Digital Commons Network^™

Metastasis-Directed Radiotherapy For Oligometastatic Urothelial Carcinoma Of The Bladder And Upper Tract, Patrick Carriere, Omar Alhalabi, Jianjun Gao, Amishi Shah, Sangeeta Goswami, Ruitao Lin, Osama Mohamad, Karen Hoffman, Henry Mok, Charmaigne Lozano, Ashish Kamat, Neema Navai, Kelly Bree, Byron Lee, Charles Guo, Michael Rooney, Chad Tang, Seungtaek Choi, Comron Hassanzadeh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) for oligometastatic cancer is utilized for genitourinary malignancies including prostate and kidney cancers. Clinical research on MDT for urothelial carcinoma (UC) remains sparse, especially as systemic therapy advances have improved outcomes.

Objective: We investigated the role of MDT, specifically radiotherapy, for patients with oligometastatic bladder or upper-tract UC.

Methods: Data were collated on patients with metastatic UC with 5 or fewer metastatic sites undergoing MDT with ablative radiotherapy with or without preceding systemic therapy during January 2016 to July 2024. Endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Cox proportional hazards analysis was conducted to …

Guadecitabine Improved Relapse-Free Survival In High-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia And Myelodysplastic Syndrome Patients After Transplant: Phase Ii Results From A Single Center, Betül Oran, Peter Thall, Amin Alousi, Gheath Al-Atrash, Rohtesh Mehta, Partow Kebriaei, Roland Bassett, Qaiser Bashir, Jin Im, Amanda Olson, Jessica Jewell, Portia Smallbone, Elizabeth Shpall, Richard Champlin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This phase II, single-center clinical trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of guadecitabine, with or without donor lymphocyte infusion, following allogeneic stem cell transplantation in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The study had three treatment cohorts based on post-transplant disease status. Cohort 1 included patients with hematologic relapse after transplant (N=13). Cohort 2 consisted of patients with minimal residual disease (MRD) detected after transplant (N=18). Cohort 3 compromised patients in remission without MRD within 100 days after transplant (N=24). The primary objectives were achievement of morphological complete remission in cohort 1 and MRD eradication …

Functional, Pharmacogenomic, And Immune Landscapes Of Long Non-Coding Rnas In Cancer, Runhao Wang, Mei Luo, Yuan Liu, Jingwen Yang, Yamei Chen, Lifei Ma, James Wengler, Yong Zang, Bora Lim, Wenbo Li, Liuqing Yang, Chunru Lin, Lixia Diao, Leng Han

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as key regulators in cancer, with significant potential as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic targets. Here, this work systematically analyzes lncRNA associations with targeted therapies and immunotherapies across 33 cancer types using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and real-world datasets. This work identifies 53,173 lncRNA-pathway associations, millions of lncRNA-drug response associations (via CancerRxTissue and VAEN), and extensive correlations with immune checkpoints and infiltration. This work further identifies 69 lncRNAs associated with immunotherapy response and 2,611 differentially expressed lncRNAs between low and high objective response rate (ORR) groups. Additionally, two lncRNAs are correlated with immune-related adverse …

Initial Experience With Remote Mri Scanning Support In An Oncology Focused Practice: Opportunities For Expanded Access To Radiology Care, Christopher M Walker, Maria G Maldonado, Megan C Jacobsen, Suprateek Kundu, Michelle L Underwood, Brandy J Reed, R Jason Stafford, Marshall E Hicks, Caroline Chung, Aradhana M Venkatesan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: As medical imaging demand grows, there is increasing stress on the currently available workforce to deliver consistent, high-quality imaging studies while ensuring rapid study turnaround times and round-the-clock radiology coverage. Advances in remote access technology facilitating remote scan assistance and control are now commercially available to address these pressing clinical needs.

Methods: This work evaluated an early clinical application of a virtual scanner operations system (syngo Virtual Cockpit (VA13A, Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany) for remote magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) monitoring and scan control at three geographically distant outpatient sites associated with our primary institution.

