Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Review Of The Clinical Introduction Of 4d Particle Therapy Research Concepts, Barbara Knäusl, Gabriele Belotti, Jenny Bertholet, Juliane Daartz, Stella Flampouri, Mischa Hoogeman, Antje C Knopf, Haibo Lin, Astrid Moerman, Chiara Paganelli, Antoni Rucinski, Reinhard Schulte, Shing Shimizu, Kristin Stützer, Xiaodong Zhang, Ye Zhang, Katarzyna Czerska

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: Many 4D particle therapy research concepts have been recently translated into clinics, however, remaining substantial differences depend on the indication and institute-related aspects. This work aims to summarise current state-of-the-art 4D particle therapy technology and outline a roadmap for future research and developments.

Material and methods: This review focused on the clinical implementation of 4D approaches for imaging, treatment planning, delivery and evaluation based on the 2021 and 2022 4D Treatment Workshops for Particle Therapy as well as a review of the most recent surveys, guidelines and scientific papers dedicated to this topic.

Results: Available technological capabilities …

Sample Multiplexing In Cytof: Path To Optimize Single-Cell Proteomic Profiling, Muharrem Muftuoglu, Michael Andreeff

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sample multiplexing significantly enhanced the depth of single-cell proteomic analysis in CyTOF (Cytometry by Time-Of-Flight). New polymer-based chelators have broadened the utility of metal isotopes, enabling improved tagging and simultaneous analysis of multiple samples. These approaches minimize batch effects, streamline experiments, conserve valuable samples, reduce costs, enhance throughput, and increase the accuracy of biological data, thereby facilitating novel discoveries.

Generation Of A Wt1 Conditional Deletion, Nuclear Red Fluorescent Protein Reporter Allele In The Mouse, Jace A Aloway, E Cristy Ruteshouser, Vicki Huff, Richard R Behringer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A Wt1 conditional deletion, nuclear red fluorescent protein (RFP) reporter allele was generated in the mouse by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Upon Cre-mediated recombination, a deletion allele is generated that expresses RFP in a Wt1-specific pattern. RFP expression was detected in embryonic and adult tissues known to express Wt1, including the kidney, mesonephros, and testis. In addition, RFP expression and WT1 co-localization was detected in the adult uterine stroma and myometrium, suggesting a role in uterine function. Crosses with Wnt7a-Cre transgenic mice that express Cre in the Müllerian duct epithelium activate Wt1-directed RFP expression in the epithelium of …

Author Correction: Neoadjuvant Atezolizumab For Resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: An Open-Label, Single-Arm Phase Ii Trial, Jamie E Chaft, Filiz Oezkan, Mark G Kris, Paul A Bunn, Ignacio I Wistuba, David J Kwiatkowski, Dwight H Owen, Yan Tang, Bruce E Johnson, Jay M Lee, Gerard Lozanski, Maciej Pietrzak, Michal Seweryn, Woo Yul Byun, Katja Schulze, Alan Nicholas, Ann Johnson, Jessica Grindheim, Stephanie Hilz, David S Shames, Chris Rivard, Eric Toloza, Eric B Haura, Ciaran J Mcnamee, G Alexander Patterson, Saiama N Waqar, Valerie W Rusch, David P Carbone

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Endovascular Interventions In Cancer Patients With Compromise Of The Mediastinal Vasculature: A Review, Steven Yevich, Nicolas Cardenas, Rahul Sheth, Joshua Kuban, Milan Patel, Ketan Shah, Koustav Pal, Stephen R Chen, Alda Tam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The mediastinal vasculature can be affected by various etiologies in cancer patients. Both direct and indirect sequela of cancer may result in life-threatening clinical presentations. Tumor growth may cause vessel narrowing and decreased blood flow from either extrinsic mass effect, invasion into the vascular wall, or tumor thrombus within the lumen. In addition, cancer patients are predisposed to indirect sequela to the mediastinal vasculature from an increased risk of benign thromboembolic events, tumor thrombus, or iatrogenic complications during cancer treatments. Benign thrombus may result in partial or complete occlusion of the superior vena cava (SVC) or pulmonary artery. Vascular damage …

