Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development Of A Methodology For Large-Scale Production Of Prions For Biological And Structural Studies, Luis Concha-Marambio, Fei Wang, Enrique Armijo, Damian Gorski, Frank Ramirez, Andrew Scowcroft, Sandra Pritzkow, Claudio Soto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Prion diseases are a group of infectious neurodegenerative diseases produced by the conversion of the normal prion protein (PrP^C) into the disease-associated form (PrP^Sc). Extensive evidence indicate that the main or sole component of the infectious agent is PrP^Sc, which can replicate in affected individuals in the absence of nucleic acids. However, the mechanism of PrP^C-to-PrP^Sc conversion remains elusive, which has been attributed to the lack of sufficient structural information of infectious PrP^Sc and a reliable system to study prion replication in vitro. In this article we adapted the …

Aβ Plaques Do Not Protect Against Hsv-1 Infection In A Mouse Model Of Familial Alzheimer’S Disease, And Hsv-1 Does Not Induce Aβ Pathology In A Model Of Late Onset Alzheimer’S Disease, Olga V Bocharova, Aidan Fisher, Narayan P Pandit, Kara Molesworth, Olga Mychko, Alison J Scott, Natallia Makarava, Rodney Ritzel, Ilia V Baskakov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The possibility that the etiology of late onset Alzheimer's disease is linked to viral infections of the CNS has been actively debated in recent years. According to the antiviral protection hypothesis, viral pathogens trigger aggregation of Aβ peptides that are produced as a defense mechanism in response to infection to entrap and neutralize pathogens. To test the causative relationship between viral infection and Aβ aggregation, the current study examined whether Aβ plaques protect the mouse brain against Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) infection introduced via a physiological route and whether HSV-1 infection triggers formation of Aβ plaques in a mouse …

The Impact Of The Progresses Of Knowledge And Technologies In Pediatrics, Kristofer Harris, Yaobin Ling, Avram S Bukhbinder, Luyao Chen, Kamal N Phelps, Gabriela Cruz, Jenna Thomas, Yejin Kim, Xiaoqian Jiang, Paul E Schulz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background:

Accumulating evidence suggests that adult vaccinations can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease related dementias.

Objective:

To compare the risk for developing AD between adults with and without prior vaccination against tetanus and diphtheria, with or without pertussis (Tdap/Td); herpes zoster (HZ); or pneumococcus.

Methods:

A retrospective cohort study was performed using Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database. Included patients were free of dementia during a 2-year look-back period and were≥65 years old by the start of the 8-year follow-up period. We compared two similar cohorts identified using propensity score matching (PSM), one vaccinated …

Sustained Increases In Immune Transcripts And Immune Cell Trafficking During The Recovery Of Experimental Brain Ischemia, Munish Saini, Eshan Sengupta, Madanjit Singh, Harnoor Singh, Jaswinder Singh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are at the forefront of government initiatives across the world. The SDGs are primarily concerned with promoting sustainable growth via ensuring wellbeing, economic growth, environmental legislation, and academic advancement. One of the most prominent goals of the SDG is to provide learners with high-quality education (SDG 4). This paper aims to look at the perspectives of the Sustainable Development Goals improvised to provide quality education. We also analyze the existing state of multiple initiatives implemented by the Indian government in the pathway to achieving objectives of quality education (SDG 4). Additionally, a case study is considered …

A Longitudinal Seroepidemiology Study To Evaluate Antibody Response To Sars-Cov-2 Virus Infection And Vaccination In Children In Calgary, Canada From July 2020 To April 2022: Alberta Covid-19 Childhood Cohort (Ab3c) Study, Emily J Doucette, Joslyn Gray, Kevin Fonseca, Carmen Charlton, Jamil N Kanji, Graham Tipples, Susan Kuhn, Jessica Dunn, Payton Sayers, Nicola Symonds, Guosong Wu, Stephen B Freedman, James D Kellner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Measurement of SARS-CoV-2 antibody seropositivity is important to accurately understand exposure to infection and/or vaccination in specific populations. This study aimed to estimate the serologic response to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection and vaccination in children in Calgary, Alberta over a two-year period.

METHODS: Children with or without prior SARS-CoV-2 infections, were enrolled in Calgary, Canada in 2020. Venous blood was sampled 4 times from July 2020 to April 2022 for SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and spike antibodies. Demographic and clinical information was obtained including SARS-CoV-2 testing results and vaccination records.

