Diseases Commons^™

Living With Brain Cancer: From Researcher To Patient, Stephen P. Chelko, Daniel L. Fay Ph.D.

Patient Experience Journal

As an academic researcher, my work-life revolves around testing the efficaciousness of pharmaceutical drugs on the prevention of cardiac dysfunction, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death in animal models of heart disease. I never thought I would go from someone studying a life-threatening disease to a patient living with one in twenty-four hours. Yet, that transformation occurred October 8, 2019. I was just appointed to Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM), yet after sitting for my professional headshot I had a grand mal seizure. I cannot recall this event, but I bit the tip of my tongue …

Targeting The Eif2ak1 Signaling Pathway Rescues Red Blood Cell Production In Sf3b1-Mutant Myelodysplastic Syndromes With Ringed Sideroblasts, Vera Adema, Feiyang Ma, Rashmi Kanagal-Shamanna, Natthakan Thongon, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Hui Yang, Scott A Peslak, Feng Wang, Pamela Acha, Francesc Sole, Pamela Lockyer, Margherita Cassari, Jaroslaw P Maciejewski, Valeria Visconte, Irene Gañán-Gómez, Yuanbin Song, Carlos Bueso-Ramos, Matteo Pellegrini, Tuyet M Tan, Rafael Bejar, Jennifer S Carew, Stephanie Halene, Valeria Santini, Gheath Al-Atrash, Karen Clise-Dwyer, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Gerd A Blobel, Simona Colla

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

SF3B1 mutations, which occur in 20% of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), are the hallmarks of a specific MDS subtype, MDS with ringed sideroblasts (MDS-RS), which is characterized by the accumulation of erythroid precursors in the bone marrow and primarily affects the elderly population. Here, using single-cell technologies and functional validation studies of primary SF3B1-mutant MDS-RS samples, we show that SF3B1 mutations lead to the activation of the EIF2AK1 pathway in response to heme deficiency and that targeting this pathway rescues aberrant erythroid differentiation and enables the red blood cell maturation of MDS-RS erythroblasts. These data support the development of …

Tp53-Mutated Myelodysplastic Syndrome And Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Biology, Current Therapy, And Future Directions, Naval G Daver, Abhishek Maiti, Tapan M Kadia, Paresh Vyas, Ravindra Majeti, Andrew H Wei, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Charles Craddock, David A Sallman, Hagop M Kantarjian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

UNLABELLED: TP53-mutated myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) form a distinct group of myeloid disorders with dismal outcomes. TP53-mutated MDS and AML have lower response rates to either induction chemotherapy, hypomethylating agent-based regimens, or venetoclax-based therapies compared with non-TP53-mutated counterparts and a poor median overall survival of 5 to 10 months. Recent advances have identified novel pathogenic mechanisms in TP53-mutated myeloid malignancies, which have the potential to improve treatment strategies in this distinct clinical subgroup. In this review, we discuss recent insights into the biology of TP53-mutated MDS/AML, current treatments, and emerging therapies, including immunotherapeutic and nonimmune-based approaches …

Modification Of The Tumor Microenvironment Enhances Anti-Pd-1 Immunotherapy In Metastatic Melanoma, Guilan Shi, Megan Scott, Cathryn G. Mangiamele, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

Resistance to checkpoint-blockade treatments is a challenge in the clinic. Both primary and acquired resistance have become major obstacles, greatly limiting the long-lasting effects and wide application of blockade therapy. Many patients with metastatic melanoma eventually require further therapy. The absence of T-cell infiltration to the tumor site is a well-accepted contributor limiting immune checkpoint inhibitor efficacy. In this study, we combined intratumoral injection of plasmid IL-12 with electrotransfer and anti-PD-1 in metastatic B16F10 melanoma tumor model to increase tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and improve therapeutic efficacy. We showed that effective anti-tumor responses required a subset of tumor-infiltrating CD8⁺ and CD4 …

