A software tool to support follow-up care in a French childhood cancer cohort: construction and feasibility.

BACKGROUND: Treatment summaries and a personalized survivorship care plans based on internationally approved, organ-specific follow-up care recommendations are essential in preserving the health and quality of life for cancer survivors. Cohorts made up of survivors of childhood cancer have made significant contributions to the understanding of early mortality, somatic late complications, and psychosocial outcomes among former patients. New treatment protocols are needed to enhance survival and reduce the potential risk and severity of late effects, and working with treatment databases is crucial in doing so. CONSTRUCTION AND CONTENT: In the GOCE (Grand Ouest Cancer de l'Enfant [Western Region Childhood Cancer]) network, in a participative approach, we developed the LOG-after medical tool, on which health data are registered and can be extracted for analysis. Its name emphasizes the tool's goal, referring to 'logiciel' (the French word for software) that focuses on the period "after" the acute phase. This tool is hosted on a certified health data server. Several interfaces have been developed that can be used depending on the user's profile. Here we present this innovative co-constructed tool that takes national aspects into account, including the results of the feasibility/satisfaction study and its perspective. UTILITY AND DISCUSSION: The database contains data relating to 2558 patients, with samples from 1702 of these (66.54%) being held in a tumor bank. The average year in which treatment started was 2015 (ranging from December 1967 to November 2022: 118 patients were treated before 2012 and registered retrospectively when seen in long-term follow-up consultations or for another cancer since November 2021). A short questionnaire was distributed to healthcare professionals using the tool (physicians and research associates or technicians, n = 14), of whom 11 answered and were all satisfied. Access to the patient interface is currently open to 124 former patients. This was initially offered to 30 former patients who were over 15 years old, affected by the disease within the last 5 years, and had agreed to test it. Their opinions were collected by their doctor by e-mail, telephone, or during a consultation in an open-ended question and a non-directive interview. All patients were satisfied with the tool, with interest in testing it in the long term. Some former patients found that the tool provided them with some ease of mind; one, for instance, commented: "I feel lighter. I allow myself to forget. I know I will get a notification when the time comes." CONCLUSIONS: Freely available to all users, LOG-after: (1) provides help with determining personalized survivorship care plans for follow-up; (2) builds links with general practitioners; (3) empowers the patient; and (4) enables health data to be exported for analysis. Database URL for presentation: https://youtu.be/2Ga64iausJE.

Health Workers' Perception and Emotions Surrounding Teleconsultation in Pediatric Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: During the first lockdown of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we developed a teleconsultation model and conducted a survey-based study with the aim to evaluate satisfaction and emotions of health workers (HWs), to assess the feasibility of teleconsultations, and to evaluate technical issues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective monocentric exploratory study based on synchronous, video consultations between HWs and pediatric patients treated for blood or solid malignancies or blood benign diseases. Every HW completed an online survey which covered technical aspects, data concerning satisfaction, quality of the interaction with the patient, and emotions felt after the teleconsultation. A score was calculated for each aspect. RESULTS: Eleven specialists participated in the study, and we selected 84 questionnaires. With a satisfaction rate of 74%, HWs felt mostly calm (80%), relaxed (70%), stress-free (69%), and relieved (65%). We calculated the following median scores: an overall satisfaction score of 6.67 (0 to 10), a global feeling score of 8.79 (3.33 to 10.00), and a quality score of 7.34 (2.50 to 10.00). A strong correlation between the quality of teleconsultation and the satisfaction of the HWs has been highlighted ( r =0.588). CONCLUSION: Our series is an encouragingly positive experience from the perspective of the HWs, their feelings, and perceptions.

Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors With EWS-WT1 Transcript Expression: Should We Consider Children and Adult Patients Differently?

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is an aggressive sarcoma occurring in the young, teenager, and adult populations. The aim of this study is to compare initial tumor presentation, therapeutic management and scalability between pediatric and adult DSRCT patients and investigate the possibility of specific therapeutic approaches. A multicenter retrospective study of 81 Franco-Belgian medical files with DSRCT harboring Ewing sarcoma-Wilm tumor transcript was made. Median age was 17 years (3 to 58) with 42 children (13.5 y [3;17]) and 39 adults (28 y [18;58]). No significant differences were found between the 2 groups regarding initial symptoms and metastasis at diagnosis. The therapeutic approaches were similar for both groups: use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (78.6% vs. 79.5%, P=1), primary surgery (71.4% vs. 69.2%, P=0.73), adjuvant chemotherapy (54.8% vs. 61.5%, P=0.99), radiotherapy (23.8% and 10.3%, P=0.11) and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (14.3% vs. 2.6%; P=0.11). Median time to recurrence was 12 versus 18 months (P=0.13). Overall survival at 2 years and recurrence free were 46.4% versus 60.1% (P=0.83) and 14.3% versus 16%, respectively (P=0.16). Clinical presentation, initial therapeutics and outcome of DSRCT are equivalent suggesting that similar management should be considered for children and adults with DSRCT.

