Marlon Perera

Bio: Marlon Perera is an academic researcher from University of Melbourne. The author has contributed to research in topics: Prostate cancer & Medicine. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 130 publications receiving 2549 citations. Previous affiliations of Marlon Perera include St George's Hospital & University of Queensland.

68Ga-prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) for primary staging of high-risk prostate cancer: a systematic review.

Abstract: To systematically review currently available data on 68Ga-prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) used for the primary staging of high-risk prostate cancer. We performed critical reviews of EMBASE, Web of Science (including MEDLINE) and Cochrane databases in October 2016 according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis statement. We included studies that utilized 68Ga-PSMA PET for primary staging of prostate cancer. Quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist for diagnostic test studies. Following our systematic search strategy, 12 studies were included for assessment. These studies comprised a total of 322 patients who underwent 68Ga-PSMA PET scanning for the purpose of primary staging. Only 5 of these studies included histopathologic correlation data. High variation in methodology and outcomes such as sensitivity (range 33–99%) and specificity (> 90%) was seen across all studies. The ability of 68Ga-PSMA PET to detect malignant lesions was evident across studies, with most studies demonstrating increased detection rates with respect to conventional imaging modalities. In the primary staging of prostate cancer 68Ga-PSMA PET appears to outperform traditional imaging modalities. Overall, there are few high-quality studies investigating 68Ga-PSMA PET in this sub-group highlighting the need for formal assessment of PSMA PET in the form of large-volume, prospective studies.

Surgical resection of hepatic metastases from neuroendocrine neoplasms: A systematic review

Abstract: Background Neuroendocrine tumours (NET) most commonly metastasize to the liver. Hepatic resection of NET hepatic metastases (NETHM) has been shown to improve symptomology and survival. Methods A systematic review of clinical studies before September 2010 was performed to examine the efficacy of hepatic resection for NETHM. As a secondary end-point, the impact of treatment on safety and symptomology were determined and prognostic variables were identified. The quality of each study was also assessed using predefined criteria incorporating 9 characteristics. Clinical outcome was synthesized through a narrative review with full tabulation of results of all included studies. Results Twenty-nine included reported survival outcomes with a median 3-, 5- and 10-year overall survival of 83% (range, 63–100%), 70.5% (range, 31–100%), and 42% (range, 0–100%), respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 21 months (range, 13–46 months) and median 1-,3-,5- and 10-year PFS of 63% (range, 50–80 %), 32% (range, 24–69%), 29% (range, 6–66%) and 1% (range, 0–11%), respectively. Poor histologic grade, extra-hepatic disease and a macroscopically incomplete resection were associated with a poor prognosis. Studies reported a median rate of symptomatic relief from surgery in 95% of patients (range, 50–100%). Conclusion Hepatic resection for NETHM provides symptomatic benefit and is associated with favourable survival outcomes although the majority of patients invariably develop disease progression.

Globalization of Continuing Professional Development by Journal Clubs via Microblogging: A Systematic Review

Abstract: Background: Journal clubs are an essential tool in promoting clinical evidence-based medical education to all medical and allied health professionals. Twitter represents a public, microblogging forum that can facilitate traditional journal club requirements, while also reaching a global audience, and participation for discussion with study authors and colleagues. Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the current state of social media–facilitated journal clubs, specifically Twitter, as an example of continuing professional development. Methods: A systematic review of literature databases (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, ERIC via ProQuest) was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic search of Twitter, the followers of identified journal clubs, and Symplur was also performed. Demographic and monthly tweet data were extracted from Twitter and Symplur. All manuscripts related to Twitter-based journal clubs were included. Statistical analyses were performed in MS Excel and STATA. Results: From a total of 469 citations, 11 manuscripts were included and referred to five Twitter-based journal clubs (#ALiEMJC, #BlueJC, #ebnjc, #urojc, #meded). A Twitter-based journal club search yielded 34 potential hashtags/accounts, of which 24 were included in the final analysis. The median duration of activity was 11.75 (interquartile range [IQR] 19.9, SD 10.9) months, with 7 now inactive. The median number of followers and participants was 374 (IQR 574) and 157 (IQR 272), respectively. An overall increasing establishment of active Twitter-based journal clubs was observed, resulting in an exponential increase in total cumulative tweets ( R 2 =.98), and tweets per month ( R 2 =.72). Cumulative tweets for specific journal clubs increased linearly, with @ADC_JC, @EBNursingBMJ, @igsjc, @iurojc, and @NephJC, and showing greatest rate of change, as well as total impressions per month since establishment. An average of two tweets per month was estimated for the majority of participants, while the “Top 10” tweeters for @iurojc showed a significantly lower contribution to overall tweets for each month ( P <.005). A linearly increasing impression:tweet ratio was observed for the top five journal clubs. Conclusions: Twitter-based journal clubs are free, time-efficient, and publicly accessible means to facilitate international discussions regarding clinically important evidence-based research. [J Med Internet Res 2015;17(4):e103]