A Goldilocks Computational Protocol For Inhibitor Discovery Targeting Dna Damage Responses Including Replication-Repair Functions, Davide Moiani, John A Tainer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While many researchers can design knockdown and knockout methodologies to remove a gene product, this is mainly untrue for new chemical inhibitor designs that empower multifunctional DNA Damage Response (DDR) networks. Here, we present a robust Goldilocks (GL) computational discovery protocol to efficiently innovate inhibitor tools and preclinical drug candidates for cellular and structural biologists without requiring extensive virtual screen (VS) and chemical synthesis expertise. By computationally targeting DDR replication and repair proteins, we exemplify the identification of DDR target sites and compounds to probe cancer biology. Our GL pipeline integrates experimental and predicted structures to efficiently discover leads, allowing …

Incidence And Impact Of Fungal Infections In Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide-Based Graft-Versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis And Haploidentical Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Center For International Blood And Marrow Transplant Research Analysis, Genovefa A Papanicolaou, Min Chen, Naya He, Michael J Martens, Soyoung Kim, Marjorie V Batista, Neel S Bhatt, Peiman Hematti, Joshua A Hill, Hongtao Liu, Sunita Nathan, Matthew D Seftel, Akshay Sharma, Edmund K Waller, John R Wingard, Jo-Anne H Young, Christopher E Dandoy, Miguel-Angel Perales, Roy F Chemaly, Marcie Riches, Celalettin Ustun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fungal infection (FI) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Neutropenia, HLA mismatch, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and viral infections are risk factors for FI. The objectives of this Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research registry study were to compare the incidence and density of FI occurring within 180 days after HCT in matched sibling (Sib) transplants with either calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-based or post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy)-based GVHD prophylaxis and related haploidentical transplants receiving PTCy, and to examine the impact of FI by day 180 on transplantation outcomes.

Methods: Patients who underwent their first …

Aging-Related Biomarker Discovery In The Era Of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors For Cancer Patients, Abdullah Al-Danakh, Mohammed Safi, Yuli Jian, Linlin Yang, Xinqing Zhu, Qiwei Chen, Kangkang Yang, Shujing Wang, Jianjun Zhang, Deyong Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Older patients with cancer, particularly those over 75 years of age, often experience poorer clinical outcomes compared to younger patients. This can be attributed to age-related comorbidities, weakened immune function, and reduced tolerance to treatment-related adverse effects. In the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) era, age has emerged as an influential factor impacting the discovery of predictive biomarkers for ICI treatment. These age-linked changes in the immune system can influence the composition and functionality of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) that play a crucial role in the cancer response. Older patients may have lower levels of TIICs infiltration due to age-related immune …

Editorial: Updates On Radiation-Induced Lymphopenia, Pim J J Damen, Steven H Lin, Peter S N Van Rossum

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Radiotherapy is a commonly employed and effective treatment for cancer, seeking to achieve an optimal balance between tumor cell death and minimizing damage to healthy tissues. Radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) is a common side effect due to the high radiosensitivity of lymphocytes even at low doses (< 1Gy), leading to their direct depletion (1). While the detrimental effects of radiotherapy on lymphocytes have been recognized since 1905, its influence on tumor control and survival has remained largely unclear until recently (2). Moreover, awareness and understanding of the prognostic effects of RIL remain limited in daily clinical practice.

Mri-Guided High-Dose-Rate Gynecologic Brachytherapy Using An Mr-Linac As An Mr Simulator: A Single Institutional Experience, Whitney Massock, Yusung Kim, M Alex Dresner, Wenqing Sun, Joseph Caster, Quentin Adams, Jill Jespersen, Joel St-Aubin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: The goal of this study was to commission the use of a magnetic resonance linear accelerator (MR-linac; Unity) for imaging of gynecologic high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. This included optimizing imaging protocols and workflow development.

