Digital Commons Network^™

In Vitro Hydrolysis Of Areca Nut Xenobiotics In Human Liver, Vincenzo Paolillo, Mahendran Jayakumar, Colton Sheperd, Andrew Tran, Stephanie Hoang, Nhu Dao, Parag Jain, Alan L Myers

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Areca nut (AN) is a substance of abuse consumed by millions worldwide, in spite of established oral and systemic toxicities associated with its use. Previous research demonstrates methyl ester alkaloids in the AN, such as arecoline and guvacoline, exhibit mood-altering and toxicological effects. Nonetheless, their metabolism has not been fully elucidated in humans. In the present study, an HPLC-UV bioanalytical method was developed to evaluate the hydrolytic kinetics and clearance rates of arecoline and guvacoline in human liver microsomes (HLM) and cytosol (HLC). The bioassay was capable of quantifying arecoline and guvacoline (and carboxylate metabolites arecaidine and guvacine, respectively) with …

Plasma Proteomic Characterization Of Motoric Cognitive Risk And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Gabriela T Gomez, Sanish Sathyan, Jingsha Chen, Myriam Fornage, Pascal Schlosser, Zhongsheng Peng, Jenifer Cordon, Priya Palta, Kevin J Sullivan, Adrienne Tin, B Gwen Windham, Rebecca F Gottesman, Nir Barzilai, Sofiya Milman, Joe Verghese, Josef Coresh, Keenan A Walker

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Motoric cognitive risk (MCR) is a pre-dementia syndrome characterized by mobility and cognitive dysfunction. This study conducted a proteome-wide study of MCR and compared the proteomic signatures of MCR to that of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

METHODS: Participants were classified as MCR using a memory questionnaire and 4-meter walk. We measured 4877 plasma proteins collected during late-life and midlife. Multivariable logistic regression related each protein to late-life MCR/MCI. MCR-associated proteins were replicated internally at midlife and in an external cohort.

RESULTS: Proteome-wide analysis (n = 4076) identified 25 MCR-associated proteins. Eight of these proteins remained associated with late-life MCR …

Forecasting Intraoperative Hypotension During Hepatobiliary Surgery, Juan P Cata, Bhavin Soni, Shreyas Bhavsar, Parvathy Sudhir Pillai, Tatiana A Rypinski, Anshuj Deva, Jeffrey H Siewerdsen, Jose M Soliz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Prediction and avoidance of intraoperative hypotension (IOH) can lead to less postoperative morbidity. Machine learning (ML) is increasingly being applied to predict IOH. We hypothesize that incorporating demographic and physiological features in an ML model will improve the performance of IOH prediction. In addition, we added a "dial" feature to alter prediction performance. An ML prediction model was built based on a multivariate random forest (RF) trained algorithm using 13 physiologic time series and patient demographic data (age, sex, and BMI) for adult patients undergoing hepatobiliary surgery. A novel implementation was developed with an adjustable, multi-model voting (MMV) approach to …

Status Of Abortion Curriculum In Genetic Counseling: Survey Of Graduate Programs And Recent Graduates In The United States, Gina Sanchez, S Shahrukh Hashmi, Erica Bednar, Sarah Horvath, Bhavik Kumar, Katelynn Sagaser, Claire N Singletary, Aarti Ramdaney

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Genetic counselors (GCs) are trained to help individuals navigate the medical and psychological implications of genetic test results, familial conditions, and ultrasound anomalies. Therefore, familiarity with reproductive options, including abortion, is vital. However, previous studies have found gaps in GCs' knowledge regarding abortion care and there are currently no recommendations regarding abortion curriculum. This study aimed to assess the state of abortion curriculum in genetic counseling graduate programs in the United States and to examine and compare the satisfaction levels of program representatives and recent graduates. Program representatives and recent graduates were invited to complete an anonymous survey evaluating the …

Patient-Reported Outcomes: Comparing Functional Avoidance And Standard Thoracic Radiation Therapy In Lung Cancer, Spencer Poiset, Joseph Lombardo, Edward Castillo, Richard Castillo, Bernard Jones, Moyed Miften, Brian Kavanagh, Adam Dicker, Cullen Boyle, Nicole Simone, Benjamin Movsas, Inga Grills, Chad Rusthoven, Yevgeniy Vinogradskiy, Lydia Wilson

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Novel methods generate functional images using image processing techniques combined with four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) data (4DCT-ventilation). 4DCT-ventilation was implemented in a phase II, multicenter functional avoidance clinical trial. The work compares functional avoidance patient-reported outcomes (PROs) against historical standards.

