RESUMO
Liver biopsy is historically the gold standard for liver fibrosis assessment of chronic hepatitis C patients. However, with the introduction and validation of noninvasive tests (NITs) to evaluate advanced fibrosis, and the direct-acting antiviral agents for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), the role of NITs have become even more complex. There is now need for longitudinal monitoring and elucidation of cutoff values for prediction of liver-related complication after sustained virological response. The aim of this report is to provide a critical overview of the various NITs available for the assessment of liver fibrosis in HCV patients.
RESUMO
The increase of breast cancer (BC) incidence has drawn attention to BC risk as means of reducing mortality and morbidity of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of BC risk perception, evaluate factors that affect risk perception and assess the correlation between BC risk perception and attitudes towards BC chemoprevention. A cross-sectional study included total of 258 women with average and high-risk for BC according to the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (BCRAT). All data were collected by face-to-face interview by three trained 6th year medical school students using a 54-item questionnaire. Each participant's actual BC risk was compared to a perceived risk and the accuracy of the BC risk self-assessment was determined. 72% of high-risk women underestimated their BC risk (p < 0.001). One third of subjects with a family history of BC have also underestimated their own risk (p = 0.002). Women who responded to screening mammography were more informed about BC risk factors (p = 0.001). General knowledge about BC chemoprevention was surprisingly low, regardless of the accuracy of BC risk self-assessment. High-risk women appear to be unrealistically optimistic, since there was a significant difference between the accuracy of self-perceived risk and the objective BC risk.