Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Qualitative Exploration To Inform An Oral Health Training For Disability Care Workers In Burkina Faso, Ave Põld, Dan Filwendé Kientega, Jocelyne Valérie Garé, Michael Lorenz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

AIM: To explore enablers and barriers to the creation of an oral health training for care workers at specialized centres for children with disabilities in Ouagadougou.

DESIGN: This was a formative study informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework using qualitative methods.

METHODS: Qualitative observations and 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with care workers from six specialized centres for disability.

RESULTS: Carer workers emphasized that a successful oral health training must account for available resources and competencies in each specific centre. Part of the training must be dedicated to oral hygiene targeted for people with disabilities and provide knowledge about risk …

Sotatercept For Anemia Of Myelofibrosis: A Phase Ii Investigator-Initiated Study, Prithviraj Bose, Lucia Masarova, Naveen Pemmaraju, Sharon D Bledsoe, Naval G Daver, Elias J Jabbour, Tapan M Kadia, Zeev Estrov, Steven M Kornblau, Michael Andreeff, Nitin Jain, Jorge E Cortes, Gautam Borthakur, Yesid Alvarado, Mary Ann Richie, Mackenzie H Dobbins, Selene A Mccrackin, Lingsha Zhou, Sherry A Pierce, Xuemei Wang, Allison M Pike, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Hagop M Kantarjian, Srdan Verstovsek

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Structural Dynamics In Α-Amino-3-Hydroxy-5-Methyl-4-Isoxazole Propionic Acid Receptor Gating, Cuauhtemoc U Gonzalez, Vasanthi Jayaraman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are comprised of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA), N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor, kainate, and delta subtypes and are pivotal in neuronal plasticity. Recent structural studies on AMPA receptors reveal intricate conformational changes during activation and desensitization elucidating the steps from agonist binding to channel opening and desensitization. Additionally, interactions with auxiliary subunits, including transmembrane AMPA-receptor regulatory proteins, germ-cell-specific gene 1-like protein, and cornichon homologs, intricately modulate AMPA receptors. We discuss the recent high-resolution structures of these complexes that unveil stoichiometry, subunit positioning, and differences in specific side-chain interactions that influence these functional modulations.

Mc-Keyboard: A Practical Phase I Trial Design For Targeted Therapies And Immunotherapies Integrating Multiple-Grade Toxicities, Liyun Jiang, Zhulin Yin, Fangrong Yan, Ying Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In targeted therapies and immunotherapies, the occurrence of low-grade (e.g., grade 1-2) toxicities (LGT) is common, while dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) are relatively rare. As a result, conventional phase I trial designs, solely based on DLTs and disregarding milder toxicities, are problematic when evaluating these novel therapies.

Methods: To address this issue, we propose a novel phase I design called a multiple-constraint keyboard (MC-Keyboard) that integrates multiple toxicity constraints, accounting for both DLT and LGT, for precise dose escalation and de-escalation, and identification of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). As a model-assisted design, an important feature of MC-Keyboard is that its …

Case-Case Genome-Wide Analyses Identify Subtype-Informative Variants That Confer Risk For Breast Cancer, Xiaohui Sun, Shiv P Verma, Guochong Jia, Xinjun Wang, Jie Ping, Xingyi Guo, Xiao-Ou Shu, Jianhong Chen, Andriy Derkach, Qiuyin Cai, Xiaolin Liang, Jirong Long, Kenneth Offit, Jung H Oh, Anne S Reiner, Gordon P Watt, Meghan Woods, Yaohua Yang, Christine B Ambrosone, Stefan Ambs, Yu Chen, Patrick Concannon, Montserrat Garcia-Closas, Jian Gu, Christopher A Haiman, Jennifer J Hu, Dezheng Huo, Esther M John, Julia A Knight, Christopher I Li, Charles F Lynch, Lene Mellemkjær, Katherine L Nathanson, Barbara Nemesure, Olufunmilayo I Olopade, Andrew F Olshan, Tuya Pal, Julie R Palmer, Michael F Press, Maureen Sanderson, Dale P Sandler, Melissa A Troester, Wei Zheng, Jonine L Bernstein, Matthew F Buas, Xiang Shu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Breast cancer includes several subtypes with distinct characteristic biological, pathologic, and clinical features. Elucidating subtype-specific genetic etiology could provide insights into the heterogeneity of breast cancer to facilitate the development of improved prevention and treatment approaches. In this study, we conducted pairwise case-case comparisons among five breast cancer subtypes by applying a case-case genome-wide association study (CC-GWAS) approach to summary statistics data of the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. The approach identified 13 statistically significant loci and eight suggestive loci, the majority of which were identified from comparisons between triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and luminal A breast cancer. Associations of lead …