Methods and materials: T1-weighted and T2-weighted HDR imaging protocols were optimized on the Unity for HDR gynecologic imaging and treatment planning. Phantom measurements using these protocols were performed to determine geometric distortion and to assess reconstruction accuracy of the applicator compared with the ground truth computed tomography image. A treatment plan was created within the treatment planning system that was then delivered to a phantom. New …

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy For Gynecologic Malignancies: A Case-Based Radiosurgery Society Practice Review, Colton Ladbury, Mark H Sueyoshi, Nellie M Brovold, Ritesh Kumar, Therese Y Andraos, Emile Gogineni, Minsun Kim, Ann Klopp, Kevin Albuquerque, Charles Kunos, Eric Leung, Constantine Mantz, Tithi Biswas, Sushil Beriwal, William Small, Beth Erickson, David Gaffney, Simon S Lo, Akila N Viswanathan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: The use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for gynecologic malignancies is controversial. We discuss certain circumstances when highly precise SBRT may be a useful tool to consider in the management of selected patients.

Methods and materials: Case selection included the following scenarios, the first 2 with palliative intent, para-aortic nodal oligorecurrence of ovarian cancer, pelvic sidewall oligorecurrence of cervical cancer, and inoperable endometrial cancer boost after intensity modulated radiation to the pelvis treated with curative intent. Patient characteristics, fractionation, prescription dose, treatment technique, and dose constraints were discussed. Relevant literature to these cases was summarized to provide a …

Editorial: Genetic And Cellular Heterogeneity In Tumors, Zishan Wang, Li Ma, Juan Xu, Chunjie Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Egfr, Hla-G, Cd70, C-Met, And Ny-Eso1 As Potential Biomarkers In High Grade Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma, Duc Vo, Yan Liu, Anil K Sood, Katy Rezvani, Amir A Jazaeri, Jinsong Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

High grade epithelial ovarian carcinoma is an aggressive tumor. Treatment includes platinum therapy, however it recurs in most patients due to therapy resistance. In this project, we study the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of five potential biomarkers/prognostic markers in high grade epithelial ovarian carcinoma: EGFR, HLA-G, CD70, c-MET, and NY-ESO1. A cohort of 274 patients is used. We compare the IHC expression with age, stage, ascites status, family history of cancer, disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). EGFR expression is significantly correlated with family history and worse OS. HLA-G is associated with worse OS. To confirm the results of …

Expert-Centered Evaluation Of Deep Learning Algorithms For Brain Tumor Segmentation, Katharina V Hoebel, Christopher P Bridge, Sara Ahmed, Oluwatosin Akintola, Caroline Chung, Raymond Y Huang, Jason M Johnson, Albert Kim, K Ina Ly, Ken Chang, Jay Patel, Marco Pinho, Tracy T Batchelor, Bruce R Rosen, Elizabeth R Gerstner, Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose To present results from a literature survey on practices in deep learning segmentation algorithm evaluation and perform a study on expert quality perception of brain tumor segmentation. Materials and Methods A total of 180 articles reporting on brain tumor segmentation algorithms were surveyed for the reported quality evaluation. Additionally, ratings of segmentation quality on a four-point scale were collected from medical professionals for 60 brain tumor segmentation cases. Results Of the surveyed articles, Dice score, sensitivity, and Hausdorff distance were the most popular metrics to report segmentation performance. Notably, only 2.8% of the articles included clinical experts' evaluation of …

Monitoring Variations In The Use Of Automated Contouring Software, Kelly A Nealon, Eun Young Han, Stephen F Kry, Callistus Nguyen, Mary Pham, Valerie K Reed, David Rosenthal, Samantha Simiele, Laurence E Court

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Our purpose was to identify variations in the clinical use of automatically generated contours that could be attributed to software error, off-label use, or automation bias.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: For 500 head and neck patients who were contoured by an in-house automated contouring system, Dice similarity coefficient and added path length were calculated between the contours generated by the automated system and the final contours after editing for clinical use. Statistical process control was used and control charts were generated with control limits at 3 standard deviations. Contours that exceeded the thresholds were investigated to determine the cause. Moving …

Predicting Suicidality In Late-Life Depression By 3d Convolutional Neural Network And Cross-Sample Entropy Analysis Of Resting-State Fmri, Chemin Lin, Chih-Mao Huang, Wei Chang, You-Xun Chang, Ho-Ling Liu, Shu-Hang Ng, Huang-Li Lin, Tatia Mei-Chun Lee, Shwu-Hua Lee, Shun-Chi Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Predicting suicide is a pressing issue among older adults; however, predicting its risk is difficult. Capitalizing on the recent development of machine learning, considerable progress has been made in predicting complex behavior such as suicide. As depression remained the strongest risk for suicide, we aimed to apply deep learning algorithms to identify suicidality in a group with late-life depression (LLD).

