Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Care Of Adult Cancer Survivors, Kelsey Kloosterman

Doctoral Projects

As innovative cancer treatments emerge, more people are surviving cancer. Cancer survivors have multiple and unique healthcare needs due to their cancer and cancer treatments. Communication among those treating the cancer, primary care providers, and cancer survivors is necessary to coordinate care once treatment is finished. The development of a survivorship care plan that is reviewed with the cancer survivor is intended to facilitate communication among all stakeholders. This quality improvement project examined current practice in a survivorship clinic in a Midwestern health system cancer center that cares for a variety of types of cancer patients. By reviewing evidence in …

Conference Proceedings: Aurora Scientific Day 2018

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

This journal supplement includes selected abstracts from among the more than 50 presented at the 44th annual Aurora Scientific Day research symposium. Held May 25, 2018, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Aurora Scientific Day provides a forum for original research conducted by faculty, fellows, residents, and other allied health professionals affiliated with Aurora Health Care, an integrated health system with hospitals and clinics in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Analytical Models Of Neutron Spectral Fluence, Kerma And Absorbed-Dose For Proton Therapy, Suman Shrestha

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract

Purpose: The accurate prediction of stray neutron dose has become increasingly important as it increases the risk of second cancer development after proton therapy. Previously reported analytical models predicted the quantity dose equivalent, which includes physical and biological considerations but does not explicitly take into account material dependence and variation in the radiation quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an analytical model of absorbed dose to water from stray neutrons in proton therapy.

Methods: To calculate neutron absorbed dose and kerma in water, the authors developed analytical models of neutron spectral fluence and …

Racial Disparity Among Women Diagnosed With Invasive Breast Cancer In A Large Integrated Health System, Maharaj Singh, Santhi D. Konduri, George C. Bobustuc, Amin B. Kassam, Richard A. Rovin

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Reasons for the well-described disparity in outcomes between African American (AA) and non-Hispanic white (NHW) women with invasive breast cancer are unclear, making it difficult to identify solutions. This study examined the effects of demographics, biomarkers, tumor characteristics, cancer stage, morphology, and treatment variables on overall and cancer-free survival in these patient populations.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data for 6231 patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer throughout an integrated health system from January 2006 through March 2015. Included for analysis were 5023 NHW and 413 AA women. All category and continuous variables in the study were described in the …

Hidradenocarcinoma: Five Years Of Local And Systemic Control Of A Rare Sweat Gland Neoplasm With Nodal Metastasis, Benazir Mir, Muhammad Atif Mansha, Nasir Ali, Ahmed Nadeem Abbasi, Syed Mustajab Ahmed, Bilal Mazhar Qureshi

Department of Radiation Oncology

Hidradenocarcinoma is a rare and locally aggressive tumor rendering a poor prognosis. Furthermore, very few cases present with nodal metastasis. Diagnosing such an entity, and then differentiating it from a benign counterpart, poses a great challenge to the clinicians. There are no established treatment guidelines for the management of this disease, particularly in patients with nodal involvement. We present a case of a young male who was diagnosed with hidradenocarcinoma of the scalp, along with a neck swelling. A thorough diagnostic evaluation was done with endoscopy, pathological, and radiological investigations. He was successfully treated with resection of the scalp lesion …

Discerning Drivers Of Cancer: Computational Approaches To Somatic Exome Sequencing Data, Runjun Kumar

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Paired tumor-normal sequencing of thousands of patient’s exomes has revealed millions of somatic mutations, but functional characterization and clinical decision making are stymied because biologically neutral ‘passenger’ mutations greatly outnumber pathogenic ‘driver’ mutations. Since most mutations will return negative results if tested, conventional resource-intensive experiments are reserved for mutations which are observed in multiple patients or rarer mutations found in well-established cancer genes. Most mutations are therefore never tested, diminishing the potential to discover new mechanisms of cancer development and treatment opportunities. Computational methods that reliably prioritize mutations for testing would greatly increase the translation of sequencing results to clinical …

Matters Of Trust: Examination Of The Patient-Provider Relationship In Cancer Care, Krista A. Brown

Capstone Experience

Background: The intangible concept of trust is critical in the patient-provider relationship. Cancer patients may experience positive and negative impacts of trust in this relationship to a higher degree due to the inherently serious nature of their disease and the level of dependence upon treatment providers.

