Cutaneous larva migrans in Canadian travellers returning from the Caribbean: A 10-year surveillance analysis from CanTravNet.

Background: Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is one of the most common dermatoses affecting travellers to the tropics.

Objective: To describe demographic and travel correlates of travellers returning to Canada from the Caribbean with CLM over a 10-year pre-pandemic period.

Methods: Demographic and travel-related data on ill travellers encountered either during or after completion of their travel/migration and seen in any of eight CanTravNet sites from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2018, with a final diagnosis of CLM were extracted and analyzed.

Racial Differences in Screening Eligibility by Breast Density After State-Level Insurance Expansion.

Importance: Women with dense breasts have elevated risk of false-negative mammograms and may benefit from supplemental screening.

Objective: To assess potential outcomes of Pennsylvania's law mandating insurance coverage for supplemental breast cancer screening among Black and White women.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study included Black and White women, aged 40 to 74 years, without prior breast cancer or known BRCA1/2 variants who underwent mammography screening at a large urban academic health system from January 2015 to December 2021, with cancer outcomes ascertained through December 2022.

Exploring Imaging Biomarkers to Improve Equity in Supplemental and High-Risk Breast Cancer Screening Between Black and White Women: A Perspective on Background Parenchymal Enhancement and Breast Density.

Purpose: Breast density is recognized as a well-established risk factor for breast cancer, influencing screening recommendations. While quantitative measures of breast density have been developed to address limitations of qualitative measures, the role of racial differences in quantitative measures and their effect on breast cancer risk, especially in Black women, remains unclear. Additionally, while background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) is an established as a predictor of breast cancer risk, no research has been conducted to investigate whether the impact of BPE varies by race or ethnicity.

Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis Among Black Women: A Path Toward Equity.

Black women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages and more advanced stages compared with White women. Although breast cancer mortality has declined in recent decades due to widespread screening and improved therapies, there are notable outcomes disparities by race and ethnicity. Black women, in particular, face marked inequities related to screening, diagnosis, and treatment and face 40% higher breast cancer-specific mortality compared with White women.

Comparison of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis and Mammography-based Radiomics for Breast Cancer Risk Assessment: Case-Control Study.

Purpose To compare the performance of volumetric radiomic parenchymal pattern analysis from three-dimensional (3D) digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images with that of two-dimensional (2D) digital mammography (DM) and 2D sections from DBT in assessing breast cancer risk relative to breast density measurements. Materials and Methods This was a retrospective matched case-control study among individuals who underwent concurrent DM and DBT screening from March 2011 through December 2014. The Cancer Phenomics Toolkit was used to calculate radiomic features from craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique views in all study patients, matched on race and age, for various experimental settings, including image resolution and window size.

Mortality Outcomes for Survivors of Cancer With Food Insecurity in the US.

Importance: Food insecurity, which is characterized by limited or uncertain access to adequate food, affects approximately 40 million individuals in the US, including many patients with cancer. Understanding the association between food insecurity and cancer mortality is crucial for improving patient outcomes and addressing health disparities.

Objective: To investigate the association of food insecurity with cancer-specific and all-cause mortality among US adults with a diagnosis of cancer.

Robust evaluation of tissue-specific radiomic features for classifying breast tissue density grades.

Purpose: Breast cancer risk depends on an accurate assessment of breast density due to lesion masking. Although governed by standardized guidelines, radiologist assessment of breast density is still highly variable. Automated breast density assessment tools leverage deep learning but are limited by model robustness and interpretability.

Machine Learning Accurately Predicts Need for Critical Care Support in Patients Admitted to Hospital for Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Objectives: Hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients are admitted for ventilation, vasopressors, and renal replacement therapy (RRT). This study aimed to develop a machine learning (ML) model that predicts the need for such interventions and compare its accuracy to that of logistic regression (LR).

Design: This retrospective observational study trained separate models using random-forest classifier (RFC), support vector machines (SVMs), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and multilayer perceptron (MLP) to predict three endpoints: eventual use of invasive ventilation, vasopressors, and RRT during hospitalization.

