جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « early detection » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

A systematic review was conducted to summarize the methylated circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) markers reported over the last decade for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to identify the main technical challenges that are impeding their clinical implementation.

CRC is a major cause of cancer deaths worldwide, but early detection is key for successful treatment. Non-invasive methods such as methylated ctDNA testing show promise for improving detection and monitoring of CRC.

A comprehensive search was performed using Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus up to December 30, 2023, limited to articles published in the last 10 years (after 2012), while including advanced adenoma/stage 0 or stage I/II samples in biomarker validation.

After identifying 694 articles, removing duplicates and screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, a total of 62 articles were found to meet the inclusion criteria. Among the single biomarkers, MYO1-G, SEPT9, SDC2, and JAM3 revealed the highest sensitivity for polyps and stage I/II CRC. For multi-biomarkers with suitable sensitivity, combinations of SFRP1, SFRP2, SDC2, PRIMA1, or ALX4, BMP3, NPTX2, RARB, SDC2, SEPT9, VIM or ZFHX4, ZNF334, ELOVL2, UNC5C, LOC146880, SFMBT2, GFRA1 were identified for polyps and stage I/II CRC.

Enhancing sensitivity and specificity of molecular screening methods is crucial for improving CRC detection. Identifying a select few valuable biomarkers is key to reducing costs, despite challenges posed by low ctDNA levels in plasma, particularly in early-stage cancers.

Context:

 Due to the chronic nature of cancer, screening programs were a set of sequential decisions taken over time. Markov decision process (MDP) and partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) models were the mathematical tools applied in studies, including sequential decision-making such as screening protocols for medical decision-making.

 The main goal of this study was to investigate optimal policy for cancer screening using MDP and POMDP models.

 We performed a review of articles published within July 2000 to November 2022 in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. The stopping age, the type of optimal strategy, the benefits of the optimal policy, and the relationship between age and risk threshold were extracted. Studies that did not use MDPs and POMDPs as the mathematical maximization models in cancer screening, review articles, editorials or commentaries, non-English articles, and those that did not focus on optimization were excluded.

 From 532 articles, 6 studies met the study criteria. All studies suggested that the optimal policy was control-limit, and the cancer risk threshold was a non-decreasing function of age. Three studies specified a stopping age for cancer screening. In five studies, the optimal policies outperformed the guidelines or no screening strategy.

 Two essential factors in screening decisions were cancer risk and age, which were individual variables. The control-limit policy included these factors in decision-making for cancer screening. These policies highlighted personalized screening and showed that this type of screening could outperform cancer screening guidelines regarding economic and clinical benefits.

The incidence of mental disorders continues to rise annually, a trend that is exacerbated by the inability to detect early mental health issues in the community and the inadequate reporting of such conditions. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of interventions that distribute culture-based cadre empowerment modules in order to improve cadres' early awareness of mental health issues.

In this experimental study, 102 mental health personnel were divided into an intervention group (n=51) and a control group (n=51). Culture-based cadre empowerment training via discussion forums and modules constituted the intervention. The participants were evaluated by independent assessors both prior to randomization (T0) and in a posttest following eight weeks of intervention (T1).

The posttest findings and follow-up assessments, which were analysed statistically, indicate a significant improvement in the cadres' capacity to identify, oversee, mobilise, and document mental health issues in the community. The p-value was found to be less than 0.05. In contrast to the control group, there is typically no observed increase.

Culturally based cadre empowerment is an effective intervention to increase mental health cadres' ability to detect mental health in the community. Culture-based cadre empowerment is a short, easy-to-use, group-based intervention and is easy to implement in various environments.

Financial ability to pay has a unique role in the accessibility of health care services, which indicates the necessity of raising enough funds by governments. However, how much households are willing to pay (WTP) for receiving a particular service? And what factors influence their WTP? The current systematic review aimed to, firstly, review studies on the WTP for Down syndrome (DS) screening, and, secondly, to identify factors that affect WTP for DS screening.

We systematically searched the Scopus, PubMed, Web of Sciences (ISI), and Embase databases to identify relevant studies from their inception to June 2020; the search strategy was updated on December 2021. Initially, 157 articles were identified, and 5 were found eligible for full-text review. In event of any disagreement, a third reviewer was used. Extracted WTPs were converted to US dollars in 2018 using exchange rate parity and the present value formula to make a comparison. The quality assessment of the selected studies was done using the "Lancsar and Louvier" and Smith checklist; also, vote counting was used to assess the influence of factors.

Five eligible studies, published from 2005 to 2020, were fully reviewed. All final studies were scored as good quality. The extracted WTPs varied from $169 to $1118 in UK and Canada, respectively. Income and information/knowledge about screening tests were the most frequently investigated factors. Education level, detection rate, women's age, cost, and family history were significantly associated with higher levels of WTP for DS screening.