METHODS: We enrolled 83 patients with LLD, 35 of which were non-suicidal and 48 were suicidal, including 26 with only suicidal ideation and 22 with past suicide attempts, for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cross-sample entropy (CSE) analysis …

Jointtracker: Real-Time Inertial Kinematic Chain Tracking With Joint Position Estimation, Bertram Taetz, Michael Lorenz, Markus Miezal, Didier Stricker, Gabriele Bleser-Taetz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In-field human motion capture (HMC) is drawing increasing attention due to the multitude of application areas. Plenty of research is currently invested in camera-based (markerless) HMC, with the advantage of no infrastructure being required on the body, and additional context information being available from the surroundings. However, the inherent drawbacks of camera-based approaches are the limited field of view and occlusions. In contrast, inertial HMC (IHMC) does not suffer from occlusions, thus being a promising approach for capturing human motion outside the laboratory. However, one major challenge of such methods is the necessity of spatial registration. Typically, during a predefined …

Insights Into The Assembly And Regulation Of The Bacterial Divisome, Todd A Cameron, William Margolin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The ability to split one cell into two is fundamental to all life, and many bacteria can accomplish this feat several times per hour with high accuracy. Most bacteria call on an ancient homologue of tubulin, called FtsZ, to localize and organize the cell division machinery, the divisome, into a ring-like structure at the cell midpoint. The divisome includes numerous other proteins, often including an actin homologue (FtsA), that interact with each other at the cytoplasmic membrane. Once assembled, the protein complexes that comprise the dynamic divisome coordinate membrane constriction with synthesis of a division septum, but only after overcoming …

Probing Membrane-Associated Cytoskeletal Oligomers Of The Bacterial Divisome By Electron Microscopy And Tomography, Bo Hu, William Margolin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The cell division machinery or "divisome" of many bacteria, including Escherichia coli, contains homologs of tubulin (FtsZ) and actin (FtsA) that interact with each other to promote the synthesis of septal peptidoglycan. FtsA oligomers have an essential role as a track for tethering dynamically treadmilling FtsZ protofilaments to the cytoplasmic membrane. Other bacterial cytoskeletal oligomers such as MreB also assemble on and move along the membrane. Structures of these oligomers on membranes in vitro may mimic their behavior in the cell. Here, we describe a protocol to visualize FtsA oligomeric structures on membranes and their interactions with FtsZ protofilaments using …

Obesity Is Associated With Improved Progression-Free Survival In Microsatellite-Instability-High Endometrial Cancer Treated With Pembrolizumab, Laurence Bernard, Jeffrey A How, Shrina Patel, Melinda S Yates, Amir Jazaeri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: To determine the clinical predictors of response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) to pembrolizumab in advanced or recurrent, mismatch repair deficient (MMRd) or Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) endometrial adenocarcinomas.

Methods: A retrospective, single institution study was conducted among women with recurrent or advanced MMRd or MSI-H endometrial adenocarcinomas treated with single-agent pembrolizumab at our institution from 2017 to 2021. Logistic regression was used for univariable and multivariable analyses. PFS and OS were estimated using the methods of Kaplan and Meier and modeled via Cox proportional hazards regression. Log-rank test was used for intergroup comparisons based on body …

Research Hot Spots And Trends In Endocrine-Related Adverse Events Caused By Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Bibliometric Analysis And Visualization Research, Jun Zhao, Guangwei Liu, Xue Yang, Chuanzhou Zhang, Bing Han, Man Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: In recent years, with the widespread use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer treatment, the toxicity associated with immunotherapy of ICIs has attracted more attention from scholars. Endocrine toxicity is the most likely immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and is often irreversible, posing a significant clinical treatment challenge.

Methods: In this study, bibliometric methods were used to analyze relevant literature in screening endocrine-related adverse events caused by ICIs in the Web of Science core collection database (WoSCC) and to summarize the status, research hot spots, and future trends in this field.