RESULTS: 1035 children were enrolled and 88.9% completed all 4 visits; median …

Ethnic And Racial Differences In Self-Reported Symptoms, Health Status, Activity Level, And Missed Work At 3 And 6 Months Following Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Kelli N O'Laughlin, Robin E Klabbers, Imtiaz Ebna Mannan, Nicole L Gentile, Rachel E Geyer, Zihan Zheng, Huihui Yu, Shu-Xia Li, Kwun C G Chan, Erica S Spatz, Ralph C Wang, Michelle L'Hommedieu, Robert A Weinstein, Ian D Plumb, Michael Gottlieb, Ryan M Huebinger, Melissa Hagen, Joann G Elmore, Mandy J Hill, Morgan Kelly, Samuel Mcdonald, Kristin L Rising, Robert M Rodriguez, Arjun Venkatesh, Ahamed H Idris, Michelle Santangelo, Katherine Koo, Sharon Saydah, Graham Nichol, Kari A Stephens

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Data on ethnic and racial differences in symptoms and health-related impacts following SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited. We aimed to estimate the ethnic and racial differences in symptoms and health-related impacts 3 and 6 months after the first SARS-CoV-2 infection.

METHODS: Participants included adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection enrolled in a prospective multicenter US study between 12/11/2020 and 7/4/2022 as the primary cohort of interest, as well as a SARS-CoV-2-negative cohort to account for non-SARS-CoV-2-infection impacts, who completed enrollment and 3-month surveys (

RESULTS: Following SARS-CoV-2 infection, the majority of symptoms were similar over time between ethnic and racial groups. At …

Not Just A Pain: A Medical Simulation Case About Biased Communication And Osteomyelitis In Pediatric Sickle Cell Anemia, Adeola A Kosoko, Yakira R Alford, Karl A Upplegger, Gowri S Stevens

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction

Biases in communication can be harmful to patient perceptions of care and the medical team's decision-making. Optimal communication must be taught and practiced similarly to the optimal management of the complex medical conditions associated with sickle cell disease (SCD). This simulation is designed to teach about biases, optimizing communication to and about a patient with SCD, and appropriately diagnosing and managing pediatric osteomyelitis as a complication of SCD.

Methods

We designed and implemented a simulation case targeting emergency medicine residents and fellows to raise awareness about biases associated with SCD care and the complication of osteomyelitis in children with …

Family-Level Antecedents Of Children's Patterns Of Reactivity To Interparental Conflict: Testing The Reformulation Of Emotional Security Theory, Patrick T Davies, Joanna K Pearson, Vanessa T Cao, Melissa L Sturge-Apple

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Guided by emotional security theory, this study examined the family-level antecedents of children's reaction patterns to interparental conflict in a sample of 243 preschool children (M age = 4.60 years; 48% Black; 16% Latinx; 56% girls) and their parents in the Northeastern United States. Behavioral observations of children's responses to interparental conflict over two annual measurement occasions assessed their tendencies to exhibit four patterns of defending against threat: secure (i.e., efficiently address direct threats), mobilizing (i.e., high reactivity to potential threat and social opportunities), dominant (i.e., directly defeat threat), and demobilizing (i.e., reduce salience as a target of hostility). …

Good Outcome Associated With Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption And Lower Blood Pressure After Endovascular Therapy, Parth Upadhyaya, Amit Mehta, Marie Luby, Saeed Ansari, John K Lynch, Amie W Hsia, Lawrence L Latour, Yongwoo Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between post-endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption on MRI or CT and average systolic blood pressure (SBP) with favorable 90-day functional outcome. Observational studies have found elevated SBP associated with worse outcomes post-EVT, while recent randomized trials found no difference in targeted BP reduction. There may be a subgroup of patients who benefit from targeted BP reduction post-EVT.