This study demonstrated a significant gap in WTP for DS screening in various countries. Women are WTP higher costs for tests with higher screenings. Also, a unique role was identified for income, occupation, information, and family history of DS in WTP for DS screening. In addition, a positive association was found for the variable of age.

Nowadays COVID-19 has become a pandemic in which global society experience multiple difficulties in management. It seems that olfactory dysfunction is one of the early occurring symptoms of this viral infection and many patients just show this symptom after they got infected. Considering so, olfactory dysfunction especially a decline in olfaction could potentially be used for screening purposes and preventing the disease to spread.

50 PCR-verified SARS-CoV-2 infected participants were assessed about their olfactory function adequacy using a Modified Version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) for the Iranian population called Iran Smell Identification Test (Iran-SIT). Participants scores were compared against normal population scores in this test and possible correlations of age and scores were explored as well.

Participants with SARS-CoV-2 infection generally obtained lesser scores in the mentioned test which means they experience a decline in olfactory function more, significantly. Aging also has a negative correlation with olfaction adequacy.

Based on this article’s finding, olfactory function decrease is more frequent among SARS-CoV-2 infected people and potentially could be a suggestive indicator for screening programs. This indicator should be interpreted concerning patients’ age.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Iranian women’s perceptions, behaviors, and beliefs related to breast cancer screening readiness, with a focus on the role of religion.

Our sample consisted of 25 women, 35 to 65 years old, who resided in Tehran, Iran. It included 15 at-risk women (self-reported history of breast cancer before the age of 40 in their family) and 10 others with a history of breast cancer. All interviewees were Muslim who spoke Persian (Farsi). The women were chosen using purposive sampling. We used a qualitative content analysis design with a constant comparative analysis approach, which is appropriate for obtaining reliable and valid results from textual data.

The overarching theme apparent from transcript analysis was that of “Clergywoman Can Play a Role in Increasing Awareness”. Four categories, namely, (1) Lack of information regarding breast cancer screening, (2) Awareness can improve self-care, (3) Religious outlooks of participants can influence early detection behaviors, (4) Clergywoman can play a role in increasing awareness, were identified. However, we found that the majority of interviewees lacked information about breast cancer screening and prevention. This was often both the cause and the effect of fear and misunderstandings about the process. Furthermore, we found that religious authorities, particularly clergywomen, who speak from a religious perspective, could play a significant and effective role in convincing women to pursue prevention measures. Additionally, we found that many women emphasized that religious gatherings, or framing health messages in a religious narrative, could be a significant step forward in advocating early detection behaviors.

Our study shows that religion is a motivating factor in breast cancer early detection behavior and offers new insight into women’s perceptions of self-care. It highlights a potentially significant role of clergywomen in encouraging women in Tehran, Iran to pursue breast cancer screening.

A timely diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is crucial to obtain more practical treatments. In this article, a novel approach using Auto-Encoder Neural Networks (AENN) for early detection of AD was proposed.

The proposed method mainly deals with the classification of multimodal data and the imputation of missing data. The data under study involve the MiniMental State Examination, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, cerebrospinal fluid data, and personal information. Natural logarithm was used for normalizing the data. The Auto-Encoder Neural Networks was used for imputing missing data. Principal component analysis algorithm was used for reducing dimensionality of data. Support Vector Machine (SVM) was used as classifier. The proposed method was evaluated using Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Then, 10fold crossvalidation was used to audit the detection accuracy of the method.

The effectiveness of the proposed approach was studied under several scenarios considering 705 cases of ADNI database. In three binary classification problems, that is AD vs. normal controls (NCs), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) vs. NC, and MCI vs. AD, we obtained the accuracies of 95.57%, 83.01%, and 78.67%, respectively.

Experimental results revealed that the proposed method significantly outperformed most of the stateoftheart methods.

The oral cancer constitutes 48% of head and neck cancer cases. Ninety percent of oral cancer cases are histologically diagnosed as oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). Despite new management strategies, the 5‑year survival rate of oral cancer is still below 50% in most countries. Head and neck cancers are heterogeneous tumors, and this characteristic of them provides a challenge to treatment plan. Due to the poor outcomes in oral cancer, prevention is a necessity. In this review, a relevant English Literature search in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar from 2000 to mid‑2018 was performed. All published articles related to oral cancer and its prevention were included. The risk factors of oral cancer and strategies of oral cancer prevention will be discussed.