Implementing social and behavioral determinants of health data collection: insights from a pragmatic trial.

In response to growing evidence and recognition that social and behavioral determinants of health (SBDOH) differentially affect the health-care experiences and outcomes of patients with cancer, there has been an increased focus on optimizing the routine collection of such data. In spring 2024, we launched a pragmatic clinical trial titled "Effect of Early Point-of-Service Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health (SBDOH) Screening and Enhanced Navigation on Care Delivery for Patients With Breast Cancer" (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT06019988) at our academic health system.

Radiomic Parenchymal Phenotypes of Breast Texture from Mammography and Association with Risk of Breast Cancer.

Background Parenchymal phenotypes reflect the intrinsic heterogeneity of both tissue structure and distribution on mammograms. Purpose To define parenchymal phenotypes on the basis of radiomic texture features derived from full-field digital mammography (FFDM) in breast screening populations and assess associations of parenchymal phenotypes with future risk of breast cancer and masking (false-negative [FN] findings or interval cancers), beyond breast density, and by race and ethnicity Materials and Methods A two-stage study design included a retrospective cross-sectional study of 30 000 randomly selected women with four-view FFDM (mean age, 57.4 years) and a nested case-control study of 1055 women with invasive breast cancer (151 Black and 893 White women) matched to 2764 women without breast cancer (411 Black and 2345 White women) (mean age, 60.

The Effect of Rurality on Time to Surgery and Overall Survival among Women with Breast Cancer.

Objective: How does distance to care affect time to surgery (TTS) and overall survival (OS) among rural patients with breast cancer?

Summary Background Data: TTS>60 days is associated with known sociodemographic characteristics and worse OS after breast cancer diagnosis, but the relationship between rurality, proximity to care, TTS, and OS remains unknown.

Methods: We identified females≥18 years with stage 0-III breast cancer diagnosed 2004-2019 who received upfront surgery in the National Cancer Database. Mediation and Cox proportional hazards analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between rurality, distance to treatment facility, prolonged TTS (i.

Cancer Antigen 125 Levels at Time of Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis by Race and Ethnicity.

Importance: International guidelines use cancer antigen (CA) 125 thresholds to recommend which patients with pelvic masses should undergo evaluation by gynecologic oncologists for ovarian cancer. However, CA-125 thresholds were developed from White populations. If CA-125 levels differ among patient populations, current guidelines may contribute to delayed ovarian cancer diagnoses among women of other races and ethnicities than White.

Oseltamivir Reduces 30-Day Mortality in Older Adults With Influenza: A Pooled Analysis From the 2012-2019 Serious Outcomes Surveillance Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network.

Background: Oseltamivir is recommended for the treatment of adults hospitalized with influenza, but adherence is often suboptimal. This may be due to doubts about the reliability of the evidence supporting its benefits, particularly when initiation is delayed. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of oseltamivir in reducing mortality in older adults hospitalized with influenza, with a focus on the timing of initiation.

Pathogenic Germline Variants in Patients With Metaplastic Breast Cancer.

Importance: Metaplastic breast cancer (MpBC) is a rare, heterogeneous disease often associated with inferior outcomes. A growing body of literature describes the clinical and molecular features of MpBC, yet limited data describe the pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) in breast cancer susceptibility genes among affected individuals.

Objective: To examine the frequency and types of PGVs in breast cancer genes among patients with MpBC.

Using the Translational Science Benefits Model to assess the impact of the Penn Implementation Science Center in Cancer Control.

Traditional approaches for evaluating the impact of scientific research - mainly scholarship (i.e., publications, presentations) and grant funding - fail to capture the full extent of contributions that come from larger scientific initiatives.

Community versus academic hospital community-acquired pneumonia patients: a nested cohort study.

Background: Most Canadians receive their care in community hospitals, yet most clinical research is conducted in academic hospitals. This study aims to compare patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) treated in academic and community hospitals with respect to their demographics, clinical characteristics, treatments and outcomes.

