Alexandria University

BackgroundWomen diagnosed with gynecol. cancer often suffer from phys., psychol., and social challenges as well as sexuality-related concerns and hence poor life quality.This study attempted to evaluate the effect of psychoeducational intervention program on quality of life among patients with gynecol. cancers.MethodsA randomized controlled trial design was used where the eligible gynecol. cancer women (n = 100) were allocated randomly into the intervention group receiving a four-session, 8-wk-long psychoeducational program (n = 50) or the control group receiving routine care (n = 50).Allocation concealment was used to avoid selection bias.A structured interview questionnaire was used at baseline assessment to obtain data regarding the socio-demographics as well as clin. traits of studied women.Addnl., data on quality of life at baseline and after implementation of the program were collected using the Arabic version of Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General version 4 (FACT-G).ResultsThe study revealed that gynecol. cancer women receiving psychoeducational intervention program experienced a significantly greater improvement in their total life quality in addition to significant improvements across different domains as measured by FACT-G.ConclusionThe psychoeducational intervention program contributed pos. in improving the life quality among patients with gynecol. cancers.

The 2024 revision of the McDonald diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) incorporate novel biomarkers and topographies to enhance MS diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. Whether these changes improve diagnostic yield in clinical practice remains to be determined, particularly in regions with limited access to advanced investigations.

To evaluate the diagnostic yield and agreement between the 2017 and 2024 McDonald criteria in an Egyptian MS cohort.

In this cross-sectional study, 197 consecutive patients presenting with suspected demyelinating disease were classified according to both the 2017 and 2024 McDonald criteria. The proportion of MS diagnoses, inter-criteria agreement (Cohen's κ), and discordance (McNemar's test) were assessed overall and within subgroups (age, clinical presentation, MRI lesion topography).

The 2017 criteria identified 168 MS cases, whereas the 2024 criteria identified 195, diagnosing 27 additional patients (+13.7 %). Agreement was low (κ = 0.112), with McNemar's test confirming significant discordance (p < 0.001). Subgroup analyses showed additional cases mainly in patients <50 years (+27 cases, κ = 0.111, p < 0.001) and in those with typical presentations (+26 cases, κ = 0.116, p < 0.001). No differences were observed in patients ≥50 years or with atypical presentations (κ = 1.0, complete concordance). By MRI topography, the largest gain occurred in patients with 4-5 topographies (+27 cases, κ = 0.111, p < 0.001). Key contributors included four topographies without DIT (74.1 %) and optic nerve inclusion (51.9 %).

The 2024 McDonald criteria substantially increase MS diagnostic yield, especially in younger patients, typical clinical presentations, and those with limited MRI lesion burden, but demonstrate low concordance with the 2017 version. These findings support their application in clinical practice, while highlighting the need for prospective validation and careful interpretation in atypical or older patients.

In lung cancer diagnosis tissue should be adequate for identification of tumour type, and for testing for molecular alterations including multi-target next generation sequencing (NGS) where resources allow. This study aimed to examine the sufficiency of percutaneous ultrasound (US) guided samples obtained via the 2 main sampling methods; fine needle aspiration (FNA) and core biopsy (CB) for different levels of lung cancer testing.

Details of US-guided procedures carried out for lung cancer diagnosis were retrospectively collected. FNA and/or CBs were carried out according to feasibility and on-site cytology was not available. Diagnostic yields for histological diagnosis, limited molecular panel and multi-target NGS panel were calculated for each procedure.

Out of 66 samples, the yield for identifying tissue type was 95.4 % with no difference in yield between FNA and CBs (92.7 % and 93.6 % respectively). 32 samples were sent for multi-target NGS, with a success rate of 71.9 %. This was improved from 66.7 % to 76.5 % when both sampling methods were done as opposed to either method alone.

US-guided biopsies have high yield for tissue diagnosis in lung cancer and reasonable adequacy for extended genomic profiling. The results suggest that carrying out both FNA and CB improves the overall yield. Further prospective studies with standardized protocols are needed to confirm these findings.