Pediatric palliative care at home by Home Care Unit: how home nurses feel?

PURPOSE: Our Home Care Unit (HCU) undertakes close to twenty pediatric palliative care engagements per year. We investigated the factors underlying such care by independent home health nurses. METHODS: This was a retrospective, observational, single-center study. Home nurses who had provided palliative pediatric care in the past 16 months were included. RESULTS: Fifty-six questionnaires were sent out (response rate of 44.6%). Eight home nurses had never provided pediatric palliative care. Three-quarters of the home nurses (76%) acknowledged having misgivings accepting these duties. The factors that facilitated providing this care were the availability of the HCU doctor and nurses, the proactiveness of the HCU team, and house calls. In 76% of cases, the involvement of the home nurses exceeded the strictly professional setting. Forty-six percent of the home nurses were amenable to undertaking another pediatric palliative care engagement, although 48% deemed the remuneration to be somewhat lacking. CONCLUSION: The analysis allowed us to identify several prerequisites for these care engagements: the availability and the proactiveness of the HCU team, communication, and planning. This study showed the pronounced personal involvement of home nurses in complex situations, with both the child and their entire family. Home nurses appear to be skilled at using the resources available to manage the exhaustion that can arise with such an engagement. Facilitating and respecting the choice to stay home of the child and their family was meaningful to them. The personal and professional enrichment were a source of motivation despite certain limitations (availability, remuneration).

Pure pediatric ovarian immature teratomas: The French experience.

OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics and outcome of pediatric ovarian immature teratomas (IT) to better define the place of chemotherapy. METHODS: Children with ovarian IT enrolled in TGM95 and TGM2013 studies were analyzed. Norris grading and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging system were used. RESULTS: Thirty-six cases were identified with a median age of 11 years (range = 1-18): 35 of 36 stage I (17 stage IA, 13 stage IC, and 5 stage IX), including seven patients with gliomatosis peritonei (GP), and 1 stage IIIB (IT peritoneal implants). Centrally reviewed Norris grading was performed in 31 cases: 14 grade I and 17 grade II/III tumors. All patients underwent upfront surgery: 19 unilateral oophorectomy, 14 unilateral adnexectomy, 2 unilateral cystectomy, and 1 bilateral cystectomy. No extensive GP surgery was performed. Six patients received adjuvant vinblastin, bleomycin, and cisplatinum because of tumor rupture (n = 5, including two patients with GP) or stage III (n = 1). After a median follow-up of 39.5 months (range = 6-238), two events occurred 10 and 11 months after diagnosis: one bilateralization (initial stage IX, grade I) and one IT peritoneal relapse (initial stage IA, grade II), respectively. Both were successfully rescued by platinum-based chemotherapy and delayed surgery. No stage IC patients treated without adjuvant chemotherapy relapsed (four grade I and three grade III). None of the seven patients with GP progressed. Five-year event-free survival and overall survival were 94% (95% CI = 81-98%) and 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The current series confirms the excellent prognosis of pediatric ovarian IT, arguing for conservative surgical approach in GP and against systematic adjuvant chemotherapy, even in ruptured tumors.

Genomic Footprints of Recovery in the European Bison.

After extinction in the wild in the beginning of the 20th century, the European bison has been successfully recovered in 2 distinct genetic lines from only 12 and 7 captive founders. We here aimed at characterizing the levels of realized inbreeding in these 2 restored lines to provide empirical insights into the genomic footprints left by population recovery from a small number of founders. To that end, we genotyped 183 European bison born over the last 40 years with the Illumina BovineHD beadchip that contained 22 602 informative autosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms after data filtering. We then identified homozygous-by-descent (HBD) segments and classified them into different age-related classes relying on a model-based approach. As expected, we observed that the strong and recent founder effect experienced by the 2 lines resulted in very high levels of recent inbreeding and in the presence of long HBD tracks (up to 120 Mb). These long HBD tracks were associated with ancestors living approximately from 4 to 32 generations in the past, suggesting that inbreeding accumulated over multiple generations after the bottleneck. The contribution to inbreeding of the most recent groups of ancestors was however found to be decreasing in both lines. In addition, comparison of Lowland individuals born at different time periods showed that the levels of inbreeding tended to stabilize, HBD segments being shorter in animals born more recently which indicates efficient control of inbreeding. Monitoring HBD segment lengths over generations may thus be viewed as a valuable genomic diagnostic tool for populations in conservation or recovery programs.

