Articles related to MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS

The assessment of response to radiation-based therapies can be complicated by persistent or changing imaging features, and this field of study is still in active development even though imaging-based response assessment systems have been validated for the evaluation of response to ablative locoregional therapies. Research is still needed to address the shortcomings of current imaging criteria for evaluating tumor response to these novel techniques, despite the increased application of radiation-based local-regional therapies for the treatment of HCC following technological advancements and a better understanding of tumor biology.

In a study of 37,887 men 50 to 60 years old, those with PSA of >= 3 ng/ml underwent MRI imaging of the prostate and were randomized to systematic biopsy plus targeted biopsy or MRI-targeted biopsy only. MRI-directed targeted biopsy reduced the risk of overdiagnosis by half but did delay detection of intermediate-risk tumors in a small proportion of patients.

Although both devices were highly reliable in detecting signs of early diabetic retinopathy (DR), and the interrater reliability of DR stage between the devices was “almost perfect” in the 7 standard fields (7SF) and total gradable areas (TGA), the Clarus 700 (Zeiss) provided better visualization of the inferonasal field than the Daytona P200T (Optos).

Researchers used retinal imaging to examine the eyes of 200 people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to see who had subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDDs). Patients were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their family history of cardiovascular disease. There were 97 SDDs and 103 drusen only among the 200 patients. 47 of the 200 patients had severe heart disease, and 40 of the 47 (86%) had SDDs. In comparison, 57 (43%) of the 153 AMD patients who did not have these severe diseases had SDDs. According to the researchers, AMD patients who had these severe cardiovascular diseases and strokes were nine times more likely to have SDDs than those who did not.

This trial included 33 patients with clinical node-positive locally advanced breast cancer who underwent NET and breast surgery. MRI exams were performed before the first treatment regimen, at least two months after the first treatment cycle but prior to crossing-over, and immediately before surgery. MRI did not demonstrate sufficient diagnostic performance to avoid surgical axillary staging in the authors’ analysis.

In this 3rd case in a short series, the author describes integration of next-generation PSMA imaging with conventional imaging, including CT and bone scans. The author reviews the rationale for triple therapy with darolutamide, ADT, and docetaxel, and reviews the key phase III studies on triple therapy in prostate cancer: the ENZAMET, PEACE-1 and ARASENS trials.