Results: The system facilitated execution …

Knowledge Distillation And Dataset Distillation Of Large Language Models: Emerging Trends, Challenges, And Future Directions, Luyang Fang, Xiaowei Yu, Jiazhang Cai, Yongkai Chen, Shushan Wu, Zhenyuan Yang, Xilin Gong, Yufang Liu, Terry Ma, Wei Ruan, Ali Abbasi, Jing Zhang, Tao Wang, Ehsan Latif, Wei Liu, Wei Zhang, Soheil Kolouri, Xiaoming Zhai, Dajiang Zhu, Wenxuan Zhong, Tianming Liu, Ping Ma

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The exponential growth of Large Language Models (LLMs) continues to highlight the need for efficient strategies to meet ever-expanding computational and data demands. This survey provides a comprehensive analysis of two complementary paradigms: Knowledge Distillation (KD) and Dataset Distillation (DD), both aimed at compressing LLMs while preserving their advanced reasoning capabilities and linguistic diversity. We first examine key methodologies in KD, such as task-specific alignment, rationale-based training, and multi-teacher frameworks, alongside DD techniques that synthesize compact, high-impact datasets through optimization-based gradient matching, latent space regularization, and generative synthesis. Building on these foundations, we explore how integrating KD and DD can …

Perspective: Radiotherapy And Body Composition: Unmet Needs In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Alexia J Murphy-Alford, Aaron J Grossberg, Vickie E Baracos, Maha Barbar, Judy Bauer, Elena Fidarova, Anastassia Löser, Amy C Moreno, Anurima Patra, Deepa Puttaswamy, David I Rosenthal, Judy Schoeman, Yavuz Anacak

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Radiotherapy plays a vital role in cancer treatment, yet its effects on patients' nutritional status can precipitate muscle loss, with significant implications for treatment tolerance and outcomes. Evidence from high-income countries increasingly links radiation-induced muscle loss to adverse clinical outcomes. In contrast, low- and middle-income countries face a stark evidence gap, despite the heightened vulnerability of cancer patients in these settings due to delayed diagnosis, limited access to care, and high rates of co-morbidities. This paper highlights the critical gaps in nutritional care for radiotherapy patients in low- and middle-income countries.

Contralateral Breast Cancer After Radiotherapy And Hormone Therapy In Two Cohorts Of Us Breast Cancer Survivors, Lene H S Veiga, Gretchen L Gierach, Susan A Smith, Rebecca M Howell, Matthew M Mille, Rochelle E Curtis, Clara Bodelon, Heather Spencer Feigelson, Erin J Aiello Bowles, Diana S M Buist, Sheila Weinmann, Jacqueline B Vo, Choonsik Lee, Amy Berrington De Gonzalez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Radiotherapy increases contralateral breast cancer risk, while hormone therapy reduces it; their combined effects are unclear.

Methods: Data from two US retrospective cohort studies of 5-year breast cancer survivors (stage I-III, ages 20-84), Kaiser Permanente (KP, 1990-2012) and SEER (1990-2013), were analysed. Contralateral breast radiation doses were estimated for the KP cohort. Multivariable Poisson regression estimated relative risks (RRs) and excess relative risks per Gray (ERR/Gy), stratified by hormone therapy use.

Results: KP cohort (n = 9053) included 353 contralateral breast cancer cases (73% ER+); SEER cohort (n = 244,834) included 10,470 cases (72% ER+). Among women with ER+ …

Clinical Outcomes With Perioperative Nivolumab By Nodal Status In Patients With Stage Iii Resectable Nsclc: Phase 3 Checkmate 77t Exploratory Analysis, Mariano Provencio, Mark M Awad, Jonathan D Spicer, Annelies Janssens, Fedor Moiseyenko, Yasutaka Watanabe, Florian Guisier, Nikolaj Frost, Fabio Franke, T Jeroen Nicolaas Hiltermann, Jie He, Fumihiro Tanaka, Shun Lu, Cinthya Coronado Erdmann, Padma Sathyanarayana, Phuong Tran, Vipul Devas, Tina Cascone

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Individuals with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with metastases to the ipsilateral mediastinum or subcarinal lymph nodes (N2 disease) have poor long-term survival. This exploratory analysis from the randomized phase 3 CheckMate 77T study assessed clinical outcomes by nodal status in individuals with stage III NSCLC who received neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant nivolumab (nivolumab) versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant placebo (placebo). Here we show that among patients with N2 disease, nivolumab versus placebo improved event-free survival (1-year rate, 70% versus 45%; hazard ratio, 0.46 (95% confidence interval, 0.30–0.70)) and pathological complete response rate …

