Recent Articles
In low- and middle-income countries, cervical cancer remains a leading cause of death and morbidity for women. Early detection and treatment of precancerous lesions are critical in cervical cancer prevention, and colposcopy is a primary diagnostic tool for identifying cervical lesions and guiding biopsies. The transformation zone (TZ) is where a stratified squamous epithelium develops from the metaplasia of simple columnar epithelium and is the most common site of precancerous lesions. However, inexperienced colposcopists may find it challenging to accurately identify the type and location of the TZ during a colposcopy examination.
Natural language processing systems for data extraction from unstructured clinical text requires expert-driven input for labelled annotations and model training. The natural language processing competency of large language models (LLM) can enable automated data extraction of important patient characteristics from electronic health records useful for accelerating cancer clinical research and informing oncology care.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Compelling evidence shows screening detects colorectal cancer (CRC) at earlier stages and prevents the development of CRC through removal of pre-cancerous polyps. Healthy People 2030 goal for CRC screening is 68.3% but only 36.5% of Missouri Federally Qualified Health Center Patients aged 50-75 years are up-to-date on CRC screening. For average risk patients, there are three commonly used screening tests used in the United States—two types of stool tests collected at home (Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT)/Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) and Cologuard® (FIT-DNA)) and colonoscopy completed at procedural centers.
Plain language summaries (PLSs) of Cochrane systematic reviews are a simple format for presenting medical information to the lay public. This is particularly important in oncology, where patients have a more active role in decision making. However, current PLS formats often exceed the readability requirements for the general population. Cost-effective, more automated solutions to this problem are still lacking.
Cancers of the bladder, kidney, and prostate are the 3 major genitourinary cancers that significantly contribute to the global burden of disease (GBD) and continue to show increasing rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In mainland China, understanding the cancer burden on patients and their families is crucial; however, public awareness and concerns about these cancers, particularly from the patient’s perspective, remain predominantly focused on financial costs. A more comprehensive exploration of their needs and concerns has yet to be fully addressed.
The non-invasive imaging examinations of mammography (MG), low-dose CT for lung cancer screening (LCS) and CT colonography (CTC) play important roles in screening for the most common cancer types. Internet search data can be used to gauge public interest in screening techniques, assess common screening-related questions and concerns, and formulate public awareness strategies.
Breast cancer is prevalent among females in the United States. Non-metastatic disease is treated by partial or complete Mastectomy procedures. However, the rates of those procedures vary across practices. Generating real-world evidence on breast cancer surgery could lead to improved and consistent practices. We investigated the quality of data from the All of Us Research Program, which is a precision medicine initiative that collected real-world electronic healthcare data from different sites in the United States both retrospectively and prospectively to participant enrollment.
Androgen receptor axis-targeting reagents (ARATs) have become key drugs for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). ARATs are taken long term in outpatient settings, and effective adverse event (AE) monitoring can help prolong treatment duration for patients with CRPC. Despite the importance of monitoring, few studies have identified which AEs can be captured and assessed in community pharmacies, where pharmacists in Japan dispense medications, provide counseling, and monitor potential AEs for outpatients prescribed ARATs. Therefore, we anticipated that a named entity recognition (NER) system might be used to extract AEs recorded in pharmaceutical care records generated by community pharmacists.
People with advanced ovarian cancer and their caregivers report unmet supportive care needs. We developed a Collaborative Agenda-Setting Intervention (CASI) to elicit patients’ and caregivers’ needs through the patient portal prior to a clinic visit and to communicate these needs to clinicians using the electronic health record.
Therapist-guided eHealth interventions have been shown to engage users more effectively and achieve better outcomes than self-guided interventions when addressing psychological symptoms. Building on this evidence, this viewpoint aimed to describe the adaptation of iConquerFear, a self-guided eHealth intervention targeting fear of cancer recurrence, into a therapist-guided version (TG-iConquerFear) tailored specifically for colorectal cancer survivors (CRCS). The goal was to optimize patient outcomes while minimizing the need for extensive resources. The adaptation process followed the Information System Research Framework, which facilitated a systematic integration of knowledge and iterative testing. Drawing on insights from the original iConquerFear development, as well as feedback from end-users, oncologists, and therapists, we began by identifying areas for improvement. These insights formed the foundation for the first design cycle. Initial internal testing revealed the need for several adjustments to enhance the intervention. While the core concept of iConquerFear remained unchanged, we made significant modifications to improve access by optimizing the platform for mobile devices, to support adherence by expanding the exercises, and to equip therapists with tools such as reflective questions and a monitoring control panel. External field testing with five CRCS provided further validation. Participants reported a high level of acceptability, and their feedback guided additional minor to consider incorporating in future versions. This study illustrates how a self-guided eHealth intervention can be successfully adapted into a therapist-guided format for fear of cancer recurrence, tailored to meet the needs of CRCS. The described approach serves as a valuable framework for integrating therapist guidance into similar interventions, ensuring their relevance and effectiveness for targeted populations.