Age-based partitioning of individual genomic inbreeding levels in Belgian Blue cattle.

BACKGROUND: Inbreeding coefficients can be estimated either from pedigree data or from genomic data, and with genomic data, they are either global or local (when the linkage map is used). Recently, we developed a new hidden Markov model (HMM) that estimates probabilities of homozygosity-by-descent (HBD) at each marker position and automatically partitions autozygosity in multiple age-related classes (based on the length of HBD segments). Our objectives were to: (1) characterize inbreeding with our model in an intensively selected population such as the Belgian Blue Beef (BBB) cattle breed; (2) compare the properties of the model at different marker densities; and (3) compare our model with other methods. RESULTS: When using 600 K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the inbreeding coefficient (probability of sampling an HBD locus in an individual) was on average 0.303 (ranging from 0.258 to 0.375). HBD-classes associated to historical ancestors (with small segments ≤ 200 kb) accounted for 21.6% of the genome length (71.4% of the total length of the genome in HBD segments), whereas classes associated to more recent ancestors accounted for only 22.6% of the total length of the genome in HBD segments. However, these recent classes presented more individual variation than more ancient classes. Although inbreeding coefficients obtained with low SNP densities (7 and 32 K) were much lower (0.060 and 0.093), they were highly correlated with those obtained at higher density (r = 0.934 and 0.975, respectively), indicating that they captured most of the individual variation. At higher SNP density, smaller HBD segments are identified and, thus, more past generations can be explored. We observed very high correlations between our estimates and those based on homozygosity (r = 0.95) or on runs-of-homozygosity (r = 0.95). As expected, pedigree-based estimates were mainly correlated with recent HBD-classes (r = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS: Although we observed high levels of autozygosity associated with small HBD segments in BBB cattle, recent inbreeding accounted for most of the individual variation. Recent autozygosity can be captured efficiently with low-density SNP arrays and relatively simple models (e.g., two HBD classes). The HMM framework provides local HBD probabilities that are still useful at lower SNP densities.

Two Tumors in 1: What Should be the Therapeutic Target? Pediatric Germ Cell Tumor With Somatic Malignant Transformation.

BACKGROUND: Germ cell tumors with somatic malignant transformation (GCT with SMT) are rare in children and poorly described. Data are missing to determine if therapies should target the GCT, the SMT compound, or both simultaneously. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective national study was conducted in the Société Française des cancers de l'Enfant (SFCE) Centers. Medical records from patients aged 0 to 18 years diagnosed with GCT with SMT between 2000 and 2015 were analyzed. Any stages and primary sites were considered as well as synchronous and metachronous cases. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were identified. Thirteen patients had synchronous GCT with SMT. In the latter cases, primaries were ovary (5), mediastinum (3), pineal gland (3), sacrococcyx (1), and parametrium (1). SMT histologies were central primitive neuroectodermal tumor (5), embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas (3) or thyroid papillary adenocarcinoma, leukemia, poorly differentiated carcinoma, mixed sarcomas, and miscellaneous histology (1 case each). Chemotherapy was targeted against the GCT (3), the SMT (6), or both components (3). The last patient received surgery exclusively. Partial or complete response to chemotherapy was observed in 5/10 assessable cases: 2/3 patients treated with GCT-dedicated chemotherapy, 3/6 patients treated with SMT-dedicated therapy, and 0/1 treated with combined therapy. In addition, 2 patients with mediastinal GCT primary had metachronous SMT, with acute myeloid leukemia and thyroid papillary adenocarcinoma, 8 months and 8 years, respectively, after the diagnoses of GCT. Two patients (1 synchronous and 1 metachronous) were cured with surgery exclusively. At the end of follow-up, 6 patients died of their disease including all 4 with postsurgical macroscopic residue. CONCLUSIONS: GCT with SMT constitutes a very rare entity in children and adolescents. Surgical removal of the tumor is the cornerstone of the treatment and might be sufficient in selected cases. In the remaining cases, the best management is still unknown and should take into account both components and their respective chemosensitivity. Long-term surveillance is advised for patient with unresected teratoma as late transformation can occur.