Stroke Genetics Informs Drug Discovery And Risk Prediction Across Ancestries, Aniket Mishra, Rainer Malik, Tsuyoshi Hachiya, Tuuli Jürgenson, Shinichi Namba, Daniel C Posner, Frederick K Kamanu, Masaru Koido, Quentin Le Grand, Mingyang Shi, Yunye He, Marios K Georgakis, Ilana Caro, Kristi Krebs, Yi-Ching Liaw, Felix C Vaura, Kuang Lin, Bendik Slagsvold Winsvold, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Livia Parodi, Hee-Joon Bae, Ganesh Chauhan, Michael R Chong, Liisa Tomppo, Rufus Akinyemi, Gennady V Roshchupkin, Naomi Habib, Yon Ho Jee, Jesper Qvist Thomassen, Vida Abedi, Jara Cárcel-Márquez, Marianne Nygaard, Hampton L Leonard, Chaojie Yang, Ekaterina Yonova-Doing, Maria J Knol, Adam J Lewis, Renae L Judy, Tetsuro Ago, Philippe Amouyel, Nicole D Armstrong, Mark K Bakker, Traci M Bartz, David A Bennett, Joshua C Bis, Constance Bordes, Sigrid Børte, Anael Cain, Paul M Ridker, Kelly Cho, Zhengming Chen, Carlos Cruchaga, John W Cole, Phil L De Jager, Rafael De Cid, Matthias Endres, Leslie E Ferreira, Mirjam I Geerlings, Natalie C Gasca, Vilmundur Gudnason, Jun Hata, Jing He, Alicia K Heath, Yuk-Lam Ho, Aki S Havulinna, Jemma C Hopewell, Hyacinth I Hyacinth, Michael Inouye, Mina A Jacob, Christina E Jeon, Christina Jern, Masahiro Kamouchi, Keith L Keene, Takanari Kitazono, Steven J Kittner, Takahiro Konuma, Amit Kumar, Paul Lacaze, Lenore J Launer, Keon-Joo Lee, Kaido Lepik, Jiang Li, Liming Li, Ani Manichaikul, Hugh S Markus, Nicholas A Marston, Thomas Meitinger, Braxton D Mitchell, Felipe A Montellano, Takayuki Morisaki, Thomas H Mosley, Mike A Nalls, Børge G Nordestgaard, Martin J O'Donnell, Yukinori Okada, N Charlotte Onland-Moret, Bruce Ovbiagele, Annette Peters, Bruce M Psaty, Stephen S Rich, Jonathan Rosand, Marc S Sabatine, Ralph L Sacco, Danish Saleheen, Else Charlotte Sandset, Veikko Salomaa, Muralidharan Sargurupremraj, Makoto Sasaki, Claudia L Satizabal, Carsten O Schmidt, Atsushi Shimizu, Nicholas L Smith, Kelly L Sloane, Yoichi Sutoh, Yan V Sun, Kozo Tanno, Steffen Tiedt, Turgut Tatlisumak, Nuria P Torres-Aguila, Hemant K Tiwari, David-Alexandre Trégouët, Stella Trompet, Anil Man Tuladhar, Anne Tybjærg-Hansen, Marion Van Vugt, Riina Vibo, Shefali S Verma, Kerri L Wiggins, Patrik Wennberg, Daniel Woo, Peter W F Wilson, Huichun Xu, Qiong Yang, Kyungheon Yoon, Compass Consortium, Invent Consortium, Dutch Parelsnoer Initiative (Psi) Cerebrovascular Disease Study Group, Estonian Biobank, Precise4q Consortium, Finngen Consortium, Ninds Stroke Genetics Network (Sign), Megastroke Consortium, Siren Consortium, China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group, Va Million Veteran Program, International Stroke Genetics Consortium (Isgc), Biobank Japan, Charge Consortium, Gigastroke Consortium, Iona Y Millwood, Christian Gieger, Toshiharu Ninomiya, Hans J Grabe, J Wouter Jukema, Ina L Rissanen, Daniel Strbian, Young Jin Kim, Pei-Hsin Chen, Ernst Mayerhofer, Joanna M M Howson, Marguerite R Irvin, Hieab Adams, Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Kaare Christensen, Mohammad A Ikram, Tatjana Rundek, Bradford B Worrall, G Mark Lathrop, Moeen Riaz, Eleanor M Simonsick, Janika Kõrv, Paulo H C França, Ramin Zand, Kameshwar Prasad, Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, Frank-Erik De Leeuw, Thomas Liman, Karl Georg Haeusler, Ynte M Ruigrok, Peter Ulrich Heuschmann, W T Longstreth, Keum Ji Jung, Lisa Bastarache, Guillaume Paré, Scott M Damrauer, Daniel I Chasman, Jerome I Rotter, Christopher D Anderson, John-Anker Zwart, Teemu J Niiranen, Myriam Fornage, Yung-Po Liaw, Sudha Seshadri, Israel Fernández-Cadenas, Robin G Walters, Christian T Ruff, Mayowa O Owolabi, Jennifer E Huffman, Lili Milani, Yoichiro Kamatani, Martin Dichgans, Stephanie Debette