METHODS: This is a single-center study of 1) anterior large vessel occlusion stroke patients treated with EVT from 2015 to 2021, 2) achieved mTICI grade 2b or 3. Hyperintense acute reperfusion marker (HARM), hemorrhagic transformation (HT), …

Seizures, Vitamin D Deficiency, And Severe Hypophosphatemia: The Unique Presentation Of A Sars-Cov-2 Case, Benson Yeh, Christopher Bell, Christopher Anderson, Mack Sheraton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that belongs to the species severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV), which is related to the SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak. SARS-CoV-2 causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It has been associated with electrolyte abnormalities. In this report, we discuss the case of a SARS-CoV-2-infected person presenting with recurrent seizure episodes resulting from hypophosphatemia. A 52-year-old male patient with questionable prior seizure history presented to the emergency department (ED) twice within eight days with recurring seizure episodes. While the physical examination at the first presentation was significant for …

Establishing A Pediatric Acute Stroke Protocol: Experience Of A New Pediatric Stroke Program And Predictors Of Acute Stroke, Kamal Phelps, Christin Silos, Susan De La Torre, Amee Moreno, Robert Lapus, Nipa Sanghani, Mary Koenig, Sean Savitz, Charles Green, Stuart Fraser

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric stroke is among the top 10 causes of death in pediatrics. Rapid recognition and treatment can improve outcomes in select patients, as evidenced by recent retrospective studies in pediatric thrombectomy. We established a collaborative protocol involving the vascular neurology and pediatric neurology division in our institution to rapidly diagnose and treat pediatric suspected stroke. We also prospectively collected data to attempt to identify predictors of acute stroke in pediatric patients.

METHODS: IRB approval was obtained to prospectively collect clinical data on pediatric code stroke activations based on timing metrics in resident-physician note templates. The protocol emphasized magnetic resonance …

Survival Predictive Nomograms For Non-Surgical Brain Metastases Patients From Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Radiotherapy: A Population-Based Study, Nicole K Sather, Lauren E Zinns, Gillian Brennan, Lily Guo, Nadia Khan, Vinod Havalad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Current guidelines recommend debriefing following medical resuscitations to improve patient outcomes. The goal of this study was to describe national trends in postresuscitation debriefing practices among pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM) fellows to identify potential gaps in fellow education.

METHODS: A 13-item survey was distributed to fellows in all 76 ACGME-accredited PCCM programs in the United States in the spring of 2021. The online survey addressed frequency and timing of debriefings following medical resuscitations, whether formal training is provided, which medical professionals are present, and providers' comfort level leading a debriefing. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: A …

Feasibility Of Clinical Evaluation Of Individuals With Increased Risk For Hpv-Associated Oropharynx Cancer, Nicholas Scott-Wittenborn, Gypsyamber D'Souza, Nafi Aygun, Sakshi R Tewari, Javad Azadi, Peter Vosler, Zhen Gooi, Vikas Mehta, Wojciech Mydlarz, Melonie Nance, Stefan Mlot, Mihir R Patel, Marietta Tan, Brett A Miles, Tanya Troy, Carole Fakhry

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus-associated oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (HPV-OPSCC) has no known pre-malignant lesion. While vaccination offers future primary prevention, there is current interest in secondary prevention. The feasibility of clinical evaluation of individuals at increased risk for HPV-OPSCC is unclear.

METHODS: Individuals with risk factors for HPV-OPSCC were enrolled in a prospective study (MOUTH). Participants positive for biomarkers associated with HPV-OPSCC were eligible for a clinical evaluation which comprised a head and neck examination and imaging with ultrasound and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study was designed to evaluate feasibility of clinical evaluation in a screening study.

RESULTS: Three hundred …

Oncologic Outcomes After Clinically Node-Negative Salvage Laryngectomy, Jennifer H Gross, Mihir R Patel, Jeffrey M Switchenko, Tyler G Chan, H M Baddour, Azeem Kaka, Brian J Boyce, Nabil F Saba, Jonathan J Beitler, Mark El-Deiry

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Controversy exists regarding management of the clinically node-negative neck in patients with recurrent larynx or hypopharynx cancers who received total laryngectomy after definitive radiation with or without chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical and oncologic outcomes after elective neck dissection vs observation in patients who received clinically node-negative salvage total laryngectomy.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study was performed from January 2009 to June 2021 at a single, high-volume tertiary care center. Follow-up was conducted through June 2021 for all patients. Survival outcomes were based on at least 2 years of follow-up. Patients aged 18 years or older with …

