Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer among women in low- and middle-income countries. Women in Rwanda have high rates of cervical cancer due to limited access to effective screening methods. Research in other low-resource settings similar to Rwanda has shown that HPV-based self-collection is an effective cervical cancer screening method. This study aims to compare the preferences of Rwandan women in urban and rural settings toward self-collection and to report on factors related to self-collection amenability. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from June 1-9, 2022. Women were recruited from one urban and one rural clinic in Rwanda. Women were eligible for the study if they were ≥ 18 years and spoke Kinyarwanda or English. The survey consisted of 51 questions investigating demographics and attitudes towards self-collection for cervical cancer screening. We reported descriptive statistics stratified by urban and rural sites. In total, 169 urban and 205 rural women completed the survey. The majority of respondents at both sites had a primary school or lower education and were in a relationship. Both urban and rural respondents were open to self-collection; however, rates were higher in the rural site (79.9% urban and 95.6% rural; p-value<0.001). Similarly, women in rural areas were more likely to report feeling unembarrassed about self-collection (65.3% of urban, 76.8% of rural; p-value<0.001). Notably, almost all urban and rural respondents (97.6% urban and 98.5% rural) stated they would go for a cervical cancer pelvic examination to a nearby health center if their self-collected results indicated any concern (p-value = 0.731). Rwandan women in both urban and rural areas largely support self-collection for cervical cancer screening. Further research is needed to better understand how to implement self-collection screening services in Rwanda.

Rates of STIs continue to rise worldwide, and novel evidence-based interventions such as text messaging aimed at improving client services are needed. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate text messaging to support STI/HIV prevention and treatment interventions.

Three meta-analyses and one systematic review have been conducted on the question of whether self-collected specimens are as accurate as clinician-collected specimens for STI screening. However, these reviews predate 2007 and did not analyze rectal or pharyngeal collection sites. Currently, there is no consensus on which sampling method is the most effective for the diagnosis of genital chlamydia (CT), gonorrhea (GC) or human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Our meta-analysis aims to be comprehensive in that it will examine the evidence of whether self-collected vaginal, urine, pharyngeal and rectal specimens provide as accurate a clinical diagnosis as clinician-collected samples (reference standard).

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 2 is a calcium channel activated by probenecid. Probenecid is a Food and Drug Administration-approved uricosuric drug that has recently been shown to induce positive lusitropic and inotropic effects in animal models through cardiomyocyte transient receptor potential vanilloid 2 activation. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that oral probenecid can improve cardiac function and symptomatology in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and to further elucidate its calcium-dependent effects on myocyte contractility.

Body image (BI) is an important issue for cancer patients, as patients with BI concerns are susceptible to depression, anxiety, difficulty coping, and poor quality of life (QoL). While this concern has been documented in patients with other malignancies, no data exists of this QoL issue in patients with primary brain tumors (PBT).

Canadian clinical guidelines recommend at least annual and up to quarterly bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing among sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM). However, testing rates are suboptimal. Innovative solutions are needed to close the gap because there is currently limited knowledge on how best to approach this issue.

Mutations effects on p53 isoforms' activities remain largely unknown, although they are mutated in 92% of TP53 mutant cancers. Therefore, exploring the effect of mutations on p53 isoforms activities is a critical, albeit unexplored area in the p53 field. In this article, we report for the first time a mutant Δ133p53α-specific pathway which increases IL4I1 and IDO1 expression and activates AHR, a tumor-promoting mechanism. Accordingly, mutant Δ133p53α R273H increases glioblastoma cancer cells proliferation and invasion while the WT does not. Furthermore, while WT Δ133p53α reduces apoptosis to promote DNA repair, the mutant also reduces apoptosis but fails to maintain genomic stability.Furthermore, both WT and mutant Δ133p53α reduce cellular senescence in a senescence inducer-dependent manner (temozolomide or radiation) because they regulate different senescence-associated target genes. Hence, WT Δ133p53α rescues temozolomide-induced but not radiation-induced senescence, while mutant Δ133p53α R273H rescues radiation-induced but not temozolomide-induced senescence. Lastly, using TCGA data, we determined that IL4I1, IDO1 and AHR are significantly higher in GBMs compared to LGGs. IL4I1 expression is increased in mutant TP53 LGGs and GBMs, although only significantly in LGG. Importantly, high expression of all three genes in LGG and IL4I1 in GBM is significantly associated with poorer patients' survival. These data show that, compared to WT Δ133p53α, R273H mutation reorientates its activities toward carcinogenesis and activates the oncogenic IL4I1/IDO1/AHR pathway, a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target in GBM by combining drugs specifically modulating Δ133p53α expression and IDO1/Il4I1/AHR inhibitors.

To assess the acceptability of integrated screening for cervical cancer and HIV in the community setting.

The aim of this study was to explore the acceptability of bacterial STI vaccines among young HPV-vaccinated Canadian women to inform future vaccine program implementation.