METHODS: Patients with locally advanced lung cancer undergoing curative-intent chemoradiation were accrued. 4DCT-ventilation imaging was generated and functional avoidance treatment plans created reduced dose to functional lung. PRO instruments included Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Lung questionnaire and accompanying subscales (including the Trial Outcome Index [TOI]), EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D), and EQ-Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS). The average change from baseline …

Human Hypofunctional Ncf1 Variants Promote Pulmonary Fibrosis In The Bleomycin-Induced Mouse Model And Patients With Systemic Sclerosis Via Expansion Of Spphuman Hypofunctional Ncf1 Variants Promote Pulmonary Fibrosis In The Bleomycin-Induced Mouse Model And Systemic Sclerosis Patients Via Expansion Of Spp1+ Monocytes-Derived Macrophages, Xinran Yuan, Xiaodong Qin, Kenji Takemoto, Jian Zhao, Matthew Sanderson, Xue Xu, Yu Zhang, Kristi L Helke, Bethany Jacobs Wolf, Joel M Guthridge, Judith A James, Xiaodong Zhou, Shervin Assassi, Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Dandan Wang, Lingyun Sun, Betty P Tsao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: We assessed the role of a systemic lupus erythematosus causal hypofunctional variant, neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 (NCF1)-p.Arg90His (p.R90H) substitution, in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Association of NCF1-H90 with SSc was performed in case-control cohorts, bleomycin (BLM)-treated Ncf1-R90 C57BL/6 wildtype and Ncf1-H90 knock-in (KI) littermates. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) subsets were analysed by cytometry by time-of-flight.

Results: The NCF1-H90 allele is associated with risk for diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) in Chinese and European Americans, and lung fibrosis in Chinese patients with SSc (OR=2.09, p=7.96E-10). Low copy number of NCF1 associated with lung fibrosis in European Americans (OR=4.33, p=2.60E-2). BLM-treated …

Association Of Systemic Inflammation And Long-Term Dysfunction In Covid-19 Patients: A Prospective Cohort, Felipe Dal-Pizzol, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, Henrique Ritter Dal-Pizzol, Gabriele Da Silveira Prestes, Diogo Dominguini, Carolina Saibro Girardi, Lucas Santos, José Cláudio Fonseca Moreira, Daniel Pens Gelain, Roger Walz, Tatiana Barichello, Cristiane Ritter

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

COVID-19 has significant long-term impacts, including a chronic syndrome known as long-COVID, characterized by persistent symptoms post-recovery. The inflammatory response during acute infection is hypothesized to influence long-term outcomes. This study aimed to identify inflammatory biomarkers predictive of functional outcomes one year after hospital discharge. A prospective cohort study was conducted with 213 COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs in Southern Brazil between June and November 2020. After exclusions and follow-ups, 109 patients were evaluated for one-year post-discharge. Plasma levels of Th1 (TNF-α, INF-γ, IL-12), Th2 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13), and Th17 (IL-17, IL-22) cytokines were measured. Functional outcomes in …

Transcriptome Size Matters For Single-Cell Rna-Seq Normalization And Bulk Deconvolution, Songjian Lu, Jiyuan Yang, Lei Yan, Jingjing Liu, Judy Jiaru Wang, Rhea Jain, Jiyang Yu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The variation of transcriptome size across cell types significantly impacts single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data normalization and bulk RNA-seq cellular deconvolution, yet this intrinsic feature is often overlooked. Here we introduce ReDeconv, a computational algorithm that incorporates transcriptome size into scRNA-seq normalization and bulk deconvolution. ReDeconv introduces a scRNA-seq normalization approach, Count based on Linearized Transcriptome Size (CLTS), which corrects differential expressed genes typically misidentified by standard count per 10 K normalization, as confirmed by orthogonal validations. By maintaining transcriptome size variation, CLTS-normalized scRNA-seq enhances the accuracy of bulk deconvolution. Additionally, ReDeconv mitigates gene length effects and models expression variances, …