Prickle4 Drives Microenvironmental Remodeling And Resistance To Parp Inhibition In Idh-Mutant Glioma, Ju Yang, Hua Yang, Yifan Yuan, Chenyang Zhang, Ziwei Fu, Yinghong Xiong, Kexin Ling, Ying Liu, Jason T Huse, Bo Chen, Timothy A Chan, Zengxin Qi, Zhao Zhang, Xiuping Liu, Yuxiang Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes sensitize gliomas to PARP inhibition (PARPi) by inducing epigenetic reprogramming of DNA damage repair circuits. However, tumors treated with PARPi eventually relapse despite initial responsiveness. In this study, it is demonstrated that the anti-angiogenic agent lenvatinib synergizes effectively with PARPi, resulting in substantial tumor regression and significantly extended survival. Genomic analysis of tumors reveals that PARPi induces widespread transcriptomic changes that are predominantly pro-inflammatory, thereby promoting tumor angiogenesis. Prickle4, a planar cell polarity protein, is identified as a critical mediator of PARPi-induced neovascularization. Targeting Prickle4 effectively overcomes PARPi resistance in these tumors. Collectively, these …

Host Modulation Therapy In Periodontitis: From Established Therapies To Emerging Technologies, Aonjittra Phanrungsuwan, Jiaqi Huang, Neeraja Dharmaraj, Alejandra Cobos Perez, Omid Veiseh, Chun-Teh Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Periodontitis is a biofilm-induced chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by gingival inflammation and alveolar bone loss. According to a national survey, approximately half of the U.S. adults are affected by periodontal disease. To effectively prevent and treat periodontitis, it is essential to address its underlying causes. The primary etiological factors include polymicrobial synergy and dysbiosis of the oral microbiota, and a dysregulated immune response. The standard therapeutic approach, mechanical removal of biofilm through debridement, sometimes demonstrates limited efficacy, particularly in cases of severe periodontitis, which may require adjunctive or additional therapy. Emerging evidence indicates that periodontal tissue destruction is initiated by …

Factors Associated With Opioid And Antibiotic Prescribing At Us Academic Dental Institutions: 2011 To 2020, S Mccurdy, T M Krause, S Sharma, M Walji

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: In the United States, dentists are one of the leading prescribers of opioids and antibiotics. Because dental schools are the training grounds for future dentists, it is crucial to understand how prescribing has changed and why these medications are being prescribed in academic settings.

Objectives: The objective of this research was to describe the prescribing trends and factors associated with opioid and antibiotic medication prescribing at US academic dental institutions between 2011 and 2020.

Methods: Data from electronic dental records collected through the BigMouth data repository from 9 anonymized dental institutions between 2011 and 2020 were used. Prescribing rates …

Pulmonary Hypertension Associated With Interstitial Lung Diseases, Abubakr Bajwa, Francisco J Soto, Adriano R Tonelli, Divya Verma, Janine Vintch, Sandeep Sahay, Oksana A Shlobin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a term encompassing a wide array of pulmonary conditions characterized by inflammation and fibrosis of the pulmonary parenchyma. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is frequently encountered in patients with fibrotic ILDs and poses unique difficulties for both diagnosis and management. Patients with ILD-associated pulmonary hypertension (ILD-PH) are complex, often ailing and presenting with multiple comorbidities whose individual contributions to the underlying PH can be challenging to disentangle. Evidence supporting treatment with PH-specific medications in ILD-PH is limited. This edition of "How I Do It" presents a longitudinal case-based discussion of ILD-PH to address these challenges, highlight pearls …

Improved Surgical Management Of Complex Neonates With Heterotaxy Syndrome, Beau A Bequeaith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Neonatal management of congenital heart defects (CHD) among heterotaxy patients remains challenging due to significant heterogeneity in cardiac and visceral phenotypes. This study evaluated contemporary surgical outcomes and identified high-risk anatomic substrates.

Methods: A total of 41 heterotaxy CHD patients who underwent neonatal surgical repair and/or palliation over a 10-year period were evaluated at a single institution. Heterotaxy anatomy was characterized according to right atrial isomerism (RAI) or left atrial isomerism (LAI), and other cardiac defects. Multivariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses evaluated operative and intermediate-term outcomes.

Results: Median age at initial operation was 7.0 days, and median operative …

Negotiating Health: A Qualitative Analysis Of Home Smoking Rules Among Families With Medically Vulnerable Infants, Angela L Stotts

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Approximately 5000 child deaths are attributed to secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) annually, which is three times the number of childhood cancers combined. Infants, medically fragile infants, are highly vulnerable to the harmful effects of SHSe, including respiratory infections and sudden infant death syndrome. While having a home smoking ban may mitigate these risks, implementation remains a challenge for many families. Our primary aim was to explore the familial and sociocultural factors associated with smoking-ban initiation and maintenance in households with medically fragile infants.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 mothers participating in a behavioral intervention from 2015 to …

Circulating Biomarkers In Subjects With Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis: Data From The Inbuild Trial, Claudia Diefenbach

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: We investigated the prognostic potential of circulating biomarkers at baseline and the effects of nintedanib on changes in these biomarkers in subjects with progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF).

