Chronic dyspnoea is a prevalent and clinically significant symptom, often indicative of underlying cardiorespiratory disease. It is frequently under-reported by patients and under-recognised in primary care, with these challenges exacerbated in rural and remote communities where disease burden is greater and patients experience barriers to timely diagnosis and management. The BREATHE SMART trial aims to implement and evaluate an innovative, fully digital self-screening system for chronic dyspnoea, integrated into general practice workflows and information technology infrastructure. This approach seeks to enhance early detection and management of chronic cardiorespiratory conditions across diverse practice settings.

This multisite proof-of-concept study will test a software platform delivering a preconsultation self-screening questionnaire across 40 general practices in urban, rural and remote Australia. The system identifies eligible patients (≥18 years, consenting to SMS communication with their practice), issues an automated SMS that administers a validated dyspnoea screening questionnaire, and summarises responses for integration into the electronic medical record. Process evaluation will assess acceptability and utility using deidentified audit data, software metrics and qualitative feedback from patients, staff and general practitioners (GPs) via surveys, interviews and focus groups. Approximately 12 000 patients will be screened over 12 months. Primary outcomes will include the proportion completing self-screening and prevalence of chronic dyspnoea and secondary outcomes will include the rate of newly diagnosed chronic dyspnoea-related conditions (ie, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure) in the preceding 12 months and during the intervention period.

Ethics approval was granted by the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) (iRECS6645) and the University of Notre Dame Australia HREC (2024-155). Participating practices and each GP will provide written, informed consent. All patients being screened will provide electronic informed consent. Results of the study will be disseminated through various forums, including peer-reviewed publications and presentation at national and international conferences. Following the study, participating practices will be provided with a summary of the findings of the study, together with a full copy of any publications and a plain language statement for participants, which will be made available in the practices.

ACTRN12624001451594.

Neighbourhood migrant density is increasingly recognised as a social determinant of health. However, its association with hospitalised patients with cancer outcomes, such as mortality and readmission rates, remains understudied. This study examined whether neighbourhood migrant density influenced these outcomes and whether these associations varied before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retrospective cohort study.

Swedish national registers.

Hospitalised patients with cancer (ICD code C00–C97) from 2014 to 2019 (before the pandemic) and 2020–2021 (during the pandemic).

90-day mortality and readmission rates. Independent variables were neighbourhood migrant density—categorised as total, Western and non-Western migrants (as a proportion of the total area population).

We identified 243 357 hospitalised patients with cancer before the pandemic and 112 935 during the pandemic. Swedish-born individuals and Western migrants residing in high migrant density neighbourhoods had higher rates of 90-day mortality (incidence rate ratio, IRR: 1.15, 95% CI 95% CI 1.12 to 1.19 and IRR: 1.09, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.18) and readmission (IRR: 1.16, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.19 and IRR: 1.14, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.22). During the pandemic, 90-day mortality rates significantly increased among Western migrants and 90-day readmission rates increased for all patients from high migrant density neighbourhoods.

High neighbourhoods migrant density was associated with increased 90-day mortality and readmission among Swedish-born individuals and Western migrants before the pandemic. These outcomes were exacerbated during the pandemic, particularly among migrants. Cancer care for residents in neighbourhoods with high migrant density needs to be improved, especially during public health crises.

To describe the structured process of threshold optimisation for a commercially available multiclass chest X-ray (CXR) deep learning model, to evaluate its diagnostic performance across different operating thresholds, and to estimate its potential operational impact within an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled triage workflow in a primary care setting.

Retrospective diagnostic performance evaluation with threshold-based analysis.

Primary care radiography services in Singapore, using data derived from two primary care clinics and a tertiary hospital.

A total of 816 adult frontal chest radiographs were included (multiethnic Asian, 464 males, 352 females; mean age 60.8 years). Images were selected to represent the spectrum of findings often encountered in primary care. Exclusion criteria included paediatric studies, lateral or oblique radiographs, and findings not supported by the AI model (eg, bony abnormalities and medical devices).

Primary outcome measures were sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive value (NPV and PPV). Secondary outcomes included estimated potential operational improvement, which is calculated by dividing the number of true negatives by the total number of CXRs.

At the default threshold of 0.15, the AI model achieved a sensitivity of 87.3% (95% CI 83.9% to 90.4%) and an NPV of 87.0% (95% CI 83.6% to 90.2%). Lowering the threshold to 0.10 increased sensitivity to 93.2% (95% CI 90.7% to 95.5%) and NPV to 91.3% (95% CI 88.2% to 94.3%), with specificity of 71.7% (95% CI 67.3% to 76.1%). These trade-offs were considered acceptable for a safety-focused co-triage workflow prioritising minimisation of false negatives.

Threshold optimisation is critical for adapting AI models to context-specific clinical workflows. Our study shows that adjusting the operating threshold enabled prioritisation of sensitivity and NPV, supporting safe AI-assisted triage in primary care. This is a deeply collaborative process that must involve radiology and clinical teams: selecting appropriate thresholds aligned with clinical objectives for safe and effective implementation. Future work will assess real-world operational impact and user acceptance following prospective deployment.