De novo radiologic placement of button gastrostomy: a feasibility study in children with cancer.

BACKGROUND: Primary placement of percutaneous radiologic button gastrostomy has been successfully performed in adults but research is lacking as to its success in children during cancer treatment. OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and effectiveness of such treatment at a single center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a 3-year retrospective feasibility study reporting on placement procedure, feeding plan, acute complications and effectiveness of this technique based on the evolution of the weight and weight-to-height during a period of 3 months. RESULTS: Eleven gastrostomies were performed in 11 children and young adults (3-20 years old) during oncological treatment. No major complications occurred. Two patients experienced minor side effects -- local leakage and granulation tissue formation -- both easily treated. In all cases, enteral feeding started within 24 h following the button placement. The patients were able to go home within 72 h. After 1 month, 64% (7/11) had gained weight, 18% (2/11) had maintained weight and 9% (1/11) had lost weight. After 3 months, 73% (8/11) had gained weight and 9% (1/11) had lost weight. CONCLUSION: The procedure and devices were well tolerated and mostly effective in our cohort.

Salvage therapy of refractory severe aplastic anemia by decreasing cyclosporine dose regimen.

Optimal modalities for immunosuppressive therapy (IST) for severe aplastic anemia (SAA) have to be determined, and especially cyclosporine (CyA) dosing to promote regulatory T cells (Treg) which are lacking and which account for physiopathological mechanisms. We are reporting on three cases of pediatric patients suffering from SAA, initially without hematological response between 4 and 7 months after IST, and who have responded 2 months after the decrease in CyA target trough blood levels to 100 ng/mL, and one case which has early responded by applying low trough blood levels from the beginning. As it has been demonstrated that Treg increase in IST responders and that Treg are stimulated only by low CyA concentrations, these case series suggest that lower CyA doses than actually recommended could be more efficient to enhance the proportion of responders. This report highlights a new field of perspectives for the treatment for SAA.

Determinants of physical activity commitment in adolescents and young adults with cancer: sociological protocol for a hospital-based mixed methods study (ETAPE-AJA).

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer undergo physical transformations due to disease and treatments occurring alongside puberty and adolescence. Although physical activity is recommended for its benefits, its practice among AYA with cancer remains insufficient. The aim of the Éducation Thérapeutique et Activité Physique: Engagement des Adolescents et Jeunes Adultes atteints de cancer study is to identify the evolution of AYA with cancer medical knowledge and powers (power to act, to express oneself) over life and cancer care, and their role in commitment in adapted physical activity (APA) and therapeutic patient education during and after oncological treatments. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This prospective mixed methods monocentre study will be conducted in a French comprehensive cancer centre. Observations will be conducted two times a week during medical consultations, APA interventions and therapeutic education sessions for AYA with cancer. Semidirective interviews will involve 70 participants, including AYA with cancer aged 15-25, health professionals, APA teachers and parents. Quantitative data will be collected on AYA's social characteristics and participation in physical activity intervention and therapeutic education sessions. A correspondence factor analysis will supplement inductive analysis of ethnographic qualitative data, involving patient coresearchers. The results will help to improve the understanding of AYAs' medical knowledge and powers, their commitment in physical activity and to develop strategies to increase their participation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study complies with reference methodology MR004 of the French National Data Protection Authority and was registered by the Data Protection Officer of the Leon Berard Cancer Center on the activity registry of the institution (Ref. N°R201-004-259; 5 July 2022). Ethics approval has been obtained from the Centre Léon Bérard ethics board (Ref. N°2022-006; 20 July 2022). Oral informed consent will be obtained from all participants before data collection. The results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, national and international conferences.

Supportive care needs of adolescents and young adults 5 years after cancer: a qualitative study.