Methods: In the INBUILD trial, subjects with PPF received nintedanib (n=332) or placebo (n=331). Associations between biomarker levels at baseline and the rate of forced vital capacity (FVC) decline (mL·year-1) over 52 weeks, time to interstitial lung disease (ILD) progression (absolute decline in FVC % predicted ≥10%) or death over 52 weeks, time to first acute exacerbation or death over the whole trial, and time to death over the whole trial were …

Erratum: Assessment Of Skin Fibrosis In A Murine Model Of Systemic Sclerosis With Multifunctional Optical Coherence Tomography (Erratum), Jessica Gutierrez, Shervin Assassi, Kirill V Larin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This corrects the article "Assessment of skin fibrosis in a murine model of systemic sclerosis with multifunctional optical coherence tomography" in volume 30(3), 036007.

Overcoming Stigma In Women's Hiv And Syphilis Care: The Role Of Faith In Healing

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Point-of-care (POC) testing for syphilis and HIV is an effective way to provide same-day testing, results management, counseling, and treatment. Although commonly used in antenatal or sexual health clinics, our field study aimed to offer POC testing to women attending a standard care clinic in Guatemala. Nearly all women accepted testing, highlighting the patient-centered benefits and acceptability of screening in non-stigmatizing settings. Upon disclosure of results, especially positive diagnoses, patients drew comfort and resilience from their faith, an often-underprioritized resource not typically considered when addressing sexual health. These results underscore the value of integrating POC testing into routine care and …

Nemolizumab As An Alternative Therapeutic Option For Indolent Systemic Mastocytosis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) is a clonal mast cell disorder characterized by recurrent symptoms that can persist despite treatment with antihistamines, leukotriene antagonists, and mast cell stabilizers. Treatment options are limited when symptoms remain refractory, and avapritinib is contraindicated or declined. We describe the case of a 62-year-old female with an 11-year history of ISM who developed worsening pruritus and urticaria despite extensive conservative and biologic therapies, including topical corticosteroids, hydroxyzine, montelukast, omalizumab, and dupilumab. Given her history of stroke, she declined avapritinib. Nemolizumab was initiated with a 60 mg loading dose followed by 30 mg every four weeks. After …

Hyperglycemia In Combination With Excess Fat Intake Promotes Renal Pyroptosis And Fibrosis Through Gα12-Dependent Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Yun Seok Kim, Cheol Bin Eom, Hyun Sook Lee, Hyeon-Ki Jang, Nakyeom Lee, Jeong Hae Kie, Jee Myung Yang, Yoon Mee Yang, Sang Geon Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Chronic exposure to free fatty acids (FFAs) and glucose may disrupt metabolic homeostasis and initiate pathological processes. This study investigated the effects of hyperglycemia and fat overload on renal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, pyroptosis and fibrogenesis in mice and the underlying basis. We hypothesized that the combined insult would more severely induce Gα12-dependent ER stress and renal complications.

Methods: Mice were subjected to either high fat diet (HFD)+streptozotocin (STZ), or STZ treatment, and AZ2 was used as an anti-diabetic agent. Blood sera were used for blood biochemistry, and tissues were employed for RNA sequencing, immunoblottings, TEM, histology and immunohistochemistry. …

Case Report: Management Of A Challenging Case Presenting With Dysphagia After Thyroidectomy Requiring Administration Of Liquid 131i Via Mic-Key Low-Profile Tube—A Multidisciplinary Approach, Ahmed Ebada Salem, Sandra Ramirez, Brian R Weston, Akram Hussein, Simone Krebs

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy with 131-iodine (131I) remains a cornerstone in the postoperative management of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). The standard route of administration is oral, typically in capsule form and less commonly as a liquid. However, in patients with severe dysphagia and compromised airway, traditional oral 131I delivery may be contraindicated due to the risk of aspiration and radioactivity contamination. These scenarios present unique clinical challenges that necessitate deviation from conventional protocols. While liquid 131I may be administered through the mouth or via nasogastric or percutaneous gastrostomy tubes, there is currently no standardized approach, and potential risks, such as …