Methods: This nested observational cohort substudy of the Community Acquired Pneumonia: Toward InnoVAtive Treatment (CAPTIVATE) trial included 1,329 hospitalized adults with CAP recruited between March 1st, 2018 and September 31st, 2023 from 15 Canadian hospitals.

Feasibility of risk assessment for breast cancer molecular subtypes.

Purpose: Few breast cancer risk assessment models account for the risk profiles of different tumor subtypes. This study evaluated whether a subtype-specific approach improves discrimination.

Methods: Among 3389 women who had a screening mammogram and were later diagnosed with invasive breast cancer we performed multinomial logistic regression with tumor subtype as the outcome and known breast cancer risk factors as predictors.

A constrained maximum likelihood approach to developing well-calibrated models for predicting binary outcomes.

The added value of candidate predictors for risk modeling is routinely evaluated by comparing the performance of models with or without including candidate predictors. Such comparison is most meaningful when the estimated risk by the two models are both unbiased in the target population. Very often data for candidate predictors are sourced from nonrepresentative convenience samples.

The unique risk factor profile of triple-negative breast cancer: a comprehensive meta-analysis.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a poor prognosis compared with other breast cancer subtypes. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines whether known risk factors for breast cancer are also associated with TNBC in adult women.

Methods: EMBASE, Medline, SCOPUS, and gray literature were queried with no limit on the date or language of publication.

Protocol for a pragmatic stepped wedge cluster randomized clinical trial testing behavioral economic implementation strategies to increase supplemental breast MRI screening among patients with extremely dense breasts.

Background: Increased breast density augments breast cancer risk and reduces mammography sensitivity. Supplemental breast MRI screening can significantly increase cancer detection among women with dense breasts. However, few women undergo this exam, and screening is consistently lower among racially minoritized populations.

Infections with long latency in international refugees, immigrants, and migrants seen at GeoSentinel sites, 2016-2018.

Background: The continued increase in global migration compels clinicians to be aware of specific health problems faced by refugees, immigrants, and migrants (RIM). This analysis aimed to characterize RIM evaluated at GeoSentinel sites, their migration history, and infectious diseases detected through screening and diagnostic workups.

Methods: A case report form was used to collect data on demographics, migration route, infectious diseases screened, test results, and primary infectious disease diagnosis for RIM patients seen at GeoSentinel sites.

Vaccine Effectiveness of non-adjuvanted and adjuvanted trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines in the prevention of influenza-related hospitalization in older adults: A pooled analysis from the Serious Outcomes Surveillance (SOS) Network of the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN).

Background: Influenza vaccines prevent influenza-related morbidity and mortality; however, suboptimal vaccine effectiveness (VE) of non-adjuvanted trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (naTIV) or quadrivalent formulations in older adults prompted the use of enhanced products such as adjuvanted TIV (aTIV). Here, the VE of aTIV is compared to naTIV for preventing influenza-associated hospitalization among older adults.

Methods: A test-negative design study was used with pooled data from the 2012 to 2015 influenza seasons.

Leveraging Influenza Virus Surveillance From 2012 to 2015 to Characterize the Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease in Canadian Adults ≥50 Years of Age Hospitalized With Acute Respiratory Illness.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease in older adults is undercharacterized. To help inform future immunization policies, this study aimed to describe the disease burden in Canadian adults aged ≥50 years hospitalized with RSV.

Methods: Using administrative data and nasopharyngeal swabs collected from active surveillance among adults aged ≥50 years hospitalized with an acute respiratory illness (ARI) during the 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015 influenza seasons, RSV was identified using a respiratory virus multiplex polymerase chain reaction test to describe the associated disease burden, incidence, and healthcare costs.

Factors associated with shorter-interval cervical cancer screening for young women in three United States healthcare systems.

Frequently changing cervical cancer screening guidelines over the past two decades have been inconsistently adopted in the United States. Current guidelines set the recommended screening interval to three years for average-risk women aged 21-29 years. Few studies have evaluated how patient and provider factors are associated with implementation of cervical cancer screening intervals among younger women.