Search

On 15–16 June 2023, healthcare professionals and breast cancer patients and advocates from across Canada met in Toronto, Ontario, for the 2023 Canadian Breast Cancer Symposium (CBSC.). The CBSC. is a national, multidisciplinary event that occurs every 2 years with the goal of developing a personalized approach to the management of breast cancer in Canada. Experts provided state-of-the-art information to help optimally manage breast cancer patients, including etiology, prevention, diagnosis, experimental biology, and therapy of breast cancer and premalignant breast disease. The symposium also had the objectives of increasing communication and collaboration among breast cancer healthcare providers nationwide and providing a comprehensive and real-life review of the many facets of breast cancer. The sessions covered the patient voice, the top breast cancer papers from different disciplines in 2022, artificial intelligence in breast cancer, systemic therapy updates, the management of central nervous system metastases, multidisciplinary management of ductal carcinoma in situ, special populations, optimization-based individual prognostic factors, toxicity management of novel therapeutics, survivorship, and updates in surgical oncology. The key takeaways of these sessions have been summarized in this conference report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Building upon an existing methodology and conceptual framework for estimating the association between the use of substances and crime, we calculated attributable fractions that estimate the proportion of crimes explained by alcohol and six other categories of psychoactive substances. Design Cross‐sectional surveys. Setting: Canadian federal correctional institutions. Participants: Canadian men (n = 27 803) and women (n = 1335) offenders who began serving a custodial sentence in a Canadian federal correctional institution between 2006 and 2016. Measurements Offenders completed the computerized assessment of substance abuse, a self‐report tool designed to assess (1) whether the offence for which they were convicted would have occurred had they not been intoxicated from alcohol or another substance, (2) whether they committed the offence to support their alcohol or other substance use and (3) whether they were dependent on alcohol (alcohol dependence scale) or another substance (drug abuse screening test). Offences were grouped into four mutually exclusive categories: violent crimes, non‐violent crimes, impaired driving and substance‐defined crimes. This study focused on violent and non‐violent crime categories. Substances assessed were: alcohol, cannabis, opioids, other central nervous system (CNS) depressants, cocaine, other CNS stimulants and other substances. Findings According to offender self‐report, 42% of all violent and non‐violent crime would probably not have occurred if the perpetrator had not been under the influence of, or seeking, alcohol or other substances. Between 2006 and 2016, 20% of violent crimes and 7% of non‐violent crimes in Canada were considered attributable to alcohol. In contrast, all other psychoactive substance categories combined were associated with 26% of all violent crime and 25% of non‐violent crime during the same time‐frame. Conclusions: Attributable fraction analyses show that more than 42% of Canadian crime resulting in a custodial sentence between 2006 and 2016 would probably not have occurred if the perpetrator had not been under the influence of or seeking alcohol or other drugs. Attributable fractions for alcohol and substance‐related crime are a potentially useful resource for estimating the impact of alcohol and other substances on crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to assess the relationship between fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and vitiligo in Iraqi patients and evaluate the predictors of this relationship, if present. Patients and methods: The case-control study included 100 Iraqi patients (46 males, 54 females; mean age 30.4±14 years; range 15 to 65 years) with vitiligo and 200 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (74 males, 126 females; mean age 30.3±9.4 years; range 15 to 62 years). Baseline characteristics of patients and controls were recorded. The 2012 Canadian Guidelines criteria were used for the diagnosis of FMS and applied to all patients and controls. Results: Prevalence of FMS in vitiligo patients and controls was 12% and 7%, respectively (p=0.15, odds ratio=1.8, 95% confidence interval=0.8-4.08). FMS symptoms in vitiligo patients were fatigue (46%), diffuse body pain (34%), sleep disturbance (33%), cognitive dysfunction (30%), and mood disorders (23%), while visceral involvements were central nervous system (52%), skin (35%), gastrointestinal tract (32%), cardiovascular systemrespiratory system (16%), genitourinary tract (8%), and ear nose throat (7%). Of vitiligo patients, FMS was significantly more common among females (22.2%) compared to none among males (0%) (p<0.05). Prevalence of FMS was restricted to female sex only and a significantly higher prevalence rate of FMS was found among female vitiligo patients (22.2%) compared to controls (9.5%). Receiving phototherapy significantly increased the risk of having FMS by 5 times compared to female patients not receiving phototherapy. Use of any steroid reduced the risk of having FMS by 2.5 times (inverse of odds ratio=0.4) among females patients (p>0/05). No significant association was found between FMS in vitiligo patients and age, disease duration, type of vitiligo, use of any immunosuppressant and Body Mass Index (p>0.05). Conclusion: Fibromyalgia syndrome was more prevalent in vitiligo patients compared to controls, which was clinically important but statistically not significant. There was a significant association between FMS in vitiligo patients and female sex, severe form of vitiligo, and receiving phototherapy. This may suggest that early diagnosis of FMS in vitiligo patients may help in early treatment and subsequently improve patients' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]