Evolving Molecular Subtypes Of Gastric Cancer: From Past Classifications To Present Consensus And Future Directions For Precision Therapy, Ju-Seog Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Gastric cancer is a biologically heterogeneous disease. The advent of high-throughput multi-omic technologies has revolutionized our understanding of gastric cancer by deconstructing this heterogeneous entity into distinct and more homogeneous molecular subtypes. Early classifications based on gene expression, methylation, and histology have laid the groundwork for multi-omic frameworks proposed by The Cancer Genome Atlas and Asian Cancer Research Group, which established the foundation of modern molecular taxonomy. Subsequent integrative efforts, particularly the Consensus Genomic Subtypes (Super 6) model, have unified this collected information into clinically relevant subtypes that bridge prognostic stratification with treatment strategies. Established biomarkers such as human epidermal …

Bop2-Te: Bayesian Optimal Phase 2 Design For Jointly Monitoring Efficacy And Toxicity With Application To Dose Optimization, Kai Chen, Heng Zhou, J Jack Lee, Ying Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We propose a Bayesian optimal phase 2 design for jointly monitoring efficacy and toxicity, referred to as BOP2-TE, to improve the operating characteristics of the BOP2 design proposed by Zhou et al. (2017). BOP2-TE utilizes a Dirichlet-multinomial model to jointly model the distribution of toxicity and efficacy endpoints, making go/no-go decisions based on the posterior probability of toxicity and futility. In comparison to the original BOP2 and other existing designs, BOP2-TE offers the advantage of providing rigorous type I error control in cases where the treatment is toxic and futile, effective but toxic, or safe but futile, while optimizing …

Bop2-Comb: Bayesian Optimal Phase Ii Design For Optimizing Doses And Assessing Contribution Of Components In Drug Combinations, Xiaohan Chi, Ying Yuan, Ruitao Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Personalized cancer treatment using combination therapies offers substantial therapeutic benefits over single-agent treatments in most cancers. However, unmet clinical needs and increasing market competition pressure drug developers to quickly optimize combination doses and clearly demonstrate the contribution of each component when developing and evaluating new combination treatments.

Methods: We propose a Bayesian optimal phase II drug-combination (BOP2-Comb) design that optimizes the combination dose and evaluates the proof-of-concept as well as the contribution of each component in two seamless stages. Our optimal calibration scheme minimizes the total trial sample size while controlling incorrect decision rates at nominal levels. This calibration …

Respiratory Motion Effects And Plan Robustness For Lattice Radiation Therapy, Rachael M Martin-Paulpeter, Peter A Balter, Luis A Perles, Ethan B Ludmir, Joshua S Niedzielski

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Lattice radiation therapy (LRT), a form of spatially fractionated radiation therapy (SFRT), has shown promise in treating bulky tumors. It consists of hot and cold spots within the tumor, and the ratio between these doses is thought to be important in clinical outcomes. Respiratory motion is expected to degrade these peak-to-valley dose ratios (PVDRs) but has largely been ignored in LRT literature and clinical practice. This work aims to quantify the response of LRT dose distributions to motion to better inform motion management decisions and improve clinical outcomes.

Methods: Respiratory motion of peak-to-peak amplitudes from 0.3 to 2 cm …

Single-Cell Lineage Trajectory Defines Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor-Sensitive Cells-Of-Origin In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Kyung-Pil Ko, Jie Zhang, Sohee Jun, Jae-Il Park

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and aims: Understanding the cells of origin is essential for overcoming therapy resistance and improving early intervention strategies in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Despite recent advances in genomic profiling, the precise cellular hierarchies and molecular programs driving ESCC initiation remain poorly defined.

Methods: We utilized machine learning-based single-cell trajectory analysis on 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide-induced murine models and genetically engineered organoids to identify cellular lineages during tumorigenesis. Combined with gene regulatory network analysis, we identified transcriptional drivers of tumor initiation and employed transcriptome-based drug repurposing to predict compounds targeting these initiating populations.

