Nonlinear optical phase shift in blood plasmas for neoplasia diagnosis.

Detecting cancer at an early stage is crucial for timely treatment and better chances of survival. This research focuses on a scanning method for detecting cancer by examining the nonlinear optical characteristics of blood plasma samples. The study used both cancerous and noncancerous plasma samples and presented the results statistically by utilizing an incident laser power-dependent nonlinear optical phase shift variable called ζ in the Z-scan technique. The results showed a clear difference between the cancerous and non-cancerous samples with an accuracy of 92%. Furthermore, the study suggests the potential for measuring the cancer staging from the cancerous plasma. The study also confirmed a significant difference in ζ for plasma samples undergoing chemotherapy. A red laser with high power (above 18mW) was used to avoid the involvement of fluorophores or other chemical reagents in the plasma samples during the measurement.

First trimester obstetric outcome of frozen thawed embryo transfer: does the stage of embryo make any difference?

BACKGROUND: The direction of management and outcome of frozen thawed embryo transfer (FET) is becoming different day by day with the invention of newer technologies and application of it as a treatment modality in modern medicine. It also contributes to around 25% of births because of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) procedures worldwide today. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted at ART Center of tertiary care hospital. Couples with infertility planned to undergo FET were included in the study. Following FET, all positive cases were followed up till 14 weeks period of gestation. Data were collected and analyzed with appropriate statistical test using Epitable, 6.04 version, and SPSS, version 18, software. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 470 FET cycles were carried out, and 1108 cryopreserved embryos were subjected to thawing procedure. Overall survival rate of 93.86% was noted. Among various stages of embryos thawed, the lowest survival rate (64.62%) was found in blastocyst group. Biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and ongoing pregnancy rate were also analyzed in different subgroup of transferred embryos. The blastocyst group showed best implantation and clinical pregnancy rate but lowest survival rate among all subgroup of embryos. CONCLUSION: The blastocyst transfer during FET cycle showed best clinical and ongoing pregnancy rate. So if clinical situations were favorable for blastocyst stage transfer, the same should be preferred for FET cycle.

LINE-1 retrotransposon encoded ORF1p expression and promoter methylation in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a pilot study.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is highly predominant in India due to excessive use of tobacco. Here we investigated Long INterpersed Element 1 (LINE or L1) retrotransposon activity in OSCC samples in the same population. There are almost 500,000 copies of L1 occupied around 30%  of the human genome. Although most of them are inactive, around 150-200 copies are actively jumping in a human genome. L1 encodes two proteins designated as ORF1p and ORF2p and expression of both proteins are critical for the process of retrotransposition. Here we have analyzed L1 ORF1p expression in a small cohort (n = 15) of paired cancer-normal tissues obtained from operated oral cancer patients. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) with the human ORF1 antibody showed the presence of ORF1p in almost 60%  cancer samples, and few of them also showed aberrant p53 expression.  Investigating L1 promoter methylation status, showed certain trends towards hypomethylation of the L1 promoter in cancer tissues compared to its normal counterpart. Our data raise the possibility that L1ORF1p expression might have some role in the onset and progression of this particular type of cancer.

National Cancer Grid of India Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Cervical Cancer.

Standard guidelines for the management of early and locally advanced cervical cancer are available from various academic consortiums nationally and internationally. However, implementing standard-of-care treatment poses unique challenges within low- and middle-income countries, such as India, where diverse clinical care practices may exist. The National Cancer Grid, a consortium of 108 institutions in India, aims to homogenize care for patients with cervical cancer by achieving consensus on not only imaging and management, but also in addressing potential solutions to prevalent challenges that affect the homogenous implementation of standard-of-care treatment. These guidelines therefore represent a consensus statement of the National Cancer Grid gynecologic cancer expert group and will assist in homogenization of the therapeutic management of patients with cervical cancer in India.

A study of assessment of patient safety climate in tertiary care hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Medical errors are being detected with increasing frequency in healthcare environment, in many cases leading to patient harm. Measurement and improvement of patient safety climate has been identified as a strategic effort towards addressing this vital issue. METHOD: Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ), validated by previous research was administered to 300 respondents in three tertiary care hospitals of India, the respondents representing various categories of healthcare workers and variations in safety scale score was analyzed by various statistical tools. RESULTS: No variation was observed in the Patient Safety Index score among the study hospitals. However, significant variations were observed among different categories of healthcare workers across dimensions of Teamwork, Perception of Management and Stress Recognition. Multiple Regression models identified Teamwork and Perception of Management to have significant correlation with Patient Safety Index Score. CONCLUSION: Patient Safety Climate can be effectively assessed and such assessment utilized for focused improvement efforts towards safety in healthcare organizations.

HPV vaccine: Current status and future directions.

HPV Vaccine was introduced to prevent cervical cancer known to be caused by infection with one or more of the high risk subtypes of the Human papilloma virus (HPV). Since introduction, trials have proven its efficacy in preventing Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) beyond doubt and its effectiveness in preventing cervical cancer though presumptive is reasonably certain as per mathematical modelling. It also prevents other HPV related anogenital and oropharyngeal malignancies in both sexes. HPV vaccines have courted many controversies related to its efficacy, safety, ideal age of vaccination, use in HPV infected individuals and use in males. The currently available vaccines are based on L1 Viral like particles (VLP) and hence highly species specific, thermolabile, costly and are purely prophylactic. The quest for a cheaper, thermostable and broad spectrum vaccine has led to many newer prophylactic vaccines. Therapeutic vaccines were born out of the inescapable necessity considering high HPV related morbidity projected in the non HPV naïve population. Therapeutic vaccines would immediately reduce this burden and also help in the management of HPV related cancers alone or as part of combination strategies. Ongoing research is aimed at a total control over HPV related malignancies in the near future.