Introduction: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors who have been treated for cancer during childhood and adolescence are at great risk of the physical, psychological, and social consequences of cancer and its associated treatments. However, compliance with long-term follow-up is low. One possible explanation is that follow-up care fails to meet the expectations of AYA survivors. This study explored the specific supportive care needs of AYA survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer five years post-diagnosis. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 AYA aged 15 to 25 years old. Thematic analyses were conducted to establish categories of supportive care needs and classify them as being met or unmet. Results: Participants reported between 2 and 20 specific needs (M = 11), including needs concerning fertility issues and reassurance regarding relapse (each mentioned by 67% of AYA), followed by the need for locomotor care, follow-up coordination and multidisciplinary care (60% of AYA for each). Participants also reported needs regarding social relationships, administration and finance, and academic and professional domains. Most (69%) of these needs were reportedly unmet, including need of information about cancer repercussions and follow-up, support in managing fatigue and sleep problems, psychological assistance, and support from peers. Discussion: The supportive care needs are still considerable and varied in AYA survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer 5 years post-diagnosis and are largely unmet. As unmet supportive care needs highlight the gap between available care in follow-up and the real needs of AYA survivors, a better understanding of their supportive care needs and unmet needs, thanks to systematic needs assessment, would enable long-term follow-up care to be adapted, thereby improving compliance and quality of life.

An Integrated Cancer Prevention Strategy: the Viewpoint of the Leon Berard Comprehensive Cancer Center Lyon, France.

This article describes some of the key prevention services in the Leon Berard Comprehensive Cancer Center (CLB) Lyon, France, which are based on clinical prevention services, outreach activities, and collaboration with professional and territorial health communities. In addition, research is embedded at all stages of the prevention continuum, from understanding cancer causes through to the implementation of prevention interventions during and after cancer. Health promotion activities in the community and dedicated outpatient primary cancer prevention services for individuals at increased risk have been implemented. The CLB's experience illustrates how prevention can be integrated into the comprehensive mission of cancer centers, and how in turn, the cancer centers may contribute to bridging the current fragmentation between cancer care and the different components of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. With increasing cancer incidence, the shift toward integrated prevention-centered cancer care is not only key for improving population health, but this may also provide a response to the shortage of hospital staff and overcrowding in cancer services, as well as offer opportunities to reduce carbon emissions from cancer care.

Central-line-associated bloodstream infections in a pediatric oncology and hematology hospital at home program.

OBJECTIVE: Central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are associated with significant morbidity among pediatric oncology-hematology patients, and risk factors remain largely unknown in the setting of hospital at home (HAH). Children in HAH receive intensive treatment (eg, chemotherapy and parenteral nutrition), with frequent central-line handling; thus, they may be at higher risk for CLABSI. METHODS: We conducted a monocentric retrospective study of patients with a central line included in our HAH program from January 1 to December 31, 2016. HAH patient characteristics for children developing CLABSIs were compared to those who did not, based on blood cultures positive for infection and clinical data of all patients included. RESULTS: Overall, 492 HAH stays were analyzed, with 144 patients. The overall CLABSI rate in these patients was 2.6 per 1,000 central-line days. Children who developed CLABSIs were younger (median age, 2.5 vs 8.8 years; P < .001), suffered more from hematological pathologies (malignant or nonmalignant, 75% vs 52%; P = .02), and had more frequently undergone hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (30.8% vs 6.5%; P = .01). In addition, these patients often had a tunneled externalized catheter as the central line and were more frequently given parenteral nutrition at home (46% vs 8%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: CLABSI rates for children in HAH were more similar to those of inpatients than to rates previously reported for ambulatory patients. The factors associated with infection identified herein should be further validated in multicentric studies and considered to improve HAH practices, parallel to prevention measures used in the inpatient setting.

[Antineoplastic drug-induced nausea and vomiting in pediatric onco-hematology: 2022: Guidelines from the supportive care committee of the French Society of Childhood Cancer (SFCE)]. / Nausées-vomissements induits par les traitements anticancéreux (NVITAC) en onco-hématologie pédiatrique : recommandations 2022 du Comité soins de support de la SFCE.

Nausea and vomiting induced by cancer treatment (CINV) remain one of the most common and feared side effects in children despite the use of new drugs to prevent them. The existing recommendations for the prophylaxis and treatment of CINV are based on adult patients in Anglo-Saxon societies. Based on a recent review of the literature, we focused on specific pediatric issues in order to offer recommendations validated by the supportive care committee of the French society for childhood cancer.