Why Do Patients With Cancer Die?, Adrienne Boire, Katy Burke, Thomas R Cox, Theresa Guise, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, Tobias Janowitz, Rosandra Kaplan, Rebecca Lee, Charles Swanton, Matthew G Vander Heiden, Erik Sahai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cancer is a major cause of global mortality, both in affluent countries and increasingly in developing nations. Many patients with cancer experience reduced life expectancy and have metastatic disease at the time of death. However, the more precise causes of mortality and patient deterioration before death remain poorly understood. This scarcity of information, particularly the lack of mechanistic insights, presents a challenge for the development of novel treatment strategies to improve the quality of, and potentially extend, life for patients with late-stage cancer. In addition, earlier deployment of existing strategies to prolong quality of life is highly desirable. In this …

Meniscus Tears In Elite Athletes: Treatment Considerations, Clinical Outcomes, And Return To Play, Erick M Marigi, Michael R Davies, Robert G Marx, Scott A Rodeo, Riley J Williams

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Management of meniscal injuries in the elite athlete is a difficult problem secondary to the high demands of athletic competition, the need for a timely return to sport, and the desire to maximize performance over time. The purpose of this review is to provide an up-to-date summary on the current literature and trends regarding the management of meniscus injuries with a special consideration for elite athletes.

RECENT FINDINGS: Historically, partial meniscectomy has been the primary treatment option for meniscus injuries. However, in recent years there has been an increased emphasis on meniscus preservation due to the increased …

Survival And Treatment Outcomes In Patients With Leptomeningeal Disease From Metastatic Melanoma, Chantal Saberian, Denái R Milton, Julie Simon, Rodabe N Amaria, Adi Diab, Jennifer Mcquade, Sapna P Patel, Hussein Tawbi, Cassian Yee, Michael K Wong, Ian E Mccutcheon, Michael A Davies, Sherise D Ferguson, Isabella C Glitza Oliva

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Melanoma leptomeningeal disease (LMD) has a poor prognosis. However, the management of patients with advanced melanoma has evolved with time, including those with LMD. We reviewed a large cohort of melanoma LMD patients to assess factors associated with survival.

Methods: Retrospective clinical data was collected on patients diagnosed with LMD at MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2015 to 2020. Overall survival (OS) was determined from LMD diagnosis to date of death or last follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to estimate OS and to assess univariate group differences, respectively. Multivariable associations of survival with variables of …

A Comparison Of Available Guidelines For The Detection Of Cauda Equina Syndrome And Assessing The Need For Further Clinical Guidance In Ireland, Lorcan Gavin, Michael G Curran, John P Mccabe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare but critical disorder, which can result in devastating motor weakness and sensory deficit, alongside often irreversible bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction. In addition to the clinical burden of disease, this syndrome results in a disproportionately high medicolegal strain due to missed or delayed diagnoses. Despite being an emergency diagnosis, often necessitating urgent surgical decompression to treat, we believe there is a lack of clarity for clinicians in the current literature, with no published Irish guideline concerning screening or detection. The current study aims to identify and analyse appropriate guidelines in relation to …

A Rare Case Of Fabry's Disease-Induced Cardiomyopathy: A Case Report And Review Of The Literature, Ahmed Hussein, Aya Salih, Yousif Mohamed, Emma Thames, L Maximilian Buja

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fabry's disease, also known as Anderson-Fabry Disease (AFD), is caused by mutations in the α galactosidase A (α GalA) gene found on the X chromosome. This condition results in an accumulation of sphingolipids, including globotriaosylceramide (Gb3), in cells throughout the body. The main effects of Fabry disease typically involve heart, kidney, and nervous system complications. A common cardiac dysfunction is left ventricular hypertrophy. In this case study, we share findings about cardiomyopathy resulting from Fabry disease to explain how this condition impacts the heart and the importance of a biopsy in making a diagnosis. A 57-year-old woman with end-stage renal …