Effects Of Atrazine Exposure On Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Assessed By Combinatorial Assay Matrix, Crystal C Uwazie, Bonnie M Pirlot, Tyler U Faircloth, Mihir Patel, Rhett N Parr, Halie M Zastre, Peiman Hematti, Guido Moll, Devi Rajan, Raghavan Chinnadurai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem cells (MSCs) are an essential component of the regenerative and immunoregulatory stem cell compartment of the human body and thus of major importance in human physiology. The MSCs elicit their beneficial properties through a multitude of complementary mechanisms, which makes it challenging to assess their phenotype and function in environmental toxicity screening. We here employed the novel combinatorial assays matrix approach/technology to profile the MSC response to the herbicide Atrazine, which is a common environmental xenobiotic, that is in widespread agricultural use in the US and other countries, but banned in the EU. Our here presented approach …

Health Disparities In Turner Syndrome: Uthealth Turner Syndrome Research Registry, Priscille Donate, Michelle Rivera-Davila, Siddharth K Prakash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

AIM: Turner Syndrome (TS) is caused by partial or complete absence of the second sex chromosome in a phenotypic female. TS is associated with recognizable congenital anomalies and chronic health conditions. The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the health-related knowledge and insight of participants.

METHODS: In 2015, we founded the UTHealth Turner Syndrome Research Registry for longitudinal follow-up of individuals with TS. Study participants were recruited from UTHealth Houston clinics and the Turner Syndrome Society of the United States. Participants completed a questionnaire about demographics, karyotype, congenital anomalies, health history, frequency of contact with care providers, and …

Risk Of Depression In A Suburban Primary Care Setting Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carman H Whiting, Pouran Yousefi, Jude K A Des Bordes, Nahid J Rianon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Major depression is a common disorder affecting millions of adults each year. Many population-based surveys showed an increase in the number people with symptoms of depression at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim was to determine and compare the prevalence of depression risk in a primary care setting before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study based on retrospective review of medical records from a large suburban primary care clinic. Records of adults 18 years and older, seen between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 and who had also been screened for …

Hermann ("Hugh") Blaschko (1900-1993): Father Of Catecholamine Metabolism, Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Jiries Ganim, Anne B Leuppi-Taegtmeyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Osteoblast-Specific Overexpression Of Nucleolar Protein No66/Riox1 In Mouse Embryos Leads To Osteoporosis In Adult Mice, Qin Chen, Krishna M Sinha, Benoit De Crombrugghe, Ralf Krahe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In previous study, we showed that nucleolar protein 66 (NO66) is a chromatin modifier and negatively regulates Osterix activity as well as mesenchymal progenitor differentiation. Genetic ablation of the NO66 (RIOX1) gene in cells of the Prx1-expressing mesenchymal lineage leads to acceleration of osteochondrogenic differentiation and a larger skeleton in adult mice, whereas mesenchyme-specific overexpression of NO66 inhibits osteochondrogenesis resulting in dwarfism and osteopenia. However, the impact of NO66 overexpression in cells of the osteoblast lineage in vivo remains largely undefined. Here, we generated osteoblast-specific transgenic mice overexpressing a FLAG-tagged NO66 transgene driven by the …

Role Of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy For Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Current Evidence And Future Challenges, Sophie S Jang, Morgan E Davis, David R Vera, Stephen Y Lai, Theresa W Guo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has been used across oncological specialties for prognostication, staging, and identification of occult nodal metastasis. Recent studies demonstrated the potential clinical utility of SLNB in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). Elective neck dissection is the current standard of care in early management of OCSCC with depth of invasion greater than 2-4 mm; however, majority of patients ultimately do not have nodal disease on final pathology. SLNB is an alternative procedure widely adopted in early cancer management in many oncological subspecialities. Several considerations such as depth of invasion, nodal mapping, histopathology methods, operator variability, postoperative …

Super-Resolution And Segmentation Deep Learning For Breast Cancer Histopathology Image Analysis, Aniwat Juhong, Bo Li, Cheng-You Yao, Chia-Wei Yang, Dalen W Agnew, Yu Leo Lei, Xuefei Huang, Wibool Piyawattanametha, Zhen Qiu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Traditionally, a high-performance microscope with a large numerical aperture is required to acquire high-resolution images. However, the images' size is typically tremendous. Therefore, they are not conveniently managed and transferred across a computer network or stored in a limited computer storage system. As a result, image compression is commonly used to reduce image size resulting in poor image resolution. Here, we demonstrate custom convolution neural networks (CNNs) for both super-resolution image enhancement from low-resolution images and characterization of both cells and nuclei from hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained breast cancer histopathological images by using a combination of generator and discriminator …