Objective: The goal of this study was to compare colorectal cancer patients’ levels of trust in their primary care physician and oncologist, along with examining trust differences associated with demographics and other characteristics.

Methods: Colorectal cancer patients (n=158) treated at Nebraska Medicine and consented into the Integrated Cancer Repository for Cancer Research IRB …

Symptom Clusters And Quality Of Life Trajectories In Breast Cancer Patients Before And After Chemotherapy, Gaurav Kumar

Capstone Experience

Context. Breast cancer patients experience multiple concurrent symptoms before and after chemotherapy (CTX). Physical and psychological symptoms may persist after treatment and reduce the quality of life (QOL) of survivors.

Objectives. Identify differences in prevalence and severity of symptoms at three times within 1- year of starting CTX; and identify symptom cluster and QOL trajectories over these times in breast cancer patients.

Methods. Symptoms were identified in breast cancer patients (N=219) before the start of CTX (baseline), 30 days after the last CTX, and 1-year after the first CTX. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Symptom Experience Scale …

Inhibition Of Insulin‐Like Growth Factor 1 Receptor Enhances The Efficacy Of Sorafenib In Inhibiting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Growth And Survival, Fang Wang, Thomas Bank, George Malnassy, Maribel Arteaga, Na Shang, Annika Dalheim, Xianzhong Ding, Scott J. Cotler, Mitchell F. Denning, Michael I. Nishimura, Peter Breslin, Wei Qiu

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common primary cancer and second largest cause of cancer‐related death worldwide. The first‐line oral chemotherapeutic agent sorafenib only increases survival in patients with advanced HCC by less than 3 months. Most patients with advanced HCC have shown limited response rates and survival benefits with sorafenib. Although sorafenib is an inhibitor of multiple kinases, including serine/threonine‐protein kinase c‐Raf, serine/threonine‐protein kinase B‐Raf, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)‐1, VEGFR‐2, VEGFR‐3, and platelet‐derived growth factor receptor β, HCC cells are able to escape from sorafenib treatment using other pathways that the drug insufficiently inhibits. The aim …

Long-Term Visual Outcomes In Optic Nerve Sheath Meningiomas Following Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy, Sana Dastgheyb, Christian Fernandez, Md, Maria Werner-Wasik, Md, Voichita Bar-Ad, Md, David Andrews Md, James Evans, Md, Kevin Judy, Md, Sara Lally, Md, Carol Shields, Md, Arman Mashayekhi, Md, Wenyin Shi, Md, Phd, Christopher Farrell, Md

Sigma Xi Student Research Day

Introduction

Radiation therapy is often used for tumors of the optic nerve. The challenge with irradiating tumors surrounding structures associated with the eye is the risk of exposing the optic nerve, or other structures important to maintaining vision to potentially damaging radiation.

Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) is commonly used for the treatment of optic nerve sheath meningiomas (ONSMs) for vision preservation. However, long term visual data in the literature is limited. We investigated visual outcomes in 27 patients with ONSMs after FSRT.

Emotion Regulation And Positive Affect In The Context Of Salivary Alpha-Amylase Response To Pain In Children With Cancer, Brooke N. Jenkins, Douglas A. Granger, Ryan J. Roemer, Ariana Martinez, Tara K. Torres, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Children with cancer routinely undergo painful medical procedures invoking strong physiological stress responses. Resilience to this pain may be conferred through resources such as emotion regulation strategies and positive affect.

Procedure

This study measured dispositional positive affect in children with cancer (N = 73) and randomly assigned participants to one of three emotion regulation strategy conditions (distraction, reappraisal, or reassurance). Children applied their assigned strategy during an experimental pain procedure (the cold pressor task [CPT]) and provided saliva samples before, immediately after, and 15 min after the CPT. Saliva samples were later assayed for salivary alpha amylase (sAA)—a surrogate …

Differential Impact Of Rb Status On E2f1 Reprogramming In Human Cancer., Christopher Mcnair, Kexin Xu, Amy C. Mandigo, Matteo Benelli, Benjamin E. Leiby, Daniel Rodrigues, Johan Lindberg, Henrik Gronberg, Mateus Crespo, Bram De Laere, Luc Dirix, Tapio Visakorpi, Fugen Li, Felix Y. Feng, Johann De Bono, Francesca Demichelis, Mark A. Rubin, Myles Brown, Karen E. Knudsen

