Economic assessment of abemaciclib for the adjuvant treatment of luminal HER2- breast cancer from the perspective of the Spanish health system

Introduction Abemaciclib is an oral inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6). Data from the clinical trial monarchE (2023) showed improved survival from invasive disease. The aim of the present article was to conduct an economic assessment of adjuvant treatment with abemaciclib in women with luminal, HER2- and node-positive breast cancer. Methods A Markov…

Economic Analysis of Cochlear Implants in Adults With Bilateral Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss. A Systematic Review of the Literature

Objective To determine the cost-effectiveness or cost-utility of cochlear implants (CI) in adults with severe to profound bilateral hearing loss. Databases Reviewed PubMed (Medline), The Cochrane Library, Embase via Elsevier, EBSCOhost CINAHL, and Scopus. Methods The study included adult participants with severe to profound bilateral neurosensory hearing loss. The analysis encompassed quality of life improvements,…

Early mortality in multiple myeloma: the time-dependent impact of comorbidity. A population-based study in 621 real-life patients

Multiple myeloma is a heterogeneous disease with variable survival; this variability cannot be fully explained by the current systems of risk stratification. Early mortality remains a serious obstacle to further improve the trend towards increased survival demonstrated in recent years. However, the definition of early mortality is not standardized yet. Importantly, no study has focused…

Duration of the patient interval in breast cancer and factors associated with longer delays in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Objective Breast cancer survival is lower in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) partially due to many women being diagnosed with late-stage disease. The patient interval refers to the time elapsed between the detection of symptoms and the first consultation with a healthcare provider and is considered one of the core indicators for early diagnosis and…

Does the use of health technology assessment have an impact on the utilisation of health care resources? Evidence from two European countries

Objectives A centralised approach to health technology assessment (HTA) may facilitate optimal use of HTA resources. A regional approach may increase the chances of local implementation of recommendations. This study aimed to compare assessment procedures in England (centralised HTA approach) with Spain (regional HTA approach) discussing key challenges and opportunities from both approaches. Methods We…

Does Postural Feedback Reduce Musculoskeletal Risk?: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: There is a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among personnel working in the healthcare sector, mainly among nursing assistants and orderlies. Objective: The objective is to analyze the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention that included postural feedback in reducing musculoskeletal risk. Method: A total of 24 nursing assistants and orderlies in a hospital setting…

Do patients with type 2 diabetes have impaired hip bone microstructure? A study using 3D modeling of hip dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

Aim: Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have more risk of bone fractures. However, areal bone mineral density (aBMD) by conventional dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is not useful for identifying this risk. This study aims to evaluate 3D-DXA parameters determining the cortical and trabecular compartments in patients with T2DM compared to non-diabetic subjects and to…

DNA methylome analysis identifies accelerated epigenetic ageing associated with postmenopausal breast cancer susceptibility

Aim of the study A vast majority of human malignancies are associated with ageing, and age is a strong predictor of cancer risk. Recently, DNA methylation-based marker of ageing, known as ‘epigenetic clock’, has been linked with cancer risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate whether the epigenetic clock is associated with breast cancer risk…

Disparities in the management of cutaneous malignant melanoma. A population‐based high‐resolution study

Population‐based cancer registry data from three Spanish areas were used to assess the patterns of care and adherence to guidelines for cutaneous malignant melanoma. We included 934 cases diagnosed in 2009–2013. Completeness of the pathology reports, imaging for detecting distant metastasis and the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) were analysed. The proportion of…