Immunogenomic Determinants Of Exceptional Response To Immune Checkpoint Inhibition In Renal Cell Carcinoma, Tejas Jammihal, Renee Maria Saliby, Chris Labaki, Hanna Soulati, Juan Gallegos, Arnau Peris, Dustin Mccurry, Chunlei Yu, Valisha Shah, Deepak Poduval, Talal El Zarif, Nourhan El Ahmar, Yasmin Nabil Laimon, Marc Eid, Aseman Bagheri Sheshdeh, Katherine M Krajewski, Florian A Büttner, Matthias Schwab, Daniel Heng, Rafael C Casellas, Kunal Rai, Niki M Zacharias Millward, Pavlos Msaouel, Jose Karam, Sabina Signoretti, Eliezer Van Allen, Toni K Choueiri, David A Braun, Sachet A Shukla

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Immune checkpoint inhibitors can lead to 'exceptional', durable responses in a subset of persons. However, the molecular basis of exceptional response (ER) to immunotherapy in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC) has not been well characterized. Here we analyzed pretherapy genomic and transcriptomic data in treatment-naive persons with mccRCC treated with standard-of-care immunotherapies: (1) combination of programmed cell death protein and ligand 1 (PD1/PDL1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 inhibitors (IO/IO) or (2) combination of PD1/PDL1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor inhibitors (IO/VEGF). In the IO/IO cohort, clonal neoantigen load was significantly higher in persons with …

Community Outreach, Engagement, And Mentoring Program For Underrepresented Scholars In Cancer Health Disparities, Lorna H Mcneill, Cassandra L Harris, Terrence R Adams, Berta R Salazar, Crystal L Roberson, Leonetta B Thompson, Kamisha H Escoto, Kayce D Solari Williams, Shine Chang, Tzuan A Chen, Birnur Buzcu-Guven, Lorraine R Reitzel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective:

Racial/ethnic minorities and women are affected by cancer and cancer risk factors at higher rates; however, they are largely underrepresented in scientific professions focused on health disparities. One way to reduce disparities is to increase diversity within the workforce by planning training activities for minority scholars, paying close attention to community outreach. This paper describes the outcomes of a robust community outreach plan engaging communities in education, research, and clinical trials to increase the number of underrepresented student scholars in cancer disparities research through research training, mentorship, and service-learning activities provided within local organizations.

Methods:

The program provided two …

Association Between Early Immunosuppression Center Variability And One-Year Outcomes After Pediatric Liver Transplant., Vikram K. Raghu, Scott D. Rothenberger, James E. Squires, Elizabeth Eisenberg, Anna L. Peters, Jennifer Halma, Swati Antala, Irini D. Batsis, Ke-You Zhang, Amy G. Feldman, Daniel H. Leung, Steven J. Lobritto, John Bucuvalas, Simon P. Horslen, George V. Mazariegos, Emily R. Perito

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Despite the existence of institutional protocols, liver transplant centers often have variability in early immunosuppression practices. We aimed to measure within-center variability in early immunosuppression after pediatric liver transplant (LT) and examine its association with one-year outcomes.

