Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer 1st edition: Building capacity on cancer prevention to primary healthcare professionals.

INTRODUCTION: Every year 1.5 million new cancer cases are diagnosed in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Of these, about 40 % could be prevented. Health illiteracy has been identified as a main barrier for cancer prevention. Primary healthcare professionals (HCP) are key in cancer prevention as they are the first entry point of the population into the healthcare system. The LAC Code Against Cancer 1st edition aims to improve health literacy and awareness of cancer prevention in the LAC population, through building capacity of primary HCP. METHODS: The definition and development of the learning objectives, curriculum, structure, and evaluation of an online learning program for primary HCP was led by a dedicated group of experts from the LAC Code Against Cancer project. A pedagogical guideline and a template to ensure harmonization across topics were produced to guide the program development. Two rounds of internal revisions and an editorial process were performed. RESULTS: An online competency-based microlearning program for primary HCP was produced, taking the LAC Code Against Cancer as a basis. The competences addressed in the curriculum are core knowledge, communication skills, decision-making and applying knowledge to real-world situations. A comprehensive evaluation to assess acquisition of these competences, based on the Miller's Pyramid, was designed with three data collection points: a) immediately before, to assess baseline knowledge and skills; b) immediately after, to determine acquired competences; and c) at 3-6 months follow-up, to assess performance in daily practice. The e-learning will be freely available in the Virtual Campus for Public Health of the Pan American Health Organization in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. CONCLUSION: Primary HCP, perceived as trustworthy sources of information, are key actors to increase the population's awareness and literacy on cancer prevention. Building capacity of these professionals has the potential to increase dissemination and impact of the LAC Code Against Cancer by prompting communication with the public and offering personalized actionable preventive messages through counselling.

Granulomatous mastitis with erythema nodosum: A breast cancer mimicking entity.

We present the case of a 42-year-old Hispanic patient who consulted with a left breast mass that showed clinical and imaging signs of breast cancer. During preprocedural examination before needle biopsy, the patient was found to have bilateral, purplish-brown skin lesions on her lower legs, suggestive of erythema nodosum. This clinical finding raised the diagnostic suspicion of granulomatous mastitis, which was later confirmed by histopathology. Granulomatous mastitis is a rare, nonmalignant entity that should be considered in patients of childbearing age who present with a breast mass. The coexistence with erythema nodosum contributes to the clinical suspicion of granulomatous mastitis; the mechanism of this association and the optimal treatment approach remain unknown.

Breast pseudoaneurysm after core needle biopsy in a pregnant patient.

Breast pseudoaneurysm is an extremely rare complication of interventional breast procedures. Pregnancy and lactation are associated with increased breast vascularization, which may act as a risk factor. We present the case of a 36-year-old woman in the third trimester of a spontaneous twin pregnancy, who presented with a newly-detected BI-RADS 4 mass in her right breast. The patient requested not to defer a biopsy until after the pregnancy, and an ultrasound-guided breast core biopsy was performed. The patient presented bleeding during the procedure, but no hematomas or other vascular lesions were immediately detected. During follow-up, a breast ultrasound revealed an anechoic circumscribed mass and high-velocity blood flow. The color Doppler showed a spiral blood flow with the Yin-Yang sign, together with a communication channel between the sac and feeding artery. A diagnosis of breast pseudoaneurysm was made. The patient was managed conservatively, and breastfeeding continued normally. This case report highlights the importance of color Doppler in the detection of pseudoaneurysms, and the need to consider deferring invasive breast procedures in pregnant women when possible.

Breast lactating adenoma, an example of the utility of the radiological-pathological correlation.

Lactating adenomas are benign breast tumors, of which etiology, pathogenesis, and management are not yet fully evident in the literature. The primary goal of the radiological evaluation is to make the differential diagnosis with malignant conditions. We present a case of a 34-year-old pregnant woman referred to our service with a progressively increasing mass in the right breast, in whom the histopathology was consistent with a lactating adenoma.

Salud pública abierta: el camino para no dejar a nadie atrás

[RESUMEN]. En el contexto de la globalización, la salud pública requiere una cooperación continua entre todos los actores y un flujo de datos e información que facilite y apalanque esa cooperación. Sin embargo, existen aún diversas restricciones que limitan o imposibilitan el acceso a ella y su uso en beneficio de las sociedades. Debido a esto, se propone la adopción de la salud pública abierta y se exploran sus implicaciones y alcances. Se entiende por salud pública abierta los datos, la información y el conocimiento dirigidos a mejorar la salud pública, que se comparten y desarrollan a través de redes colaborativas sin restricciones de acceso y uso y con protección continua de la privacidad, seguridad y confidencialidad de los datos sensibles o que requieran especial protección.