Low-dose ketamine adjuvant treatment for refractory pain in children, adolescents and young adults with cancer: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, is effective at relieving adult cancer pain, although there have been very few reports to date regarding its use in children and in adolescents and young adults (AYA). This study assessed the efficacy, safety and opioid-sparing effects of low doses of ketamine added to opioid analgesics to alleviate persistent cancer pain. METHODS: This prospective, multicentre, observational trial collected data regarding demographics, pain characteristics, pain score assessment within the first 48 hours of ketamine administration, tolerance and satisfaction from 38 patients aged 2-24 years prescribed with ketamine as an adjuvant antalgic for refractory cancer pain in 10 French paediatric oncology centres. RESULTS: The mean visual analogue scale pain score decreased from 6.7 to 4.3 out of 10 (n=39, p<0.001) from day 1 to day 3 and by at least 2 points in 56% of the patients (n=22) 48 hours after initiation of ketamine. Nine patients experienced poor tolerance (≥2 side effects), all with infusion rates lower than 0.05 mg/kg/hour. None had limiting toxicities. An opioid-sparing effect was highlighted in four patients. Fifty-four per cent of the prescribers and 47% of the patients found the addition of ketamine 'very helpful'. CONCLUSIONS: Low doses of ketamine as an adjuvant to opioids significantly reduced the intensity of pain in half of the study population. A tendency towards better pain control is shown, although a lack of statistical power somewhat limits our conclusions, especially in children. Nevertheless, ketamine may be a useful option for improving the treatment of refractory pain in children and AYA with cancer.

De Novo Transcriptome Meta-Assembly of the Mixotrophic Freshwater Microalga Euglena gracilis.

Euglena gracilis is a well-known photosynthetic microeukaryote considered as the product of a secondary endosymbiosis between a green alga and a phagotrophic unicellular belonging to the same eukaryotic phylum as the parasitic trypanosomatids. As its nuclear genome has proven difficult to sequence, reliable transcriptomes are important for functional studies. In this work, we assembled a new consensus transcriptome by combining sequencing reads from five independent studies. Based on a detailed comparison with two previously released transcriptomes, our consensus transcriptome appears to be the most complete so far. Remapping the reads on it allowed us to compare the expression of the transcripts across multiple culture conditions at once and to infer a functionally annotated network of co-expressed genes. Although the emergence of meaningful gene clusters indicates that some biological signal lies in gene expression levels, our analyses confirm that gene regulation in euglenozoans is not primarily controlled at the transcriptional level. Regarding the origin of E. gracilis, we observe a heavily mixed gene ancestry, as previously reported, and rule out sequence contamination as a possible explanation for these observations. Instead, they indicate that this complex alga has evolved through a convoluted process involving much more than two partners.

Evaluation of efficacy and feasibility of foot reflexology in children experiencing chronic or persistent pain.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) are increasingly used in the therapeutic arsenal, particularly for pain management. Foot reflexology (FR) is still poorly evaluated, specifically in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of FR sessions in children experiencing chronic or persistent pain. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study in two pediatric centers from January 2011 to January 2014. Sessions of FR were offered to children regardless of their age, experiencing persistent pain (>72h) or chronic pain (>3 months). A form was completed by the patient before and after each FR sessions. The effectiveness of the session was evaluated using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for both pain and anxiety. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-two patients suffering from persistent pain were included. We observed a significant decrease of mean VAS pain scores after each session (respectively P<0.001, P<0.001 and P=0.015) and of mean VAS anxiety scores (P<0.001) for all sessions). Seventy patients suffering from chronic pain were included. Decrease in VAS pain scores was statistically significant after each reflexology session for children suffering from headache and musculoskeletal pain (P<0.001). Anxiety was significantly lower after each session (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: In 192 pediatric patients, FR significantly reduce pain and anxiety in children suffering from persistent or chronic pain. This CAM could have a place in pain management in children but needs to be evaluated in larger cohorts.

Metagenomic assembly of new (sub)polar Cyanobacteria and their associated microbiome from non-axenic cultures.

Cyanobacteria form one of the most diversified phyla of Bacteria. They are important ecologically as primary producers, for Earth evolution and biotechnological applications. Yet, Cyanobacteria are notably difficult to purify and grow axenically, and most strains in culture collections contain heterotrophic bacteria that were probably associated with Cyanobacteria in the environment. Obtaining cyanobacterial DNA without contaminant sequences is thus a challenging and time-consuming task. Here, we describe a metagenomic pipeline that enables the easy recovery of genomes from non-axenic cultures. We tested this pipeline on 17 cyanobacterial cultures from the BCCM/ULC public collection and generated novel genome sequences for 12 polar or subpolar strains and three temperate ones, including three early-branching organisms that will be useful for phylogenomics. In parallel, we assembled 31 co-cultivated bacteria (12 nearly complete) from the same cultures and showed that they mostly belong to Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, some of them being very closely related in spite of geographically distant sampling sites.