Despite the benefits of early diagnosis, most cancers in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are diagnosed at an advanced stage due to late presentation of symptoms, inadequate referral systems and poor diagnostic capacity. Health communication interventions have been used extensively in high-income countries to increase people’s awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage timely help-seeking. However, in SSA, there is still limited evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions and existing evaluations are mainly focused on communicable diseases rather than cancer.

A randomised, multisite, controlled community trial will evaluate a culturally tailored health infographic toolkit delivered in rural and urban settings in the Western Cape Province in South Africa and Harare and surrounding provinces in Zimbabwe. Participants will be randomised to receive one of three African aWAreness of CANcer and Early Diagnosis (AWACAN-ED) cancer awareness tools, coproduced with local communities, comprising health communication infographics with descriptions of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer symptoms plus messages to encourage consultation with primary care providers if symptoms occur, all presented in English and four local languages. We will recruit 144 participants in each of the three intervention groups (N=432). The primary outcome will be recall of symptoms and the secondary outcomes will be (1) intention to seek help, (2) emotional impact and (3) acceptability of the toolkit. Outcomes will be measured preintervention and at two points postintervention: after 15 min and 1 month.

Ethical approval was obtained in both participating countries, South Africa (148/2025) and Zimbabwe (363/2021). All participants will be required to provide written informed consent prior to participation. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and the AWACAN-ED programme website.

PACTR202505475803308.

Immunotherapy with anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1) inhibitors has revolutionised the treatment of many solid tumours, however, only 30–40% of patients will have a lasting clinical response. Tumour-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been implicated in the spread of solid tumours and resistance to these agents. A lectin-affinity plasmapheresis device called the Hemopurifier (HP) has been developed and shown to remove EVs in vitro and in patients. We hypothesise that the treatment of patients who are not improving on a regimen that includes an anti-PD-1 agent will be safe, decrease EV concentrations and improve antitumour T cell activity.

This safety, feasibility and dose-finding study is designed in a 3+3 safety study design with three treatment cohorts. Participants who are determined not to be responding to a regimen that includes an anti-PD-1 agent will be assigned to receive either one, two or three (HP) treatments over a 1-week period prior to their next scheduled dose of anti-PD-1 antibody. Advancement from one cohort to the next will be determined by a Data and Safety Monitoring Board. Data collection will include adverse events, safety labs, EV concentrations and T cell measurements, repeat imaging and survival status.

The primary outcome of the study will be the safety of the HP in this population, with additional endpoints to include the kinetics of EV removal and rebound following HP treatment, in addition to the effects on T cell numbers and activity.

The clinical protocol and amendment to the study protocol have been approved by the Central Adelaide Local Health Network Human Research Ethics Committee for Royal Adelaide Hospital (reference number 2024/HRE00031) and the Bellberry Human Research Ethics Committee for Pindara Private Hospital and Genesis Care/Royal North Shore Hospital (reference number 2024-06-724-A-6). The Therapeutic Goods Administration has been notified. The clinical trial is listed on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Informed Consent is obtained from all participants prior to any protocol procedures being performed. Results of the main trial and each of the secondary endpoints will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Australia New Zealand registration number ACTRN12624000732583.

Regional differences in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) care have been reported. We aimed to assess a physician-reported HFpEF management in the Russian Federation (RF) and a variation in the diagnosis and treatment of HFpEF between the RF and the European Union (EU).

It is a post hoc analysis of an academic web-based international HFpEF designed as a cross-sectional survey and conducted between May 2023 and July 2023.

Medical doctors who work in the fields of cardiology and general medicine.

Among 1460 medical doctors who completed the study were 166 Russian and 646 European specialists. The responders were comparable across the groups in most of the baseline characteristics, except that RF specialists were less likely to be heart failure specialists (RF: 2% vs EU: 26%) and less often worked in academic environments (RF: 17% vs EU: 61%). The utilisation of specific echocardiography parameters (RF: 66% vs EU: 80%) and natriuretic peptides (RF: 83% vs EU: 91%) to establish a diagnosis of HFpEF was less frequent in RF compared with EU, while HFpEF scores were more likely to be used by Russian physicians (RF: 58% vs EU: 40%). In the settings when all HF medications are available, responders of both regions prioritised sodium-glucose co-transporter type 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) (mean rank: RF: 2.6 (IQR: 2.3–3) vs EU: 2.3 (IQR: 2.2–2.5)), followed by diuretics in the EU and ACE inhibitors in the RF. Every second responder in both regions preferred SGLT-2is if only one drug was available (RF: 57% vs EU 51%).

The results reveal discrepancies in physician-reported HFpEF management between RF and EU responders, particularly in the diagnostic workup. Although the utilisation of relevant diagnostic tests was lower in the RF compared with the EU, these were used by two-thirds of Russian respondents. Nevertheless, further measures are required to improve the care of HFpEF patients in the RF.