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

The tumor suppressor protein retinoblastoma (RB) is mechanistically linked to suppression of transcription factor E2F1-mediated cell cycle regulation. For multiple tumor types, loss of RB function is associated with poor clinical outcome. RB action is abrogated either by direct depletion or through inactivation of RB function; however, the basis for this selectivity is unknown. Here, analysis of tumor samples and cell-free DNA from patients with advanced prostate cancer showed that direct RB loss was the preferred pathway of disruption in human disease. While RB loss was associated with lethal disease, RB-deficient tumors had no proliferative advantage and exhibited downstream effects …

Oral Curcumin For Radiation Dermatitis: A Urcc Ncorp Study Of 686 Breast Cancer Patients, J. R. Wolf, C. E. Heckler, J. J. Guido, A. R. Peoples, J. S. Gewandter, M. Ling, V. P. Vinciguerra, T. Anderson, L. Evans, G. R. Morrow, +2 Additional Authors

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Activity Of Pazopanib And Trabectedin In Advanced Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma, S. Stacchiotti, O. Mir, A. Le Cesne, B. Vincenzi, A. Fedenko, R. G. Maki, N. Somaiah, S. Patel, M. Brahmi, A. Kawai, +13 Additional Authors

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Evaluation Of Mefloquine Drug Repurposing On Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Jessica L. Phan, Bhavuk Garg, Hrishikesh Mehta, Seth Corey

Undergraduate Research Posters

The aim of this study is to observe cell proliferation, cell viability, apoptosis, and autophagy on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines, NB4 and U937, with the drug repurposing of mefloquine (MQ). Methods such as the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay and trypan blue staining have shown a decrease in live cells with high concentrations of mefloquine. Using their average perspective IC50 values of MQ concentration, Western blotting was applied by means of apoptosis and autophagy markers to determine if the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of autophagy was present in MQ-treated AML cells. The experiment will be continued with more …

Advanced Cancer Patients' Medical Decision-Making While Experiencing Financial Toxicity, Heather L. Morel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial toxicity (FT) is the impact that out of pocket (OOP) costs of cancer care have on patients' well-being, leading to lower quality of life, less compliance with prescribed therapy, and poorer outcomes, including increased mortality. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of FT on advanced cancer patients' lives and their health care decision-making. Fuzzy trace theory provided the framework for examining how patients use gist and verbatim when making health care decisions while experiencing FT. Gist refers to main ideas that are often infused with emotional overlays that people use to make risky decisions, while …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Norton Cancer Institute’S Prompt Care Clinics, Stephanie L. Fred

DNP Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to evaluate outcomes of implementation of the Norton Cancer Institute (NCI) Prompt Care Clinics (PCCs), to include number of emergency room (ER) visits and number of inpatient admissions. A second purpose of the study was to identify presenting symptoms for patients seen in the NCI PCCs and compare the average charge per case for patients seen in the ER or NCI PCCs with the same diagnosis.

Methods: This study employed a pre-post implementation retrospective review of NCI patient electronic medical records (EPIC) to examine the effectiveness of the NCI PCCs on …

Readability Of Prostate Cancer Information Online: A Cross-Sectional Study, Corey H. Basch, Danna Ethan, Sarah A. Maclean, Joseph Fera, Phillip Garcia, Charles E. Basch

Publications and Research

Reading and understanding health information, both components of health literacy, can influence patient decisions related to disease management. Older adults, the population of males at greatest risk for prostate cancer, may have compromised capacity to understand and use health information. The purpose of this study was to determine the readability of prostate cancer materials on the Internet using five recommended readability tests. Using a cleared Internet browser, a search was conducted for “prostate cancer.” The URLs of the first 100 websites in English were recorded to create the sample. The readability scores for each website were determined using an online, …

Extended Follow-Up And Impact Of High-Risk Prognostic Factors From The Phase 3 Resonate Study In Patients With Previously Treated Cll/Sll, J. R. Brown, P. Hillmen, S. O'Brien, J. C. Barrientos, N. M. Reddy, S. E. Coutre, C. S. Tam, S. P. Mulligan, U. Jaeger, J. C. Byrd, +20 Additional Authors

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.