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke - the second leading cause of death worldwide - were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary …

Ovarian Steroid Cell Tumors, Not Otherwise Specified: Analysis Of Nine Cases With A Literature Review, Mengyan Lin, Kechun Bao, Lingjia Lu, Shuhang Xu, Yun Liang, Xiaodong Cheng, Fenfen Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Ovarian steroid cell tumors (SCTs), not otherwise specified (NOS), are rare, with few large studies. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical features, prognosis, and treatment choices for these patients of different age groups.

METHODS: This was a retrospective study. We identified nine cases of ovarian steroid cell tumor, not otherwise specified, confirmed by post-operative histopathological examination, and analyzed clinical features, surgical procedures, and follow up outcomes. We also reviewed cases reports of ovarian steroid cell tumors, not otherwise specified.

RESULTS: A total of nine cases were included. The age range was 9-68 years (mean, 41.89 …

Cardiovascular Outcomes In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease And Covid-19: A Multi-Regional Data-Linkage Study, Emilie J Lambourg, Peter J Gallacher, Robert W Hunter, Moneeza Siddiqui, Eve Miller-Hodges, James D Chalmers, Dan Pugh, Neeraj Dhaun, Samira Bell

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Data describing cardiovascular outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are lacking. We compared cardiovascular outcomes of patients with and without COVID-19, stratified by CKD status.

METHODS: This retrospective, multi-regional data-linkage study utilised individual patient-level data from two Scottish cohorts. All patients tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Cohort 1 between 1 February 2020 and 31 March 2021 and in Cohort 2 between 28 February 2020 and 8 February 2021 were included.

RESULTS: Overall, 86 964 patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2. There were 36 904 patients (mean±sd age 61±21 …

International Delphi Consensus Guidelines For Follow-Up After Prophylactic Total Gastrectomy: The Life After Prophylactic Total Gastrectomy (Lag-Tg) Study, Geoffrey Roberts, Patrick R Benusiglio, Tanya Bisseling, Daniel Coit, Jeremy L Davis, Sam Grimes, Theresa A Guise, Richard Hardwick, Kirsty Harris, Paul Furman Mansfield, Jeremy Rossaak, Karen Chelcun Schreiber, Peter P Stanich, Vivian E Strong, Pardeep Kaurah

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Prophylactic total gastrectomy (PTG) remains the only means of preventing gastric cancer for people with genetic mutations predisposing to Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC), mainly in the CDH1 gene. The small but growing cohort of people undergoing PTG at a young age are expected to have a life-expectancy close to the general population, however, knowledge of the long-term effects of, and monitoring requirements after, PTG is limited. This study aims to define the standard of care for follow-up after PTG.