Easycelltype: Marker-Based Cell-Type Annotation By Automatically Querying Multiple Databases, Ruoxing Li, Jianjun Zhang, Ziyi Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

MOTIVATION: Cell label annotation is a challenging step in the analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, especially for tissue types that are less commonly studied. The accumulation of scRNA-seq studies and biological knowledge leads to several well-maintained cell marker databases. Manually examining the cell marker lists against these databases can be difficult due to the large amount of available information. Additionally, simply overlapping the two lists without considering gene ranking might lead to unreliable results. Thus, an automated method with careful statistical testing is needed to facilitate the usage of these databases.

RESULTS: We develop a user-friendly computational tool, …

Estimating Causal Effects With Hidden Confounding Using Instrumental Variables And Environments, James P Long, Hongxu Zhu, Kim-Anh Do, Min Jin Ha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recent works have proposed regression models which are invariant across data collection environments [24, 20, 11, 16, 8]. These estimators often have a causal interpretation under conditions on the environments and type of invariance imposed. One recent example, the Causal Dantzig (CD), is consistent under hidden confounding and represents an alternative to classical instrumental variable estimators such as Two Stage Least Squares (TSLS). In this work we derive the CD as a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. The GMM representation leads to several practical results, including 1) creation of the Generalized Causal Dantzig (GCD) estimator which can be applied …

Pain Experience And Sensory Changes In Astronauts During And After Short-Lasting Commercial Spaceflight: A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Andrea K Sauer, Marie Vigouroux, Patrick M Dougherty, Juan Pablo Cata, Pablo M Ingelmo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Space travel has been associated with musculoskeletal pain, yet little is known about the nociceptive changes and pain experience during spaceflight. This preliminary study aims to investigate the pain experience and sensory alterations in astronauts following a 17-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Axiom Space's AX-1 commercial space flight. Two participants were enrolled, and data were collected pre-flight, in-flight, post-flight, and three-month post-flight. Validated pain questionnaires assessed anxiety, catastrophizing, impact on physical and mental health, disability, and overall pain experience. Qualitative interviews were conducted post-landing and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and quantitative sensory testing (QST) were performed. …

Exploring The Influence Of Contextual Factors And The Caregiving Process On Burden, Quality Of Life, And Outcomes Of Heart Failure (Hf) Dyads After A Hospital Discharge Guided By The Individual And Family Self-Management Theory (Ifsmt): A Mixed Method Study., Tamara Bernard, Breanna D. Hetland, Myra S. Schmaderer, Ronald Zolty, Christopher S. Wichman, Bunny J. Pozehl

Posters and Presentations: College of Nursing

No abstract provided.

Multi-Organ Spatial Stratification Of 3-D Dose Distributions Improves Risk Prediction Of Long-Term Self-Reported Severe Symptoms In Oropharyngeal Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy: Development Of A Pre-Treatment Decision Support Tool, Andrew Wentzel, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Mohamed A Naser, Lisanne V Van Dijk, Katherine Hutcheson, Amy M Moreno, Clifton D Fuller, Guadalupe Canahuate, G Elisabeta Marai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Identify Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) patients at high-risk of developing long-term severe radiation-associated symptoms using dose volume histograms for organs-at-risk, via unsupervised clustering.

Material and methods: All patients were treated using radiation therapy for OPC. Dose-volume histograms of organs-at-risk were extracted from patients' treatment plans. Symptom ratings were collected via the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) given weekly during, and 6 months post-treatment. Drymouth, trouble swallowing, mucus, and vocal dysfunction were selected for analysis in this study. Patient stratifications were obtained by applying Bayesian Mixture Models with three components to patient's dose histograms for relevant organs. The clusters with the …