This paper aimed to identify new candidate biomarkers in blood for early diagnosis of CRC.                                                            

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most widespread malignancies increasing globally. The high mortality rate associated with colorectal cancer is due to the delayed diagnosis in an advanced stage while the metastasis has occurred. For better clinical management and subsequently to reduce mortality of CRC, early detection biomarkers are in high demand.

A 2D-PAGE separation of proteins was performed followed by tandem mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-TOF) to discover potential plasma protein markers for CRC and AA (advanced adenomas). Furthermore, western blot method was used to confirm a part of the results in colorectal tissue samples.

The significantly altered proteins including HPR, HP, ALB, KRT1, APOA1, FGB, IGJ and C4A were down-regulated in polyp relative to normal, and CRC compare to polyp surprisingly, and inversely, ORM2 was up-regulated with the fold change ? 2 and p-value ? 0.05. We also surveyed APOA1, FGB, and C4A for further confirmation of their expression changes by western blotting. All three of them showed a decreasing trend from normal toward CRC tissue samples as it mentioned before, but just changes of FGB and C4A were significant.

The results demonstrated that plasma proteins can be less invasive markers for the detection of CRC. FGB and C4A can be considered as plasma potential biomarkers to early diagnosis of CRC patients and understanding the underlying procedures in tumorigenesis. Undoubtedly, the additional study must be conducted on large scale cohorts to verify the results.Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Advanced adenomatous polyp, Early detection, Plasma biomarker, proteomics.(Please cite as Fayazfar S, Zali H, Arefi Oskouie A, Asadzadeh Aghdaei H, Rezaei Tavirani M, Nazemalhosseini Mojarad E. Early diagnosis of colorectal cancer via plasma proteomic analysis of CRC and advanced adenomatous polyp. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench 2019;(4):328-339).

Dental caries is known as one of the most common oral diseases in the world. Tooth decay progresses slowly, and the symptoms are not regularly visible until it reaches an irreversible phase and needs to be removed with extensive restoration treatment. If the lesions could be diagnosed at an initial stage, the progress of dental diseases would be stopped through preventive treatments. Conventional methods for caries detection are visual examinations and X-Ray imaging methods that have significant limitations such as poor sensitivity and specificity at the earliest stages of the disease due to the small size of the lesions.


Photoacoustic imaging as a non-invasive hybrid imaging modality combines the high spatial resolution of ultrasound with the rich optical contrasts of optical imaging, and it is much safer than the ionizing radiation like X-ray imaging. In this study, the simulation of the light propagation and energy deposition in the tooth was done using Monte Carlo to form the initial pressure for acoustic simulations which is done by the K-Wave toolbox. The simulations were implemented by a tooth model which is including enamel, dentin, pulp, and gum layers.


Simulation results revealed that early tooth lesions could be detected by a broad beam light source better than the pencil beam light source in photoacoustic imaging. Also, as our simulation results proved, the amount of energy deposition for the bigger lesions is significantly higher than the smaller lesions using the broad beam light source.


Photoacoustic imaging as a promising imaging modality which is non-contact, non- invasive and non-ionizing imaging modality could detect early-stage tooth caries and provide quantitative information for white spot lesion evaluation

The number of children with autism, who have many unmet needs, is increasing dramatically. However, the existing evidence shows that early identification and intervention are effective in reducing the later costs and burdens of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thus, the present study aimed to develop evidence-based services for children with autism in Iran to reduce its impacts on the affected children and their families and to decrease its burden on the society.

A 3-step study was conducted based on a modification of the Replicating Effective Programs (REP) framework (step 1: need assessment and situation analysis; step 2: identifying current evidence-based services; step 3: designing the first draft of the package and its core elements). Each step was conducted by a specific methodology.

By considering the obtained data, it was found that a package of services with 4 core components to respond to the perceived needs in Iran was needed: (1) early detection of at-risk children; (2) care coordination and facilitation of access to current services; (3) implementation of an evidence-based early intervention program; and (4) training interventionists using an effective educational framework based on evidence-based material.

REP framework was used in the present study, which has been shown to be effective in adapting and implementing health care services. By considering the preconditions of REP, a comprehensive package of services, with 4 components was designed for toddlers with autism in Iran. The next step will be to study this package using a multicenter hybrid effectiveness-implementation randomized control trial.