Surveillance or Metastasis-Directed Therapy for Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer Recurrence: A Prospective, Randomized, Multicenter Phase II Trial

Abstract: PurposeRetrospective studies suggest that metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) for oligorecurrent prostate cancer (PCa) improves progression-free survival. We aimed to assess the benefit of MDT in a randomized phase II trial.Patients and MethodsIn this multicenter, randomized, phase II study, patients with asymptomatic PCa were eligible if they had had a biochemical recurrence after primary PCa treatment with curative intent, three or fewer extracranial metastatic lesions on choline positron emission tomography–computed tomography, and serum testosterone levels > 50 ng/mL. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either surveillance or MDT of all detected lesions (surgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy). Surveillance was performed with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) follow-up every 3 months, with repeated imaging at PSA progression or clinical suspicion for progression. Random assignment was balanced dynamically on the basis of two factors: PSA doubling time (≤ 3 v > 3 months) and nodal versus non-nodal ...

The dry-style antifogging properties of mosquito compound eyes and artificial analogues prepared by soft lithography: a superhydrophobic state with high adhesive force

Abstract: Fogging occurs when moisture condensation takes the form of accumulated droplets with diameters larger than 190 nm or half of the shortest wavelength (380 nm) of visible light. This problem may be effectively addressed by changing the affinity of a material’s surface for water, which can be accomplished via two approaches: i) the superhydrophilic approach, with a water contact angle (CA) less than 5°, and ii) the superhydrophobic approach, with a water CA greater than 150°, and extremely low CA hysteresis. To date, all techniques reported belong to the former category, as they are intended for applications in optical transparent coatings. A well-known example is the use of photocatalytic TiO2 nanoparticle coatings that become superhydrophilic under UV irradiation. Very recently, a capillary effect was skillfully adopted to achieve superhydrophilic properties by constructing 3D nanoporous structures from layer-by-layer assembled nanoparticles. The key to these two “wet”-style antifogging strategies is for micrometer-sized fog drops to rapidly spread into a uniform thin film, which can prevent light scattering and reflection from nucleated droplets. Optical transparency is not an intrinsic property of antifogging coatings even though recently developed antifogging coatings are almost transparent, and the transparency could be achieved by further tuning the nanoparticle size and film thickness. To our knowledge, the antifogging coatings may also be applied to many fields that do not require optical transparency, including, for example, paints for inhibiting swelling and peeling issues and metal surfaces for preventing corrosion. These types of issues, which are caused by adsorption of moisture, are hard to solve by the superhydrophilic approach because of its inherently “wet” nature. Thus, a “dry”-style antifogging strategy, which consists of a novel superhydrophobic technique that can prevent moisture or microscale fog drops from nucleating on a surface, is desired. Recent bionic researches have revealed that the self-cleaning ability of lotus leaves and the striking ability of a water-strider’s legs to walk on water can be attributed to the ideal superhydrophobicity of their surfaces, induced by special microand nanostructures. To date, the biomimetic fabrication of superhydrophobic microand/or nanostructures has attracted considerable interest, and these types of materials can be used for such applications as self-cleaning coatings and stain-resistant textiles. Although a superhydrophobic technique inspired by lotus leaves is expected to be able to solve such fogging problems because the water droplets can not remain on the surface, there are no reports of such antifogging coatings. Very recently, researchers from General Motors have reported that the surfaces of lotus leaves become wet with moisture because the size of the fog drops are at the microscale—so small that they can be easily trapped in the interspaces among micropapillae. Thus, lotuslike surface microstructures are unsuitable for superhydrophobic antifogging coatings, and a new inspiration from nature is desired for solving this problem. In this communication, we report a novel, biological, superhydrophobic antifogging strategy. It was found that the compound eyes of the mosquito C. pipiens possess ideal superhydrophobic properties that provide an effective protective mechanism for maintaining clear vision in a humid habitat. Our research indicates that this unique property is attributed to the smart design of elaborate microand nanostructures: hexagonally non-close-packed (ncp) nipples at the nanoscale prevent microscale fog drops from condensing on the ommatidia surface, and hexagonally close-packed (hcp) ommatidia at the microscale could efficiently prevent fog drops from being trapped in the voids between the ommatidia. We also fabricated artificial compound eyes by using soft lithography and investigated the effects of microand nanostructures on the surface hydrophobicity. These findings could be used to develop novel superhydrophobic antifogging coatings in the near future. It is known that mosquitoes possess excellent vision, which they exploit to locate various resources such as mates, hosts, and resting sites in a watery and dim habitat. To better understand such remarkable abilities, we first investigated the interaction between moisture and the eye surface. An ultrasonic humidifier was used to regulate the relative humidity of the atmosphere and mimic a mist composed of numerous tiny water droplets with diameters less than 10 lm. As the fog was C O M M U N IC A IO N