METHODS: We analyzed pediatric LTs from 2013 to 2018 in the United Network for Organ Sharing registry, with data aggregated by center. We categorized induction regimen as corticosteroids only vs. T-cell depleting antibody vs. non-T-cell depleting antibody. Primary exposures were coefficient of immunosuppression variability (CIV) in (1) induction and (2) mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) use. Primary outcomes were one-year graft survival, patient survival, …

The Metabolic Basis Of Cancer-Related Fatigue, Robert Dantzer, Brandon Chelette, Elisabeth G Vichaya, A Phillip West, Aaron Grossberg

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although we are all familiar with the sensation of fatigue, there are still profound divergences on what it represents and its mechanisms. Fatigue can take various forms depending on the condition in which it develops. Cancer-related fatigue is considered a symptom of exhaustion that is often present at the time of diagnosis, increases in intensity during cancer therapy, and does not always recede after completion of treatment. It is usually attributed to the inflammation induced by damage-associated molecular patterns released by tumor cells during cancer progression and in response to its treatment. In this review, we argue that it is …

Structural Polymorphism And Diversity Of Human Segmental Duplications., Hyeonsoo Jeong, Philip C. Dishuck, Dongahn Yoo, William T. Harvey, Katherine M. Munson, Alexandra P. Lewis, Jennifer Kordosky, Gage H. Garcia, Human Genome Structural Variation Consortium (Hgsvc), Feyza Yilmaz, Pille Hallast, Charles Lee, Tomi Pastinen, Evan E. Eichler

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Segmental duplications (SDs) contribute significantly to human disease, evolution and diversity but have been difficult to resolve at the sequence level. We present a population genetics survey of SDs by analyzing 170 human genome assemblies (from 85 samples representing 38 Africans and 47 non-Africans) in which the majority of autosomal SDs are fully resolved using long-read sequence assembly. Excluding the acrocentric short arms and sex chromosomes, we identify 173.2 Mb of duplicated sequence (47.4 Mb not present in the telomere-to-telomere reference) distinguishing fixed from structurally polymorphic events. We find that intrachromosomal SDs are among the most variable, with rare events …

Hsp90 Inhibitor Auy922 Suppresses Tumor Growth And Modulates Immune Response Through Yap1-Tead Pathway Inhibition In Gastric Cancer, Katsuhiro Yoshimura, Gengyi Zou, Yibo Fan, Kohei Yamashita, Lingzhi Wang, Jingjing Wu, Ruiping Wang, Shan Shao, Ailing W Scott, Jiankang Jin, Melissa Pool Pizzi, Xiaodan Yao, Calena-Abel Brown, Linghua Wang, Qiong Gan, Rebecca E Waters, Feng Yin, Shumei Song, Shilpa S Dhar, Jaffer A Ajani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), a vital chaperone involved in the folding and stabilization of various cellular proteins, regulates key functions in many tumor cells. In the context of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC), where HSP90's role remains largely unexplored, we aimed to investigate the significance of HSP90 inhibitor, AUY922, in regulating the YAP1/TEAD pathway and its association with the tumor immune microenvironment (TME). Our results showed that AUY922 effectively inhibited GAC aggressiveness in both the invitro and invivo models, induced apoptosis, and cell-cycle arrest. Various functional assays elucidated that AUY922 potently inhibited the expression and interaction among YAP1/TEAD and HSP90, resulting …

Radiotherapy In The Treatment Of Primary Cutaneous Cd4+ Small/Medium T-Cell Lymphoproliferative Disorder, Susan Y Wu, Ethan P Damron, Jie Xu, Penny Q Fang, Julia Dai, Ranjit Nair, Luis E Malpica Castillo, Luis E Fayad, Carlos A Torres-Cabala, L Jeffrey Medeiros, Francisco Vega, Roberto N Miranda, Madeleine Duvic, Chelsea C Pinnix, Bouthaina S Dabaja, Swaminathan P Iyer, Auris O Huen, Jillian R Gunther

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder (PCSM-LPD) is an increasingly recognized entity with heterogeneous management strategies that may include radiotherapy.

Objective: Our aim was to characterize treatment options for PCSM-LPD, with a focus on the role of radiotherapy.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of 46 patients seen in the Cutaneous Lymphoma Program at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, with a clinicopathologic review consistent with PCSM-LPD. All patients were biopsied and underwent observation, topical/intralesional steroids, and/or radiotherapy. Patients were confirmed to have residual disease prior to radiotherapy.