T-Bet Suppresses Proliferation Of Malignant B Cells In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Philipp M Roessner, Isabelle Seufert, Vicente Chapaprieta, Ruparoshni Jayabalan, Hannah Briesch, Ramon Massoni-Badosa, Pavle Boskovic, Julian Benckendorff, Tobias Roider, Lavinia Arseni, Mariana Coelho, Supriya Chakraborty, Alicia M Vaca, Mariela Sivina, Markus Muckenhuber, Sonia Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Alice Bonato, Sophie A Herbst, Marc Zapatka, Clare Sun, Helene Kretzmer, Thomas Naake, Peter-Martin Bruch, Felix Czernilofsky, Elisa Ten Hacken, Martin Schneider, Dominic Helm, Deyan Y Yosifov, Joseph Kauer, Alexey V Danilov, Moritz Bewarder, Kristina Heyne, Christof Schneider, Stephan Stilgenbauer, Adrian Wiestner, Jan-Philipp Mallm, Jan A Burger, Dimitar G Efremov, Peter Lichter, Sascha Dietrich, José I Martin-Subero, Karsten Rippe, Martina Seiffert

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The T-box transcription factor T-bet is known as a master regulator of the T-cell response but its role in malignant B cells has not been sufficiently explored. Here, we conducted single-cell resolved multi-omics analyses of malignant B cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and studied a CLL mouse model with a genetic knockout of Tbx21. We found that T-bet acts as a tumor suppressor in malignant B cells by decreasing their proliferation rate. NF-κB activity, induced by inflammatory signals provided by the microenvironment, triggered T-bet expression, which affected promoter-proximal and distal chromatin coaccessibility and controlled a specific gene …

Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis From Breast Cancer Initially Mimicking Cerebral Infarction On Mri, Nozomi Satani, Tomonori Matsuura, Satoru Yanagaki, Yojiro Ishikawa, Gou Watanabe, Hiroshi Fukuda, Takayuki Yamada

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A female patient in her early 50s with breast cancer underwent breast-conserving surgery, followed by radiation therapy. She developed multiple lung and bone metastases and was started on chemotherapy with bevacizumab and paclitaxel 3 years later. After 6 months of chemotherapy, she developed a decline in conversation and memory. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was conducted and showed multiple cortical and subcortical lesions and nodules with restricted diffusion but with no contrast enhancement on gadolinium (Gd) enhanced T1-weighted image, raising a suspicion of Trousseau's syndrome. A follow-up MRI revealed unchanged signal intensity of the lesions but with minimal enlargement. The cerebrospinal …

Outcome Of 3q262/Mecom Rearrangements In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, Hiroki Akiyama, Hagop Kantarjian, Elias Jabbour, Ghayas Issa, Fadi G Haddad, Nicholas J Short, Shimin Hu, Jo Ishizawa, Michael Andreeff, Koji Sasaki

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Study aims: To evaluate the outcomes of patients with 3q26.2/MECOM-rearranged chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Methods: We reviewed consecutive adult patients with 3q26.2/MECOM-rearranged CML between January 1, 1998 and February 16, 2023. Rearrangements of 3q26.2/MECOM were confirmed by conventional cytogenetics, and fluorescence in situ hybridization starting in 2015.

Results: We identified 55 patients with MECOM-rearranged CML, including 23 in chronic phase (CP) or accelerated phase (AP) and 32 in blast phase (BP). Nine patients (16%) achieved a major cytogenetic response (MCyR) or deeper. At a median follow-up of 89 months, median survival was 14 months. The 5-year survival rate was 19% …

Safety And Efficacy Of Percutaneous Image-Guided Ablation For Soft Tissue Sarcoma Metastases To The Liver, Ahmed Awad, Koustav Pal, Steven Yevich, Joshua D Kuban, Alda Tam, Bruno C Odisio, Sanjay Gupta, Peiman Habibollahi, Andrew J Bishop, Anthony Paul Conley, Neeta Somaiah, Dejka M Araujo, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Ravin Ratan, Christina L Roland, Emily Z Keung, Steven Y Huang, Rahul A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: To evaluate outcomes following percutaneous image-guided ablation of soft tissue sarcoma metastases to the liver.

