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Aims: To examine the information needs of breast cancer patients during the initial phase of treatment and to analyse the factors that influenced these needs., Background: Providing comprehensive and timely information during early breast cancer treatment is crucial for informed decision-making and effective coping. Healthcare providers must address these needs to enhance patient support and improve outcomes., Design: A cross-sectional study was reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines., Methods: A total of 123 post-mastectomy patients were selected through purposive sampling and completed the Thai version of the Sri Lankan Information Needs Assessment Questionnaire-BC (SINAQ-BC). Direct associations between demographic data and information needs were analysed descriptively, while bivariate analysis and linear regression were used to identify significant predictors of information needs., Results: The findings revealed that patients exhibited high overall information needs (224.7/260.0), with the greatest demand focused on physical care, treatment and diagnosis. In contrast, needs related to disease specifics and psychosocial care were less prominent. A total of 94 respondents (76.4%) expressed a particularly high demand for information regarding physical care. Education level was identified as an influencing factor, accounting for 7.7% of the variance in information needs among women with breast cancer., Conclusions: Patients with higher education levels had significantly greater information needs. Nursing staff should provide customised information packages that are tailored to the participants' education levels. Further testing of the Thai version of the SLINQ-BC would also be warranted., Implications for Patient Care: Patients are increasingly expected to manage their own care even as medical treatment grows more complex and technical. Nursing staff can contribute to the care of patients by being ready to evaluate, monitor and address breast cancer patient's individual information needs in the early stage of treatment based on factors such as educational level., Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution because the nature of the study's design, data analysis and writing did not require patient or public contribution., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Hydrogen (H 2 ) gas inhalation might alleviate acute radiotherapy toxicities by scavenging free radicals produced by ionizing radiation and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and safety of H 2 gas inhalation during concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC)., Patients and Methods: We designed a pilot prospective study combining CCRT with aerosol inhalation of H 2 gas. Each patient was scheduled to receive daily intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in 33 fractions on a weekday and six cycles of weekly chemotherapy. All patients inhaled H 2 gas through a cannula or mask 1 hour per day, 1-2 hours before IMRT. The primary endpoint was the feasibility of H 2 inhalation. Eighty percent of the patients who completed at least 20 applications of H 2 gas inhalation were considered feasible. The secondary endpoints were safety profiles during H 2 gas inhalation (vital signs and symptoms related to H 2 gas inhalation) and acute toxicities during CCRT., Results: We enrolled 10 patients with LAHNC between July 2023 and December 2023. All patients received 33 fractions of H 2 gas inhalation on the same day as the IMRT. Vital signs during and at the end of H 2 gas inhalation were stable in all patients. None of the 10 patients had hypertension or hypotension during any of the 33 inhalations. No adverse events related to H 2 gas inhalation, such as cough, nasal bleeding, dizziness, headache, nausea, or vomiting, were reported. Grade 3 leukopenia was found in two patients (20%) during the 5th week of CCRT. Grade 2 radiation dermatitis and pharyngitis were found in three patients (30%)., Conclusion: H 2 gas inhalation combined with CCRT is feasible and safe for patients with LAHNC., Competing Interests: All authors declare that they have no competing interest., (© 2024 Chitapanarux et al.)