Results: All patients achieved a complete response (CR). …

Bills To Restrict Access To And Harm From Indoor Tanning Facilities In Us State Legislatures, 1992‒2023, David B Buller, Julia Berteletti, Carolyn Heckman, Kevin R J Schroth, Alan C Geller, Jerod L Stapleton, Irene Adjei, Anna Mitarotondo, Samantha R Guild, Jeffrey E Gershenwald, Robert Dellavalle, Sherry Pagoto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives. To describe progression, content, and stringency of state legislation regulating indoor tanning and association with state government political party leadership.

Methods. Trained research assistants used legal mapping methods to code legislative bills on indoor tanning introduced in US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We calculated composite scores on the stringency of age restrictions and of warnings, operator requirements, and enforcement. We evaluated associations of the political party of the legislative sponsor and legislature majority.

Results. Between 1992 and 2023, 184 bills were introduced in 49 of 50 states and DC (56 laws were enacted, and 126 …

Healthcare Costs In The United States By Demographic Characteristics And Comorbidity Status, Naomi N Adjei, Allen Haas, Charlotte C Sun, Hui Zhao, Paul G Yeh, Sharon H Giordano, Iakovos Toumazis, Larissa A Meyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Current, real-world healthcare cost information is needed to project future expenditures and inform policy. We estimated the healthcare costs for adults in 2019 in the United States by age, sex, race/ethnicity, geographic region, and comorbidity.

Methods: We aggregated and summarized the healthcare costs in 2021 US dollars using claims data derived from Optum's deidentified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database, which includes inpatient, outpatient, and prescription claims for commercial and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries nationwide.

Results: A total of 9 227 901 adults were included in the analysis. The largest group represented was 71 to 75 years old (13%), female (53%), White …

Cost Of Ovarian Cancer By The Phase Of Care In The United States, Naomi N Adjei, Allen M Haas, Charlotte C Sun, Hui Zhao, Paul G Yeh, Sharon H Giordano, Iakovos Toumazis, Larissa A Meyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Ovarian cancer is associated with delayed diagnosis and poor survival; thus, interest is high in identifying predictive and prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic agents. Although the costs of ovarian cancer care are likely to increase as newer, more effective, but more expensive treatment regimens become available, information on the current costs of care for ovarian cancer-across the care continuum from diagnosis to the end of life-are lacking.

Objective: This study aimed to estimate real-world mean and median costs of ovarian cancer care within the first 5 years after diagnosis by patients' phase of care, age, race/ethnicity, and geographic region. …

The Role Of Double-Zero-Event Studies In Evidence Synthesis: Evaluating Robustness Using The Fragility Index, Zelin Wang, Xing Xing, Eun-Young Mun, Chong Wu, Lifeng Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Rationale: Zero-event counts are common in clinical studies, particularly when assessing rare adverse events. These occurrences can result from low event rates, short follow-up periods, and small sample sizes. When both intervention and control groups report zero events in a clinical trial, the study is referred to as a double-zero-event study, which presents methodological challenges for evidence synthesis. There has been ongoing debate about whether these studies should be excluded from evidence synthesis, as traditional two-stage meta-analysis methods may not estimate an effect size for them. Recent research suggests that these studies may still contain valuable clinical and statistical information. …

The Dynamics Of Tubulogenesis In Development And Disease, Adrian Romero, Brandy L Walker, Vanja Krneta-Stankic, Kamryn Gerner-Mauro, Lydia Youmans, Rachel K Miller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Tubes are crucial for the function of many organs in animals given their fundamental roles in transporting and exchanging substances to maintain homeostasis within an organism. Therefore, the development and maintenance of these tube-like structures within organs is a vital process. Tubes can form in diverse ways, and advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning these different modes of tubulogenesis have significant impacts in many biological contexts, including development and disease. This Review discusses recent progress in understanding developmental mechanisms underlying tube formation.