Materials and methods: A single-institution retrospective analysis of patients with a diagnosis of metastatic soft tissue sarcoma who underwent percutaneous image-guided ablation of hepatic metastases between January 2011 and December 2021 was performed. Patients with less than 60 days of follow-up after ablation were excluded. The primary outcome was local tumor progression-free survival (LPFS). Secondary outcomes included overall survival, liver-specific progression-free survival. and chemotherapy-free survival.

Results: Fifty-five patients who underwent percutaneous ablation for 84 metastatic liver lesions were included. The most common histopathological subtypes …

Tumoral Interferon Beta Induces An Immune-Stimulatory Phenotype In Tumor-Associated Macrophages In Melanoma Brain Metastases, Julia Gellert, Dennis A Agardy, Swaminathan Kumar, Alexandros Kourtesakis, Tamara Boschert, Kristine Jähne, Michael O Breckwoldt, Lukas Bunse, Wolfgang Wick, Michael A Davies, Michael Platten, Theresa Bunse

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Type I interferons (IFN) are immune-stimulatory cytokines involved in antiviral and antitumor immune responses. They enhance the efficacy of immunogenic anticancer therapies such as radiotherapy by activating both innate and adaptive immune cells. Macrophages are one of the most abundant innate immune cells in the immune microenvironment of melanoma brain metastases (MBM) and can exert potent immune-suppressive functions. Here, we investigate the potential of tumoral type I IFNs to repolarize tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) in two murine MBM models and assess the effects of radiotherapy-induced type I IFN on TAMs in a transcriptomic MBM patient dataset. In mice, we describe a …

Metabolomics Biomarkers Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In A Prospective Cohort Of Patients With Cirrhosis, Jessica I Sanchez, Antoine C Fontillas, Suet-Ying Kwan, Caren I Sanchez, Tiffany L Calderone, Jana L Lee, Ahmed Elsaiey, Darrel W Cleere, Peng Wei, John M Vierling, David W Victor, Laura Beretta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The effectiveness of surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis is limited, due to inadequate risk stratification and suboptimal performance of current screening modalities.

METHODS: We developed a multicenter prospective cohort of patients with cirrhosis undergoing surveillance with MRI and applied global untargeted metabolomics to 612 longitudinal serum samples from 203 patients. Among them, 37 developed HCC during follow-up.

RESULTS: We identified 150 metabolites with significant abundance changes in samples collected prior to HCC (Cases) compared to samples from patients who did not develop HCC (Controls). Tauro-conjugated bile acids and gamma-glutamyl amino acids were increased, …

Auto-Segmentation Of Adult-Type Diffuse Gliomas: Comparison Of Transfer Learning-Based Convolutional Neural Network Model Vs Radiologists, Qi Wan, Jisoo Kim, Clifford Lindsay, Xin Chen, Jing Li, J Bryan Iorgulescu, Raymond Y Huang, Chenxi Zhang, David Reardon, Geoffrey S Young, Lei Qin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Segmentation of glioma is crucial for quantitative brain tumor assessment, to guide therapeutic research and clinical management, but very time-consuming. Fully automated tools for the segmentation of multi-sequence MRI are needed. We developed and pretrained a deep learning (DL) model using publicly available datasets A (n = 210) and B (n = 369) containing FLAIR, T2WI, and contrast-enhanced (CE)-T1WI. This was then fine-tuned with our institutional dataset (n = 197) containing ADC, T2WI, and CE-T1WI, manually annotated by radiologists, and split into training (n = 100) and testing (n = 97) sets. The Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was used to …

Grace Periods In Comparative Effectiveness Studies Of Sustained Treatments, Kerollos Nashat Wanis, Aaron L Sarvet, Lan Wen, Jason P Block, Sheryl L Rifas-Shiman, James M Robins, Jessica G Young

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Researchers are often interested in estimating the effect of sustained use of a treatment on a health outcome. However, adherence to strict treatment protocols can be challenging for individuals in practice and, when non-adherence is expected, estimates of the effect of sustained use may not be useful for decision making. As an alternative, more relaxed treatment protocols which allow for periods of time off treatment (i.e. grace periods) have been considered in pragmatic randomized trials and observational studies. In this article, we consider the interpretation, identification, and estimation of treatment strategies which include grace periods. We contrast natural grace period …

Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Mast Cell Differentiation Is Characterized By Interstitial Mast Cells, Complex Karyotype, Do Hwan Kim, Sa A Wang, Wei Wang, Guilin Tang, Shaoying Li, C Cameron Yin, Pei Lin, Marina Konopleva, M James You, Roberto N Miranda, Xiaoqiong Wang, Qing Wei, L Jeffrey Medeiros, Jie Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

T-Cell-Rich Hodgkin Lymphoma With Features Of Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma And Nodular Lymphocyte-Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Borderline Category With Overlapping Morphologic And Immunophenotypic Features, Siba El Hussein, Hong Fang, Fatima Zahra Jelloul, Wei Wang, Sanam Loghavi, Roberto N Miranda, Jonathan W Friedberg, W Richard Burack, Andrew G Evans, Jie Xu, L Jeffrey Medeiros

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Context.—: It is known that a subset of cases of classic Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL) with B-cell-rich nodules (lymphocyte-rich CHL) exhibits morphologic and immunophenotypic features that overlap with nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL), raising diagnostic difficulties that can be resolved in most cases by performing an adequate battery of immunohistochemical studies.

Objective.—: To fully characterize cases of T-cell-rich Hodgkin lymphoma where a specific diagnosis of NLPHL (ie, pattern D) or CHL could not be made even after complete immunophenotypic investigation.

Design.—: The clinical, immunomorphologic, and molecular (when applicable) presentation of 3 cases of T-cell-rich Hodgkin lymphoma was thoroughly investigated.

Results.—: These …

A Joint Estro And Aapm Guideline For Development, Clinical Validation And Reporting Of Artificial Intelligence Models In Radiation Therapy, Coen Hurkmans, Jean-Emmanuel Bibault, Kristy K Brock, Wouter Van Elmpt, Mary Feng, Clifton David Fuller, Barbara A Jereczek-Fossa, Stine Korreman, Guillaume Landry, Frederic Madesta, Chuck Mayo, Alan Mcwilliam, Filipe Moura, Ludvig P Muren, Issam El Naqa, Jan Seuntjens, Vincenzo Valentini, Michael Velec

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: Artificial Intelligence (AI) models in radiation therapy are being developed with increasing pace. Despite this, the radiation therapy community has not widely adopted these models in clinical practice. A cohesive guideline on how to develop, report and clinically validate AI algorithms might help bridge this gap.

Methods and materials: A Delphi process with all co-authors was followed to determine which topics should be addressed in this comprehensive guideline. Separate sections of the guideline, including Statements, were written by subgroups of the authors and discussed with the whole group at several meetings. Statements were formulated and scored as …

Cluster-Based Toxicity Estimation Of Osteoradionecrosis Via Unsupervised Machine Learning: Moving Beyond Single Dose-Parameter Normal Tissue Complication Probability By Using Whole Dose-Volume Histograms For Cohort Risk Stratification, Seyedmohammadhossein Hosseinian, Mehdi Hemmati, Cem Dede, Travis C Salzillo, Lisanne V Van Dijk, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Stephen Y Lai, Andrew J Schaefer, Clifton D Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Given the limitations of extant models for normal tissue complication probability estimation for osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible, the purpose of this study was to enrich statistical inference by exploiting structural properties of data and provide a clinically reliable model for ORN risk evaluation through an unsupervised-learning analysis that incorporates the whole radiation dose distribution on the mandible.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: The analysis was conducted on retrospective data of 1259 patients with head and neck cancer treated at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2005 and 2015. During a minimum 12-month posttherapy follow-up period, 173 patients …

Transcecal Endoscopic Appendectomy For Management Of Complex Appendiceal Polyps Extending Into The Appendiceal Orifice, Tara Keihanian, Mai A Khalaf, Fuad Zain Aloor, Dina Hani Zamil, Salmaan Jawaid, Mohamed O Othman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and study aims Endoscopic resection of appendiceal orifice (AO) polyps extending inside the appendiceal lumen is challenging given the inability to determine polyp lateral margins and risk of appendicitis. Transcecal endoscopic appendectomy (TEA) ensures en bloc resection of these complex polyps.

