity primers (aMAPPs), a versatile PCR-based enrichment method. Proximity primers (PPs) are specially designed primers that amplify either methylated or unmethylated proximal CpGs, depending on the selected methylation conversion method. aMAPP achieves high-coverage of genome-wide CGIs and detects numerous DMRs in tumor samples compared to adjacent normal tissue using ultra-low depth sequencing (∼300 000 reads). aMAPP enables detection of aberrant methylation down to 0.01% allelic frequency in tumor DNA dilutions and cell-free DNA, requires only picogram DNA input, and can be adapted to enrich either small panels of cancer-specific DMRs or large genomic-fractions including >90% of genomic CGIs. Overall, aMAPP provides a simple, cost-effective, and highly sensitive strategy for capturing the epigenetic footprint of genome-wide CpGs and identifying aberrant methylation events.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are promising prostate cancer biomarkers, but their cellular origin and regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Prostate samples from 70 men (30 prostate cancer, 40 benign) were analyzed by in situ hybridization for nine miRNAs identified via serum next-generation sequencing (NGS). Digital image analysis was used to quantify miRNAs in benign and malignant epithelial compartments and stromal cells. Five of the nine miRNAs were detected in prostate tissue. miR-550a, miR-4754, and miR-4326 exhibited an "epithelial down, stromal up" pattern accompanied by elevated serum levels; serum miR-550a correlated with high-grade tumor cells. miR-1246 progressively decreased from benign epithelium through Gleason grade 3 to grade 4 tumor cells, suggesting increased secretion by advanced tumor cells. However, extraprostatic contributions and assay cross-reactivity likely influenced its serum profile. miR-4632 exhibited distinct compartmental alterations, but methodological or extraprostatic factors appeared to affect serum detection. Overall, this integrative profiling reveals that not all miRNAs altered in serum from prostate cancer patients originate from prostate tissue, underscoring the value of comparative tissue/serum analyses. miR-550a, miR-1246, miR-4754, and miR-4326 emerge as promising biomarkers warranting further longitudinal evaluation.

Encorafenib, cetuximab, and binimetinib are targeted therapies developed for metastatic colorectal cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation. This case report describes a patient with metastatic duodenal cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation who achieved durable complete remission following this treatment. The case highlights the potential use of BRAF V600E targeted therapy in BRAF V600E-mutated duodenal cancer and the importance of molecular profiling in rare cancers. Further research is needed on the effect and safety of targeted therapy for small bowel adenocarcinoma.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a type of cancer that has a rather high mortality rate and arises from cholangiocytes. Due to its aggressive nature, CCA is considered a rare and highly advanced form of malignancy. This research is detailed around which role does ferroptosis play in CCA and what impact does it have on CCA progression as well as on treatment resistance. A systematic assessment of previously published works was conducted to understand the cellular mechanisms of ferroptosis, the pertinent biological networks, and its possible therapeutic targets. During the research, we discovered that the sensitivity of CCA cells to ferroptosis associated cell death is increased because they have dysregulated iron metabolism and uncontrolled lipid peroxidation. Sensitivity to ferroptosis is regulated by important proteins such as acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4) and solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11). In addition, the ferroptosis inducers erastin and RSL3 are capable of enhancing the efficacy of traditional therapies and seeking solutions for the chemoresistance problem. The hurdles to be overcome are finding reliable biomarkers for the prediction of ferroptosis sensitivity and designing targeted delivery systems for minimal off-target effects. Clinically, these techniques offer novel concepts in the treatment of CCA, making further research key to these conclusions being adopted in practice.