Results: Our analyses revealed multiple distinct epithelial clusters …

Peripheral Cd200r Signaling: A Critical Regulator Of Post-Stroke Inflammation In Aged Mice, Conelius Ngwa, Afzal Misrani, Yan Xu, Jingjing Wang, Rodney Ritzel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The immune responses to ischemic stroke are subjected to endogenous inhibitory pathways that delimitate the post-stroke inflammation. Among them, the interaction between CD200 and its receptor (CD200R) is increasingly recognized for its role in regulating neuroinflammation across various central nervous system (CNS) disorders. In the present study, we have examined the role of central (brain) vs. peripheral CD200R signaling in acute ischemic stroke using aged bone marrow chimeric (BMC) mice (16-19 months old). These chimeras were generated by transplanting bone marrow from CD200R knockout (KO), green fluorescent protein (GFP), or wild-type (WT) donor mice into irradiated recipient mice, and then …

Genomic Determinants Of Response And Resistance To Pirtobrutinib In Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Jennifer R Brown, Bastien Nguyen, Sai Prasad Desikan, Helen Won, Shady I Tantawy, Narasimha Marella, Lauren M Hanson, Andrew Parker, Salomé Calado Botelho, Jennifer A Woyach, Krish Patel, Constantine S Tam, Toby A Eyre, Chan Y Cheah, Nirav N Shah, Paolo Ghia, Wojciech Jurczak, Minna Balbas, Binoj Nair, Paolo Abada, Chunxiao Wang, Denise Wang, Lindsey E Roeker, Varsha Gandhi, William G Wierda

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pirtobrutinib, a noncovalent, reversible Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi), demonstrated efficacy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), resistant to covalent BTKi (cBTKi). We analyzed genomic correlations with response and resistance to pirtobrutinib in relapsed/refractory (R/R) patients with CLL pretreated with cBTKi enrolled in the phase 1/2 BRUIN trial. DNA sequencing was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells at baseline, on treatment, and at progressive disease (PD). Common alterations at baseline included mutations in BTK (43%), TP53 (38%), SF3B1 (25%), NOTCH1 (23%), ATM (19%), XPO1 (11%), PLCG2 (9%), BCL2 (8%), and 17p deletion (28%). Common baseline BTK mutations included C481S …

Management Of Retropharyngeal Lymph Node Metastases In Thyroid Cancer, Isabelle Fournier, Ashwini Venkata Bandi, Sarah Hamidi, Priyanka Iyer, Naifa L Busaidy, Ramona Dadu, Steven G Waguespack, Ugur Nur Basmaci, Michelle D Williams, Mena Mansour, Maria Gule Monroe, Neil D Gross, Ryan P Goepfert, Nancy D Perrier, Victoria Banuchi, Jennifer R Wang, Anastasios Maniakas, Mark E Zafereo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN) metastases in thyroid cancer are rare, with optimal management underreported.

Methods: Retrospective study of consecutive thyroid cancer patients with RPLN metastases treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2000 and 2024.

Results: One hundred and sixty-seven patients (75% differentiated, 21% medullary, 4% poorly differentiated thyroid cancer) were divided into three groups: active surveillance (AS) (13%), surgery (56%), and nonsurgical treatment (31%). In the AS group (median follow-up 2.3 years), RPLN metastases grew a median 3% (range: 0-56) or 0.02 cm (range: 0-0.7) per year. Surgical therapy included transcervical (73%), transoral robotic (14%), transoral (12%), and …

Preliminary Examination Of Orexin Receptor Antagonism With Suvorexant In Individuals With Methamphetamine Use Disorder: A Case Series Study, Heather Webber, Jessica Badawi, Douglas Calvillo, Jin Yoon, Michael Weaver, Joy Schmitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Preclinical Ischemic Stroke Multicenter Trials (Prism) Collective Statement: Opportunities, Challenges, And Recommendations For A New Era, Cenk Ayata, Philip M Bath, Anna M Planas, Stuart M Allan, Johannes Boltze, Claire L Gibson, Marcio A Diniz, Stefano Fumagalli, Fahmeed Hyder, Raymond C Koehler, Arthur Liesz, Sarah K Mccann, Tim Magnus, Louise D Mccullough, Emily S Sena, Simone Beretta, Jaroslaw Aronowski, Francesca Bosetti, Clinton B Wright, Patrick D Lyden, Lauren H Sansing

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Preclinical stroke research faces a critical translational gap, with animal studies failing to reliably predict clinical efficacy. To address this, the field is moving toward rigorous, multicenter preclinical randomized controlled trials (mpRCTs) that mimic phase 3 clinical trials in several key components. This collective statement, derived from experts involved in mpRCTs, outlines considerations for designing and executing such trials. mpRCTs offer advantages such as increased sample sizes, robust statistical design, incorporation of heterogeneity, and standardized protocols, but they face challenges in finding the right balance between standardization and heterogeneity, appropriate stroke model selection, and outcome measures, as well as the …