Patients and methods This case series includes patients who underwent TEA by a single endoscopist in the United States. Technical success was defined as achieving complete removal of the appendix along with AO polyp in an en bloc fashion.

Results In total, nine patients were included (mean age 69.7 ± 9.6 years). The average appendix size was 4.07 …

Chick Embryo Chorioallantoic Membrane As A Platform For Assessing The In Vivo Efficacy Of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy In Solid Tumors, Allison J Nipper, Emilie A K Warren, Kershena S Liao, Hsuan-Chen Liu, Chieko Michikawa, Caroline E Porter, Gabrielle A Wells, Mariana Villanueva, Fabio Henrique Brasil Da Costa, Ratna Veeramachaneni, Hugo Villanueva, Masataka Suzuki, Andrew G Sikora

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The fertilized chicken egg chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), a highly vascularized membrane nourishing the developing embryo, also supports rapid growth of three-dimensional vascularized tumors from engrafted cells and tumor explants. Because murine xenograft models suffer limitations of time, cost, and scalability, we propose CAM tumors as a rapid, efficient screening tool for assessing anti-tumor efficacy of chimeric Ag receptor (CAR) T cells against solid tumors. We tested the efficacy of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-specific CAR T cells against luminescent, HER2-expressing (FaDu, SCC-47) or HER2-negative (MDA-MB-468) CAM-engrafted tumors. Three days after tumor engraftment, HER2-specific CAR T cells were applied …

Secondary Endpoint Utilization And Publication Rate Among Phase Iii Oncology Trials, Esther J Beck, Alexander D Sherry, Marcus A Florez, Ramez Kouzy, Joseph Abi Jaoude, Timothy A Lin, Avital M Miller, Adina H Passy, Gabrielle S Kupferman, Roshal R Patel, Fumiko Chino, Victoria Serpas Higbie, Christine M Parseghian, Michael J Overman, Bruce D Minsky, Charles R Thomas, Chad Tang, Pavlos Msaouel, Ethan B Ludmir

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

UNLABELLED: Secondary endpoints (SEP) provide crucial information in the interpretation of clinical trials, but their features are not yet well understood. Thus, we sought to empirically characterize the scope and publication rate of SEPs among late-phase oncology trials. We assessed SEPs for each randomized, published phase III oncology trial across all publications and ClinicalTrials.gov, performing logistic regressions to evaluate associations between trial characteristics and SEP publication rates. After screening, a total of 280 trials enrolling 244,576 patients and containing 2,562 SEPs met the inclusion criteria. Only 22% of trials (62/280) listed all SEPs consistently between ClinicalTrials.gov and the trial protocol. …

Systematic Transcriptome Profiling Of Hpsc-Derived Osteoblasts Unveils Corin’S Mastery In Governing Osteogenesis Through Cebpd Modulation, Dandan Zhu, Mo-Fan Huang, An Xu, Xueqin Gao, Yu-Wen Huang, Trinh T T Phan, Linchao Lu, Ting-Yen Chi, Yulin Dai, Lon Kai Pang, Julian A Gingold, Jian Tu, Zijun Huo, Danielle A Bazer, Rachel Shoemaker, Jun Wang, Catherine G Ambrose, Jingnan Shen, Jun Kameoka, Zhongming Zhao, Lisa L Wang, Yang Zhang, Ruiying Zhao, Dung-Fang Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The commitment of stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts is a highly regulated and complex process that involves the coordination of extrinsic signals and intrinsic transcriptional machinery. While rodent osteoblastic differentiation has been extensively studied, research on human osteogenesis has been limited by cell sources and existing models. Here, we systematically dissect human pluripotent stem cell-derived osteoblasts to identify functional membrane proteins and their downstream transcriptional networks involved in human osteogenesis. Our results reveal an enrichment of type II transmembrane serine protease CORIN in humans but not rodent osteoblasts. Functional analyses demonstrated that CORIN depletion significantly impairs osteogenesis. Genome-wide chromatin …