[ABSTRACT]. In the context of globalization, public health requires continuous cooperation among all actors and a flow of data and information that facilitates and leverages that cooperation. However, there are still barriers that limit or prevent access to and use of public health for the benefit of societies. In this context, the adoption of open public health is proposed and its implications and scope are explored. Open public health is understood as data, information and knowledge aimed at improving public health, which are shared and developed through collaborative networks without restrictions on access and use and with continuous protection of privacy, security and confidentiality of sensitive data or data requiring special protection.

[RESUMO]. No contexto da globalização, a saúde pública requer a cooperação contínua entre todos os atores e um fluxo de dados e informações que facilite e aproveite da melhor forma essa cooperação. No entanto, ainda existem muitas restrições que limitam ou impedem o acesso à saúde pública e a sua utilização em benefício das sociedades. Por isso, propomos aqui a adoção da saúde pública aberta, explorando as suas implicações e possibilidades. A saúde pública aberta é entendida como o uso de dados, informações e conhecimentos para melhorar a saúde pública, compartilhados e desenvolvidos através de redes colaborativas, sem restrições de acesso ou utilização e com proteção contínua da privacidade, segurança e confidencialidade de dados sensíveis ou que precisem de proteção especial.

Inteligencia Artificial como herramienta en el diagnóstico Mamario. ¿Es una tecnología que ha llegado para quedar? / Artificial Intelligence as a tool in breast diagnosis. Is it a technology that has come to stay?

La Inteligencia Artificial (IA), si bien ha generado gran interés en los últimos cinco años en el campo de la Medicina, no podemos aseverar que se trate de un concepto nuevo, ya que, desde la década del 1940 se publican artículos sobre la materia. La primera vez que tuve ocasión de tomar conocimiento sobre el gran potencial que residía en una computadora fue en mayo de 1997, cuando me encontraba cursando el segundo año de la residencia en Ginecología. Fue una sorpresa leer en el periódico que la máquina llamada "Deep Blue", desarrollada por IBM (International Business Machines), había ganado una competencia virtual de ajedrez al entonces campeón mundial de ajedrez, Garry Kasparov

Diagnostic performance of shear wave elastography in discriminating malignant and benign breast lesions : Our experience with QelaXtoTM software.

STUDY AIMS: We sought to evaluate the diagnostic performance of quantitative elastography (shear wave elastography) and to establish the optimal cutoff value to differentiate malignant and benign breast lesions using QelaXtoTM software. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study of adult women with suspicious breast lesions (BIRADS 3, 4 or 5) who underwent programmed ultrasound-guided core biopsies. Breast lesions were assessed using quantitative elastography combined with B-mode ultrasound. Histopathology was used as reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were estimated, and a ROC curve analysis was conducted. Three elastography cutoff values were considered: 36, 50 and 80 kPa. RESULTS: We included 143 women (mean age of 56 years) with a total of 145 breast lesions: 68 benign tumors (47.26%) and 77 malignancies (52.74%). Mean elasticity measurements of benign and malignant lesions were significantly different (24.6 kPa, SD 28.47, vs. 101.49 kPa, SD 47.38, [Formula: see text]). Using the 50 kPa cutoff, elastography showed a global sensitivity of 87% to discriminate malignant lesions (AUC = 0.897). Moreover, sensitivity was 90.7% when lesions were located 5-40 mm below the skin surface (optimal elastographic field of view). Our false positive rate was 17.65%, comprised mainly of fibroepithelial neoplasms, fibroadenomas and fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative elastography can differentiate malignant and benign breast lesions with acceptable to excellent performance. In our sample, the QelaXtoTM software showed a lower optimal cutoff than other ultrasound systems.

Eficacia de la mamografía como método de screening para el diagnóstico del cáncer de mama: [revisión] / Effectiveness of mammography as a screening method for breast cancer diagnostic: [review]

Las recientes controversias respecto de las recomendaciones para el screening del cáncer de mama han creado incertidumbre en la comunidad médica y en la población general.Este artículo revisa las recomendaciones actuales para detección de cáncer de mama de varias organizaciones y los datos científicos que respaldan estos lineamientos, además de enfatizar algunas de las controversias y las razones que fundamentan los diferentes puntos de vista. Su propósito es ofrecerle al médico recomendaciones basadas en evidencias, para brindar consejo y asesoramiento a las mujeres que se encuentran en un riesgo promedio de cáncer de mama.

Eficacia de la mamografía como método de screening para el diagnóstico del cáncer de mama: [revisión] / Effectiveness of mammography as a screening method for breast cancer diagnostic: [review]

Las recientes controversias respecto de las recomendaciones para el screening del cáncer de mama han creado incertidumbre en la comunidad médica y en la población general.Este artículo revisa las recomendaciones actuales para detección de cáncer de mama de varias organizaciones y los datos científicos que respaldan estos lineamientos, además de enfatizar algunas de las controversias y las razones que fundamentan los diferentes puntos de vista. Su propósito es ofrecerle al médico recomendaciones basadas en evidencias, para brindar consejo y asesoramiento a las mujeres que se encuentran en un riesgo promedio de cáncer de mama.(AU)