Purpose: The dosimetry of scalp dose was prospectively studied and correlated with alopecia following conventional cranial irradiation in primary brain tumors patients., Materials and Methods: Patients with primary brain tumors who required conventional radiotherapy were enrolled. A hairline marker was applied to the patient's scalp to identify the entire scalp region. The maximal dose to 2% volume of interest (D2) for the entire scalp region were obtained. The radiation dosages at the localized hair-loss areas were evaluated during the final week of RT (transient alopecia) and six months after completing RT (permanent alopecia). Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the dosimetric parameter values with statistical significance set as p < 0.05., Results: Forty-eight patients were included in the analysis. The prescribed radiation doses ranged from 50.4 to 60.0 Gy. Thirty-two patients experienced alopecia (27 transient and 5 permanent). The median D2 values adjusted for the entire scalp were higher in the alopecia group (38.40 Gy for transient alopecia and 47.84 Gy for permanent alopecia vs 11.90 Gy for no alopecia, p < 0.001). The D2 value was determined as a predictive parameter for alopecia. The threshold values for transient and permanent alopecia over the entire scalp were 22.15 Gy and 36.81 Gy, respectively. At the localized hair-loss areas, the D2 values for transient and permanent alopecia were higher at 44.82 Gy and 50.00 Gy, respectively. The radiation intensity at the localized hair-loss areas was also related to the severity of alopecia, with D2 values of 35.14 Gy and 46.39 Gy for clinically assigned grade 1 and grade 2 transient alopecia, respectively, with the D2 value being even higher for permanent alopecia., Conclusions: The D2 parameter value could be used to predict the type and severity of alopecia., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Jia-Mahasap et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Localized protein translation occurs through trafficking of mRNAs and protein translation machineries to different compartments of the cell, leading to rapid on-site synthesis of proteins in response to signaling cues. The spatiotemporally precise nature of the local translation process necessitates continual developments of technologies reviewed herein to visualize and map biomolecular components and the translation process with better spatial and temporal resolution and with fewer artifacts. We also discuss approaches to control local translation, which can serve as a design paradigm for subcellular genetic devices for eukaryotic synthetic biology., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This retrospective study evaluated the preliminary outcomes of image-guided vaginal brachytherapy (IG-VBT) in the adjuvant treatment of high intermediate risk endometrial cancer., Materials and Methods: Data were collected from 48 patients who underwent adjuvant IG-VBT between 2019 and 2022 at the Division of Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University. The vaginal cuff clinical target volume (CTV-VC) is composed of a 4-mm-thick band around vaginal cylinder at the upper 3 cm of the vaginal cuff. A total dose of 21 Gy in three fractions was delivered to the CTV-VC, and the dose to the bladder and rectum were evaluated. Treatment details, patient characteristics, and outcomes were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis, and Kaplan-Meier method was employed for survival analysis., Results: The mean age was 62 years, with mainly endometrioid carcinoma pathology (96 %). All patients were at stage I, with 87.5 % receiving complete surgical staging. Mean total treatment time was 10 days with mean D90 of CTV-VC was 29.7 Gy, and D2cc of bladder, rectum, and sigmoid were 24.6 Gy, 21.0 Gy, and 7.7 Gy, respectively. At a median follow-up of 37 months, 3-year local control, disease-free survival, and overall survival rates were 100 %, 100 %, and 97.9 %. respectively. Two patients (4.2 %) experienced grade 1-2 gastrointestinal toxicity, while no genitourinary toxicity or serious adverse events were observed., Conclusions: The preliminary results of IG-VBT in endometrial cancer demonstrated favorable outcomes in terms of vaginal control and toxicity. Further studies with larger cohorts and longer follow-up durations are warranted., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Objective: We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy, focusing on overall survival (OS) and the patterns of failure, along with the toxicities of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in endometrial cancer patients., Methods: Two-hundred and nineteen patients with endometrial cancer patients who received adjuvant radiotherapy ± adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) from January 2014 to December 2018 were investigated for overall survival (OS), local recurrence-free survival rate (LRFS), regional recurrence-free survival rate (RRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival rate (DMFS)., Result: Two-hundred and fourteen patients were evaluated. The numbers of VBT alone, EBRT plus VBT, and adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) plus EBRT plus VBT were 65 (30.4%), 80 (37.4%), and 69 (32.2%) patients, respectively. Stage I (107 patients) was the most common followed by stage III (87 patients). With a median follow-up time of 67 months (IQR 56-78), the 5-year overall survival rates for VBT alone, EBRT plus VBT, and EBRT plus VBT plus ACT were 84.4%, 65%, and 57.4%, respectively. The most common severe (grade 3-4) acute toxicity was neutropenia (4.6%), followed by diarrhea (3.7%). Grade 3-4 late proctitis was found in only 1.9%. On multivariate analysis, advanced age (HR 6.15, p: 0.015), lymph node involvement (HR 6.66, p: 0.039), cervical involvement (HR 10.60, p: 0.029), and substantial LVSI (HR 21.46, p: 0.005) were associated with a higher risk of death., Conclusion: Advanced age (>65), substantial LVSI, lymph node involvement, and cervical stromal involvement were associated with poor overall survival. These findings here will help identifying high-risk patients and would make it possible to avoid unnecessary adjuvant treatment among patients with a good prognosis.