2023 American College Of Rheumatology (Acr)/American College Of Chest Physicians (Chest) Guideline For The Treatment Of Interstitial Lung Disease In People With Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases, Sindhu R Johnson, Elana J Bernstein, Marcy B Bolster, Jonathan H Chung, Sonye K Danoff, Michael D George, Dinesh Khanna, Gordon Guyatt, Reza D Mirza, Rohit Aggarwal, Aberdeen Allen, Shervin Assassi, Lenore Buckley, Hassan A Chami, Douglas S Corwin, Paul F Dellaripa, Robyn T Domsic, Tracy J Doyle, Catherine Marie Falardeau, Tracy M Frech, Fiona K Gibbons, Monique Hinchcliff, Cheilonda Johnson, Jeffrey P Kanne, John S Kim, Sian Yik Lim, Scott Matson, Zsuzsanna H Mcmahan, Samantha J Merck, Kiana Nesbitt, Mary Beth Scholand, Lee Shapiro, Christine D Sharkey, Ross Summer, John Varga, Anil Warrier, Sandeep K Agarwal, Danielle Antin-Ozerkis, Bradford Bemiss, Vaidehi Chowdhary, Jane E Dematte D'Amico, Robert Hallowell, Alicia M Hinze, Patil A Injean, Nikhil Jiwrajka, Elena K Joerns, Joyce S Lee, Ashima Makol, Gregory C Mcdermott, Jake G Natalini, Justin M Oldham, Didem Saygin, Kimberly Showalter Lakin, Namrata Singh, Joshua J Solomon, Jeffrey A Sparks, Marat Turgunbaev, Samera Vaseer, Amy Turner, Stacey Uhl, Ilya Ivlev

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: We provide evidence-based recommendations regarding the treatment of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in adults with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs).

Methods: We developed clinically relevant population, intervention, comparator, and outcomes questions. A systematic literature review was then performed, and the available evidence was rated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology. A panel of clinicians and patients reached consensus on the direction and strength of the recommendations.

Results: Thirty-five recommendations were generated (including two strong recommendations) for first-line SARD-ILD treatment, treatment of SARD-ILD progression despite first-line ILD therapy, and treatment of rapidly progressive ILD. The strong …

Impact Of Pretreatment Body Mass Index On The Survival Of Head And Neck Cancer Patients, Zheng Yang, Jobran Mansour, Peng Sun, Peng Wei, Kristina R Dahlstrom, Mark Zafereo, Guojun Li, Neil D Gross

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Differences in pretreatment body mass index (BMI) have been associated with survival in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN). We examined effects of BMI on survival in SCCHN patients after stratifying patients by tumor human papillomavirus (HPV) status and subsite.

Methods: Totally 2204 SCCHN patients in a prospective study were included in this secondary analysis. Multivariable Cox models were used to evaluate associations between pretreatment BMI and overall survival, disease-specific survival, and disease-free survival.

Results: BMI was significantly higher among patients with HPV-positive tumors than HPV-negative tumors. BMI >25 kg/m2 was associated with improved survival, while BMI …

Fine-Tuning Ampk In Physiology And Disease Using Point-Mutant Mouse Models, Naghmana Ashraf, Jeanine L Van Nostrand

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase that monitors the cellular energy status to adapt it to the fluctuating nutritional and environmental conditions in an organism. AMPK plays an integral part in a wide array of physiological processes, such as cell growth, autophagy and mitochondrial function, and is implicated in diverse diseases, including cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. AMPK orchestrates many different physiological outcomes by phosphorylating a broad range of downstream substrates. However, the importance of AMPK-mediated regulation of these substrates in vivo remains an ongoing area of investigation to better understand its precise …

Using Geospatial Analysis To Identify Priority Communities For Cervical Cancer Prevention In Texas, Itunu O Sokale, Aaron P Thrift, Jane R Montealegre, Onyema G Chido-Amajuoyi, Victor T Adekanmbi, Abiodun O Oluyomi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Despite being almost entirely preventable, cervical cancer is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. Cervical cancer incidence suggests missed opportunities for prevention. Geospatial analysis could strategically guide public health interventions. This study aimed to identify geographic clusters of cervical cancer incidence in Texas, a state with higher than national rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality.

METHODS: In this population-based cross-sectional study, the authors analyzed incident cervical cancer data among Texas women aged 30-64 years, from 2014 to 2018. The authors conducted a purely spatial Poisson-based analysis function in SaTScan to examine geographic clusters of higher-than-expected …