A Phase 2 Basket Study Of Talabostat, A Small-Molecule Inhibitor Of Dipeptidyl Peptidases, Administered In Combination With Pembrolizumab In Patients With Advanced Solid Cancers, Jibran Ahmed, Filip Janku, Daniel D Karp, Sarina A Piha-Paul, Apostolia M Tsimberidou, Timothy Anthony Yap, Bettzy Stephen, Yali Yang, Serdar Gurses, Qian Liu, Juhee Song, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Aung Naing

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Talabostat, an oral small molecule inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidases (DPP4 and DPP8/9), has shown synergistic activity with immune checkpoint inhibitors in preclinical studies. This open label, phase 2 basket trial assessed the antitumor activity of combining talabostat and pembrolizumab (anti-programmed death-1 antibody) in advanced solid tumor patients.

Methods: The primary objective was assessment of dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) rates in the first six patients (lead-in stage) and response rate (efficacy stage; included cohort A [checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) naive] and cohort B [ICI pretreated]) for the study treatment using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1 and immune RECIST …

Establishment Of The Nichols Strain As The Type Strain Of Treponema Pallidum, Steven J Norris

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In this article, it is proposed that the Nichols strain of Treponema pallidum be established as the type strain. T. pallidum was first identified as the causative agent of syphilis in 1905, and the Nichols strain was isolated in 1912 by inoculation of a rabbit with cerebrospinal fluid from a patient with neurosyphilis. The Nichols strain has been maintained by serial passage in rabbits for over a century, and historically most studies of T. pallidum have been conducted using this strain. In recent years, a procedure for continuous in vitro culture of T. pallidum in a tissue culture system has …

Regulation Of Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare: Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (Clia) As A Model, Brian R Jackson, Mark P Sendak, Anthony Solomonides, Suresh Balu, Dean F Sittig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: To assess the potential to adapt an existing technology regulatory model, namely the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), for clinical artificial intelligence (AI).

Materials and methods: We identify overlap in the quality management requirements for laboratory testing and clinical AI.

Results: We propose modifications to the CLIA model that could make it suitable for oversight of clinical AI.

Discussion: In national discussions of clinical AI, there has been surprisingly little consideration of this longstanding model for local technology oversight. While CLIA was specifically designed for laboratory testing, most of its principles are applicable to other technologies in patient care. …

Recurrence-Free Survival Prediction For Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma After Chemoradiotherapy Using Planning Ct-Based Radiomics Model, Shanshan Tang, Kai Wang, David Hein, Gloria Lin, Nina N Sanford, Jing Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Approximately 30% of non-metastatic anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) patients will experience recurrence after chemoradiotherapy (CRT), and currently available clinical variables are poor predictors of treatment response. We aimed to develop a model leveraging information extracted from radiation pretreatment planning CT to predict recurrence-free survival (RFS) in ASCC patients after CRT.

Methods: Radiomics features were extracted from planning CT images of 96 ASCC patients. Following pre-feature selection, the optimal feature set was selected via step-forward feature selection with a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model. The RFS prediction was generated from a radiomics-clinical combined model based on an optimal feature …

Somatic Copy Number Deletion Of Chromosome 22q In Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma, Olivia W Lee, Danielle M Karyadi, Stephen W Hartley, Weyin Zhou, Mitchell J Machiela, Shahriar A Zamani, Liudmyla Yu Zurnadzhy, John N Weinstein, Young Joo Park, Jeong-Sun Seo, Gerry A Thomas, Tetiana I Bogdanova, Mykola D Tronko, Lindsay M Morton, Stephen J Chanock

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Deletion of the long q arm of chromosome 22 (22qDEL) is the most frequently identified recurrent somatic copy number alteration observed in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Since its role in PTC is not fully understood, we conducted a pooled analysis of genomic characteristics and clinical correlates in 1094 primary tumors from four published PTC genomic studies. The majority of PTC cases with 22qDEL exhibited arm-level loss of heterozygosity (86%); nearly all PTC cases with 22qDEL had losses in 22q12 and 13, which together constitute 70% of the q arm. Our analysis confirmed that 22qDEL occurs more frequently with RAS point …

Advances And Challenges In Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Natural Killer Cell Immunotherapy For Cancer, Hind Rafei, Katayoun Rezvani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-natural killer (NK)-cell therapy has emerged as a promising strategy in the treatment of haematological malignancies and solid cancers. Leveraging the innate immune properties of NK cells, CAR-NK-cell therapies offer potential advantages for cell therapy, including safety of use in the allogeneic setting and reduced risk of toxicity. This Nutshell provides an overview of the latest advancements in CAR-NK-cell therapy and the challenges that remain.

