---

---

Background and objectives: Prolactin is a lactogenic protein hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary that initiates and maintains lactation in mammals. Previous research has linked increased serum prolactin levels to breast cancer. However, there is a paucity of studies in the Indian population on the subject. The present study evaluated and compared serum prolactin levels in patients with breast cancer and patients with benign breast diseases.
Methods: This cross-sectional, comparative study was carried out at the Government Medical College, Nagpur (India) on patients with breast diseases in the out-patient department/in-patient department from June 2018 to November 2020. Breast cancer patients were considered cases, and those with benign breast diseases were considered controls. Breast carcinoma diagnosis was based on clinical features, fine needle aspiration cytology, and tissue histopathology in operated specimens for each patient. Fasting serum prolactin levels were measured by the chemiluminescence immunoassay method using the Advia Centaur immunoassay system.
Results: There were 120 female patients with breast diseases, of whom 60 had breast malignancy, and 60 had benign breast diseases. The mean age of patients with benign breast disease and breast cancer was 33.17 (1.75) and 49.77 (1.16) years, respectively (P<0.0005). Increased serum prolactin levels were observed in 93.3% of patients with breast cancer and 13.3% of patients with benign breast diseases. The mean serum prolactin level was significantly higher among breast cancer patients (102.68±7.03) ng/ml compared with patients with benign breast disease (16.31±1.72 ng/ml). We successfully determined a new cut-off value of serum prolactin level (>40.2 ng/ml) to differentiate breast cancer from benign breast diseases using the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.
Conclusion: Patients with breast cancer have increased serum prolactin levels compared to patients with benign breast diseases. Thus, serum prolactin level can be used as a diagnostic marker for breast cancer. This is particularly beneficial to clinicians for differentiating breast cancer from benign breast diseases.

---

Background: Blood transfusion is a potentially life-saving procedure that has many consequences and complications. Most of the complications are due to clerical and technical problems. Hence, the proper knowledge and skills of the personnel involved in blood transfusion are critical. Nurses are an integral part of blood transfusion procedures. Our study aimed to evaluate nurses' knowledge about safe blood transfusion practices in a tertiary care center in North Kerala.
Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 113 registered nurses involved in a blood transfusion procedure in a tertiary care center in North Kerala. The knowledge of the nurses was evaluated by using a questionnaire comprising 20 questions, of which 10 questions were about theoretical knowledge and 10 were about practical knowledge. Scores>75%, between 50% and 75%, and <50% were considered as good, fair, and poor knowledge, respectively.
Results: In our study, 44.25% of the nurses showed fair knowledge, and 32.7% had poor knowledge of knowledgebased questions. Moreover, 48.6 % had fair knowledge, and 14.16% had poor knowledge of practice-based questions. No statistically significant association was found between nurses' years of experience and theoretical and practical knowledge. A statistically significant association was found between the place of work and theoretical and practical knowledge. Many of the nurses lacked proper knowledge regarding the key aspects of blood transfusion.
Conclusion: We recommend more training programs to improve the knowledge and skills of the nurses to ensure the quality and safety of blood transfusion.