Results: 321 countries, 297 institutions, 365 authors, and …

Rapid Detection Of Mutations In Csf-Cftna With The Genexus Integrated Sequencer, Srividya Arjuna, Mauli Shah, Antonio Dono, Luis Nunez-Rubiano, Pavel S Pichardo-Rojas, Jay-Jiguang Zhu, Roy F Riascos, Rajyalakshmi Luthra, Sinchita Roy-Chowdhuri, Dzifa Duose, Daniel H Wang, Frederick F Lang, Yoshua Esquenazi, Leomar Y Ballester

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Genomic alterations are fundamental for molecular-guided therapy in patients with breast and lung cancer. However, the turn-around time of standard next-generation sequencing assays is a limiting factor in the timely delivery of genomic information for clinical decision-making.

METHODS: In this study, we evaluated genomic alterations in 54 cerebrospinal fluid samples from 33 patients with metastatic lung cancer and metastatic breast cancer to the brain using the Oncomine Precision Assay on the Genexus sequencer. There were nine patients with samples collected at multiple time points.

RESULTS: Cell-free total nucleic acids (cfTNA) were extracted from CSF (0.1-11.2 ng/μl). Median base coverage …

Gut Microbiome And Hepatic Transcriptomic Determinants Of Hcc Development In Mice With Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis, Lillian I Dolapchiev, Kristyn A Gonzales, Lorenzo R Cruz, Mihai Gagea, Heather L Stevenson, Suet-Ying Kwan, Laura Beretta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) related to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is often diagnosed at a late stage, and its incidence is increasing. Predictive biomarkers are therefore needed to identify individuals at high risk of HCC. We aimed to characterize the gut microbiome and hepatic transcriptome associated with HCC development in female mice with hepatocyte-deletion of Pten (HepPten -). These mice present with large variations in HCC development, making them a powerful model for biomarker discovery.

Methods & results: Sequencing of stool 16S and hepatic RNA was performed on a first set of mice. Among all liver histology …

Usp22 Overexpression Fails To Augment Tumor Formation In Mmtv-Erbb2 Mice But Loss Of Function Impacts Mmtv Promoter Activity, Xianghong Kuang, Andrew Salinger, Fernando Benavides, William J Muller, Sharon Y R Dent, Evangelia Koutelou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Ubiquitin Specific Peptidase 22 (USP22), a component of the Spt-Ada-Gcn5 Acetyltransferase (SAGA) histone modifying complex, is overexpressed in multiple human cancers, but how USP22 impacts tumorigenesis is not clear. We reported previously that Usp22 loss in mice impacts execution of several signaling pathways driven by growth factor receptors such as erythroblastic oncogene B b2 (ERBB2). To determine whether changes in USP22 expression affects ERBB2-driven tumorigenesis, we introduced conditional overexpression or deletion alleles of Usp22 into mice bearing the Mouse mammary tumor virus-Neu-Ires-Cre (MMTV-NIC) transgene, which drives both rat ERBB2/NEU expression and Cre recombinase activity from the MMTV promoter resulting …

Protection Against Fibrosis By A Bacterial Consortium In Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis And The Role Of Amino Acid Metabolism, Suet-Ying Kwan, Kristyn A Gonzales, Mohamed A Jamal, Heather L Stevenson, Lin Tan, Philip L Lorenzi, P Andrew Futreal, Ernest T Hawk, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Robert R Jenq, Laura Beretta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The gut microbiota drives progression to liver fibrosis, the main determinant of mortality in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). In this study, we aimed to identify bacterial species associated with protection against liver fibrosis in a high-risk population, and test their potential to protect against liver fibrosis in vivo. Based on stool shotgun metagenomic sequencing of 340 subjects from a population cohort disproportionally affected by MASH, we identified bacterial species from the Bacteroidales and Clostridiales orders associated with reduced risk of liver fibrosis. A bacterial consortium was subsequently tested in a mouse model of MASH, which demonstrated protective effects against …