Delirium is a disorder with disturbance of consciousness, cognitive process. The present study’s aim is to evaluate the efficacy of liaison educational and environmental changes on the delirium rate in ICU patients.
This is a quasi-experimental study on 148 admitted patients (over 18 years of age) in the general ICU. A total of 69 patients in the group before implementing multidisciplinary interventions and 79 patients in the group after multidisciplinary interventions were evaluated. In the case and control group RASS level of consciousness were measured. Scale ICU- CAM (at morning and evening) is used to check the incidence of delirium in the ICU patient. In addition, the demographic questionnaire has been used and delirium duration and the length of hospitalization are also evaluated in both groups. Multifactorial interventions are included as staff physicians and nurses training through a workshop. It should be noted that a 3-hour workshop is used for training of all staff personnel in the ICU ward. The 2nd part is creating environmental intervention in the ICU to decrease delirium in admitted patients.
In this study, 148 patients were studied, 69 patients in the group before implementing multidisciplinary interventions and 79 patients in the group after multidisciplinary interventions were evaluated. Incidence of delirium was 30 (37.97) in intervention and in 50 (72.46) control group (P = 0.01). The mean percent day in ICU patients with delirium was 26.18 ± 35.38 at intervention group and 35.84 ± 39.31 in the control group (P = 0.001).
We found that delirium can be reduced by some intervention, and also medical team orientation about delirium can be help to reduced the incidence; therefore, it is recommended that this factor be evaluated in future study.

There is a strong need for developing clinical technologies and instruments for prompt tissue assessment in a variety of oncological applications as smart methods. Elastic scattering spectroscopy (ESS) is a real-time, noninvasive, point-measurement, optical diagnostic technique for malignancy detection through changes at cellular and subcellular levels, especially important in early diagnosis of invasive skin cancer, melanoma. In fact, this preliminary study was conducted to provide a classification method for analyzing the ESS spectra. Elastic scattering spectra related to the normal skin and melanoma lesions, which were already confirmed pathologically, were provided as input from an ESS database.
A program was developed in MATLAB based on singular value decomposition and K-means algorithm for classification.
Accuracy and sensitivity of the proposed classifying method for normal and melanoma spectra were 87.5% and 80%, respectively.
This method can be helpful for classification of melanoma and normal spectra. However, a large body of data and modifications are required to achieve better sensitivity for clinical applications.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common type of cancer among men over 60 years old. The aggressiveness and mortality of PCa can be correlated with obesity. Adipose tissue-derived cytokines such as adiponectin may explain the correlation between PCa and obesity. Since the correlation between adiponectin and aggressive PCa is still not fully evaluated, we aimed to investigate the probable role of adiponectin in PCa. Adiponectin is considered as a link between obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes. On the other hand, adiponectin is a key mediator of systemic insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis. Moreover, low level of adiponectin is associated with inflammation and angiogenesis. These processes could promote tumor growth. Special effects of adiponectin are mediated via adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK). AMPK activation inhibits growth of androgen-independent and androgen-sensitive PCa cell lines. Moreover, c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) and Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway are known as adiponectin’s mediators on the metabolic syndrome and cancer. Furthermore, adiponectin acts as a tumor suppressor gene via inhibition of Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition (EMT) of PCa cells, but it is down regulated through hypermethylation of promoter gene in PCa cells. Therefore, according to the results of these studies, decreased concentration of adiponectin was associated with increased risk of PCa. It seems that hypoadiponectinemia may act as a promising biomarker for detection and diagnosis of PCa.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a state where neurons within the brain stop functioning, lose connection with other neurons and die. It’s the most common cause of dementia, a loss of brain function that can harmfully impact memory, thinking, language, judgment and behavior. Alzheimer’s is irreversible and progressive. Although the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown, scientists believe that a build-up of beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain are associated with the disease. Medications that slow the progression of the disease and manage symptoms are available, but there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Current diagnosis of AD is through clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging assessments. Functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity during a cognitive, sensory, or motor task or at rest by measuring changes in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) MR signal.
In this paper, we evaluate application of fMRI to detect AD.
The papers were searched in PubMed, Medline and Scopus databases with the relevant key words such as fMRI, Alzheimer disease and early detection.
BOLD fMRI is considered to reflect the joined synaptic activity of neurons through MRI signal changes because of alterations in blood flow, blood volume, and the blood oxyhemoglobin/deoxyhemoglobin ratio. In patients with clinically diagnosed AD, the outcomes of fMRI have been quite consistent, showing reduced hippocampal activity during the encoding of new data. Several studies have reported increased prefrontal cortical activity in AD patients, suggesting that other networks may increase activity as an attempted compensatory mechanism during hippocampal failure. In particular, the event-related fMRI studies have found that hyperactivity was observed, which suggested that hyperactivity might represent a compensatory mechanism in the setting of early AD pathology. Also, fMRI of default mode network (DMN) brain activity during resting is lately achievement attention as a potential noninvasive biomarker to diagnose initial AD.
Both task-related and resting fMRI techniques have the potential to detect early brain dysfunction related to AD. However, the use of fMRI in AD populations thus far has been limited to a relatively small number of research groups.