Background Among asymptomatic patients with severe carotid artery stenosis but no recent stroke or transient cerebral ischaemia, either carotid artery stenting (CAS) or carotid endarterectomy (CEA) can restore patency and reduce long-term stroke risks. However, from recent national registry data, each option causes about 1% procedural risk of disabling stroke or death. Comparison of their long-term protective effects requires large-scale randomised evidence.Methods ACST-2 is an international multicentre randomised trial of CAS versus CEA among asymptomatic patients with severe stenosis thought to require intervention, interpreted with all other relevant trials. Patients were eligible if they had severe unilateral or bilateral carotid artery stenosis and both doctor and patient agreed that a carotid procedure should be undertaken, but they were substantially uncertain which one to choose. Patients were randomly allocated to CAS or CEA and followed up at 1 month and then annually, for a mean 5 years. Procedural events were those within 30 days of the intervention. Intention-to-treat analyses are provided. Analyses including procedural hazards use tabular methods. Analyses and meta-analyses of non-procedural strokes use Kaplan-Meier and log-rank methods. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN21144362.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents about 10-20% of all invasive breast cancers and is associated with a poor prognosis. The nectin cell adhesion protein 4 (Nectin-4) is a junction protein involved in the formation and maintenance of cell junctions. Nectin-4 has previously shown to be expressed in about 60% of TNBC as well as in TNBC metastases, but to be absent in normal breast tissue, which makes it a potential specific target for TNBC therapy. Previous studies have shown an association of Nectin-4 protein expression with worse prognosis in TNBC in a small patient cohort. The aim of our study was to explore the role of Nectin-4 in TNBC and confirm its impact on survival in a larger TNBC patient cohort.Material and Methods: We performed immunohistochemical staining for Nectin-4 on a tissue microarray encompassing 148 TNBC cases with detailed clinical annotation and outcomes data.Results: A high expression of Nectin-4 was present in 86 (58%) of the 148 TNBC cases. In multivariate survival analysis, high expression of Nectin-4 was associated with a significantly better overall survival when compared with low expression of Nectin-4 (p < 0.001). Nectin-4-high expression was also significantly associated with a lower tumor stage (p = 0.025) and pN0 lymph node stage (p = 0.034).Conclusion: Our results confirm that expression of Nectin-4 serves as a potential prognostic marker in TNBC and is associated with a significantly better overall survival. In addition, Nectin-4 represents a potential target in TNBC, and its role in molecular defined breast cancer subtype should be investigated in larger patient cohorts.

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There is presently a lack of organization and standardized reporting schema for arteriovenous graft (AVG) infections. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the various types of treatment modalities for access site infections through an analysis of current publications on AVG. Key proposals are made to support standardization in a data-driven manner to make infection reporting more uniform and thereby facilitate more meaningful comparisons between various dialysis modalities and AVG technologies.