Nadh-Bound Aif Activates The Mitochondrial Chchd4/Mia40 Chaperone By A Substrate-Mimicry Mechanism, Chris A Brosey, Runze Shen, John A Tainer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mitochondrial metabolism requires the chaperoned import of disulfide-stabilized proteins via CHCHD4/MIA40 and its enigmatic interaction with oxidoreductase Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF). By crystallizing human CHCHD4's AIF-interaction domain with an activated AIF dimer, we uncover how NADH allosterically configures AIF to anchor CHCHD4's β-hairpin and histidine-helix motifs to the inner mitochondrial membrane. The structure further reveals a similarity between the AIF-interaction domain and recognition sequences of CHCHD4 substrates. NMR and X-ray scattering (SAXS) solution measurements, mutational analyses, and biochemistry show that the substrate-mimicking AIF-interaction domain shields CHCHD4's redox-sensitive active site. Disrupting this shield critically activates CHCHD4 substrate affinity and chaperone activity. Regulatory-domain …

Obesity Predisposes Anthracycline-Treated Survivors Of Childhood And Adolescent Cancers To Subclinical Cardiac Dysfunction, Ian A George, Brianna Souder, Amy Berkman, David H Noyd, M Jay Campbell, Piers C A Barker, Michael Roth, Michelle A T Hildebrandt, Kevin C Oeffinger, Andrew W Mccrary, Andrew P Landstrom

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Anthracyclines are effective chemotherapeutics used in approximately 60% of pediatric cancer cases but have a well-documented risk of cardiotoxicity. Existing cardiotoxicity risk calculators do not include cardiovascular risk factors present at the time of diagnosis. The goal of this study is to leverage the advanced sensitivity of strain echocardiography to identify pre-existing risk factors for early subclinical cardiac dysfunction among anthracycline-exposed pediatric patients. We identified 115 pediatric patients with cancer who were treated with an anthracycline between 2013 and 2019. Peak longitudinal left ventricular strain was retroactively calculated on 495 surveillance echocardiograms via the TOMTEC AutoSTRAIN software. Cox proportional hazards …

Rezilient3: Randomized Phase Iii Study Of First-Line Zipalertinib Plus Chemotherapy In Patients With Egfr Exon 20 Insertion-Mutated Nsclc, John V Heymach, Helena A Yu, Benjamin Besse, Ying Cheng, Daniel Sw Tan, Li Wei, Volker Wacheck, Makoto Nishio

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There remains a significant unmet need for effective and tolerable treatments for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (

A Phase Ib Trial Of Selinexor In Combination With Immune Checkpoint Blockade In Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma, Omar Alhalabi, Mohamed A Gouda, Denái R Milton, Hassan Ahmed Momin, Bulent Yilmaz, Bettzy Stephen, Chinenye Lynette Ejezie, Justin Tyler Moyers, Serdar A Gurses, Jeffrey How, Siqing Fu, Jordi Rodon, David S Hong, Sarina A Piha-Paul, Vivek Subbiah, Ecaterina Elena Dumbrava, Daniel D Karp, Filip Janku, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Nizar M Tannir, Aung Naing

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Selinexor (SEL) is a nuclear exportin 1 inhibitor that blocks the transport of nuclear proteins, including tumor suppressors, to the cytoplasm. Preclinical data suggest that the combination of SEL with checkpoint blockade may result in improved response to immunotherapy.

Methods: NCT02419495 was a multiarm phase IB study of SEL in combination with other standard regimens in patients with advanced malignancies. Arm M utilized twice weekly oral SEL and intravenous nivolumab (NIVO). Arm N utilized weekly oral SEL with NIVO plus ipilimumab (IPI). The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of SEL + NIVO and SEL …