Overview Of The Hecktor Challenge At Miccai 2022: Automatic Head And Neck Tumor Segmentation And Outcome Prediction In Pet/Ct, Vincent Andrearczyk, Valentin Oreiller, Moamen Abobakr, Azadeh Akhavanallaf, Panagiotis Balermpas, Sarah Boughdad, Leo Capriotti, Joel Castelli, Catherine Cheze Le Rest, Pierre Decazes, Ricardo Correia, Dina El-Habashy, Hesham Elhalawani, Clifton D Fuller, Mario Jreige, Yornna Khamis, Agustina La Greca, Abdallah Mohamed, Mohamed Naser, John O Prior, Su Ruan, Stephanie Tanadini-Lang, Olena Tankyevych, Yazdan Salimi, Martin Vallières, Pierre Vera, Dimitris Visvikis, Kareem Wahid, Habib Zaidi, Mathieu Hatt, Adrien Depeursinge

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This paper presents an overview of the third edition of the HEad and neCK TumOR segmentation and outcome prediction (HECKTOR) challenge, organized as a satellite event of the 25th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) 2022. The challenge comprises two tasks related to the automatic analysis of FDG-PET/CT images for patients with Head and Neck cancer (H&N), focusing on the oropharynx region. Task 1 is the fully automatic segmentation of H&N primary Gross Tumor Volume (GTVp) and metastatic lymph nodes (GTVn) from FDG-PET/CT images. Task 2 is the fully automatic prediction of Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS) …

The Contemporary Management Of Cancers Of The Sinonasal Tract In Adults, Rajat Thawani, Myung Sun Kim, Asad Arastu, Zizhen Feng, Malinda T West, Nicholas F Taflin, Kyaw Zin Thein, Ryan Li, Mathew Geltzeiler, Nancy Lee, Clifton David Fuller, Jennifer R Grandis, Charalampos S Floudas, Michael C Heinrich, Ehab Hanna, Ravi A Chandra

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sinonasal malignancies make up <5% of all head and neck neoplasms, with an incidence of 0.5-1.0 per 100,000. The outcome of these rare malignancies has been poor, whereas significant progress has been made in the management of other cancers. The objective of the current review was to describe the incidence, causes, presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and recent developments of malignancies of the sinonasal tract. The diagnoses covered in this review included sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma, sinonasal adenocarcinoma, sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma, and esthesioneuroblastoma, which are exclusive to the sinonasal tract. In addition, the authors covered malignances that are likely to be encountered in the sinonasal tract-primary mucosal melanoma, NUT (nuclear protein of the testis) carcinoma, and extranodal natural killer cell/T-cell lymphoma. For the purpose of keeping this review as concise and focused as possible, sarcomas and malignancies that can be classified as salivary gland neoplasms were excluded.

Head And Neck Cancer Predictive Risk Estimator To Determine Control And Therapeutic Outcomes Of Radiotherapy (Hnc-Predictor): Development, International Multi-Institutional Validation, And Web Implementation Of Clinic-Ready Model-Based Risk Stratification For Head And Neck Cancer, Lisanne V Van Dijk, Abdallah Sr Mohamed, Sara Ahmed, Nafiul Nipu, G Elisabeta Marai, Kareem Wahid, Nanna M Sijtsema, Brandon Gunn, Adam S Garden, Amy Moreno, Andrew J Hope, Johannes A Langendijk, Clifton D Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Personalised radiotherapy can improve treatment outcomes of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC), where currently a 'one-dose-fits-all' approach is the standard. The aim was to establish individualised outcome prediction based on multi-institutional international 'big-data' to facilitate risk-based stratification of patients with HNC.

Methods: The data of 4611 HNC radiotherapy patients from three academic cancer centres were split into four cohorts: a training (n = 2241), independent test (n = 786), and external validation cohorts 1 (n = 1087) and 2 (n = 497). Tumour- and patient-related clinical variables were considered in a machine learning pipeline to predict overall …

The History Of Oral Decitabine/Cedazuridine And Its Potential Role In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Robert Briski, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Hagop Kantarjian, Farhad Ravandi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Decitabine, a member of the 5-azanucleosides, has a dose-dependent mechanism of action in vitro: termination of DNA replication at high doses, and inhibition of DNA methyltransferase at low doses. The alteration of DNA methylation patterns by low-dose decitabine is hypothesized to upregulate genes, which promote myeloblast differentiation. In a phase III clinical trial, low-dose decitabine achieved a superior overall response rate (ORR) when compared with 'treatment choice' [consisting of low-dose cytarabine (80%) and supportive care (20%)] as a frontline treatment for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Despite an improved ORR, the median overall survival (OS) for elderly …