Contrastive Learning With Transformer For Adverse Endpoint Prediction In Patients On Dapt Post-Coronary Stent Implantation, Fang Li, Zenan Sun, Ahmed Abdelhameed, Tiehang Duan, Laila Rasmy, Xinyue Hu, Jianping He, Yifang Dang, Jingna Feng, Jianfu Li, Yichen Wang, Tianchen Lyu, Naomi Braun, Si Pham, Michael Gharacholou, Delisa Fairweather, Degui Zhi, Jiang Bian, Cui Tao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Effective management of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is crucial for preventing adverse events. Traditional prognostic tools, such as rule-based methods or Cox regression, despite their widespread use and ease, tend to yield moderate predictive accuracy within predetermined timeframes. This study introduces a new contrastive learning-based approach to enhance prediction efficacy over multiple time intervals.

Methods: We utilized retrospective, real-world data from the OneFlorida + Clinical Research Consortium. Our study focused on two primary endpoints: ischemic and bleeding events, with prediction windows of 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months post-DES implantation. Our approach first …

Usp22 Overexpression Fails To Augment Tumor Formation In Mmtv-Erbb2 Mice But Loss Of Function Impacts Mmtv Promoter Activity, Xianghong Kuang, Andrew Salinger, Fernando Benavides, William J Muller, Sharon Y R Dent, Evangelia Koutelou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Ubiquitin Specific Peptidase 22 (USP22), a component of the Spt-Ada-Gcn5 Acetyltransferase (SAGA) histone modifying complex, is overexpressed in multiple human cancers, but how USP22 impacts tumorigenesis is not clear. We reported previously that Usp22 loss in mice impacts execution of several signaling pathways driven by growth factor receptors such as erythroblastic oncogene B b2 (ERBB2). To determine whether changes in USP22 expression affects ERBB2-driven tumorigenesis, we introduced conditional overexpression or deletion alleles of Usp22 into mice bearing the Mouse mammary tumor virus-Neu-Ires-Cre (MMTV-NIC) transgene, which drives both rat ERBB2/NEU expression and Cre recombinase activity from the MMTV promoter resulting …

Early And Rapid Development Of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Jacqueline S Dickey, Burton F Dickey, Amin M Alousi, Richard E Champlin, Ajay Sheshadri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a form of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in the lung and manifests as moderate to severe airflow obstruction after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). New-onset airflow obstruction on spirometry is considered diagnostic of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). BOS affects about 5% of all HCT recipients. In general, BO is thought of as a late complication of HCT, usually occurring after day 100 post-transplantation. However, the onset of airflow obstruction can be rapid and is most often irreversible even with treatment. We describe a patient who rapidly developed severe airflow obstruction less than one month after transplantation following …

The Use Of Large Language Models To Accelerate Literature Review Towards Digital Health Equity And Inclusiveness, Taylor B Harrison, Dian Hu, Sunyang Fu, Hongfang Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Digital health technologies (DHTs) have revolutionized clinical trials, offering unprecedented opportunities to streamline processes, enhance patient engagement, and improve data quality. Growing technology device and broadband access are contributing to the increasing number of DHT-enabled trials. Ideally, DHTs have the potential to make clinical research more inclusive and diverse. However, while the variety in digital technologies and implementations present a strong display of healthcare innovation, major challenges arise concerning DHT generalizability and translation into real-world medical practice. In this study, we report our efforts in accelerating the literature review process related to the use of DHTs in randomized controlled trials …

Survivalcontour: Visualizing Predicted Survival Via Colored Contour Plots, Yushu Shi, Liangliang Zhang, Kim-Anh Do, Robert R Jenq, Christine B Peterson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Advances in survival analysis have facilitated unprecedented flexibility in data modeling, yet there remains a lack of tools for illustrating the influence of continuous covariates on predicted survival outcomes. We propose the utilization of a colored contour plot to depict the predicted survival probabilities over time. Our approach is capable of supporting conventional models, including the Cox and Fine–Gray models. However, its capability shines when coupled with cutting-edge machine learning models such as random survival forests and deep neural networks.

Availability and implementation

We provide a Shiny app at https://biostatistics.mdanderson.org/shinyapps/survivalContour/ and an R package available at https://github.com/YushuShi/survivalContour as implementations of …