Minerva medica
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The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed tremendous strain on health systems throughout the world. This has led to many clinical trials being launched in order to try to find ways to combat the disease. The unprecedented nature of the pandemic has been reflected in the methods used in some of these trials. ⋯ However, critical evaluation of the methodology and practice of scientific research remains a crucial part of the scientific process. Even when conducted as randomized double-blind studies, residual biases may exist and interfere with the study conduct and interpretation of the data. A critical review of all data remains essential to thoroughly assess the impact of a research study.
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Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a dangerous malignancy with a high mortality rate. Diagnosing PC at an early stage is difficult, and approximately 5% of the patients survive for 5 years. Microsatellite instability (MSI) plays an important role in colorectal cancer (CRC) for prognosis and immunotherapy. Evaluation of MSI status is important as it is recognized biomarker for the positive response of immune checkpoint blockade therapy in cancer. To our knowledge, there is no report yet on the prevalence of MSI in Korean PC patients. Studies have reported conflicting prevalence of MSI in PC. ⋯ The finding of low incidence of MSI-H observed by the Promega panel also matched IHC results, so this study suggested that in Korean PC patients, MSI prevalence is infrequent.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is often associated to mood disorders and anxiety symptoms that may influence negatively the treatment approach. However, the relationship between anxiety, depression and adherence to treatment is still unclear. We investigate the presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in newly diagnosed OSA patients and the link between psychological symptoms and acceptance or adherence to CPAP after one year. ⋯ Presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms should be checked before PAP titration since they may negatively influence the early acclimatization and adherence.