METHODS: Through a combination of literature review and two-round Delphi consensus of major HDGC/PTG units and physicians, and patient …

Immune Dysfunction Signatures Predict Outcomes And Define Checkpoint Blockade-Unresponsive Microenvironments In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Sergio Rutella, Jayakumar Vadakekolathu, Francesco Mazziotta, Stephen Reeder, Tung-On Yau, Rupkatha Mukhopadhyay, Benjamin Dickins, Heidi Altmann, Michael Kramer, Hanna A Knaus, Bruce R Blazar, Vedran Radojcic, Joshua F Zeidner, Andrea Arruda, Bofei Wang, Hussein A Abbas, Mark D Minden, Sarah K Tasian, Martin Bornhäuser, Ivana Gojo, Leo Luznik

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background

Immune exhaustion and senescence are dominant dysfunctional states of effector T cells and major hurdles for the success of cancer immunotherapy. In the current study, we characterized how acute myeloid leukemia (AML) promotes the generation of senescent-like CD8⁺ T cells and whether they have prognostic relevance.

METHODS

We analyzed NanoString, bulk RNA-Seq and single-cell RNA-Seq data from independent clinical cohorts comprising 1,896 patients treated with chemotherapy and/or immune checkpoint blockade (ICB).

Results

We show that senescent-like bone marrow CD8⁺ T cells were impaired in killing autologous AML blasts and that their proportion negatively correlated with overall survival …

Cerebellar Coordination Of Neuronal And Behavioral Rhythms, Brittany Correia Chapman

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Long known for its role in motor control, it is increasingly clear that the cerebellum is also involved in numerous cognitive and affective behaviors. Though the neuronal mechanism for the role of the cerebellum in cognition is still unclear, there is a consensus that it involves cerebellar interactions with the cerebral cortex. Recent studies suggest that the cerebellum monitors, and possibly coordinates, the precise phase alignment or coherence of neuronal oscillations in cerebral cortical areas. Here, we asked how loss of cerebellar function affects respiratory rhythms and the interactions of local field potential (LFP) oscillations between the lobulus simplex (LS) …

Same Day Discharge Following Elective, Minimally Invasive, Colorectal Surgery : A Review Of Enhanced Recovery Protocols And Early Outcomes By The Sages Colorectal Surgical Committee With Recommendations Regarding Patient Selection, Remote Monitoring, And Successful Implementation, Elisabeth C Mclemore, Lawrence Lee, Traci L Hedrick, Laila Rashidi, Erik P Askenasy, Daniel Popowich, Patricia Sylla

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: As enhanced recovery programs (ERPs) have continued to evolve, the length of hospitalization (LOS) following elective minimally invasive colorectal surgery has continued to decline. Further refinements in multimodal perioperative pain management strategies have resulted in reduced opioid consumption. The interest in ambulatory colectomy has dramatically accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe restrictions in hospital capacity and fear of COVID transmission forced surgical teams to rethink strategies to further reduce length of inpatient stay.

METHODS: Members of the SAGES Colorectal Surgery Committee began reviewing the emergence of SDD protocols and early publications for SDD in 2019. The authors met at …

Clinical Impact Of Ceftriaxone Resistance In Escherichia Coli Bloodstream Infections: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study, Pranita D Tamma, Lauren Komarow, Lizhao Ge, Julia Garcia-Diaz, Erica S Herc, Yohei Doi, Cesar A Arias, Owen Albin, Elie Saade, Loren G Miller, Jesse T Jacob, Michael J Satlin, Martin Krsak, W Charles Huskins, Sorabh Dhar, Samuel A Shelburne, Carol Hill, Keri R Baum, Minal Bhojani, Kerryl E Greenwood-Quaintance, Suzannah M Schmidt-Malan, Robin Patel, Scott R Evans, Henry F Chambers, Vance G Fowler, David Van Duin, Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background

Ceftriaxone-resistant (CRO-R) Escherichia coli bloodstream infections (BSIs) are common.

Methods

This is a prospective cohort of patients with E coli BSI at 14 United States hospitals between November 2020 and April 2021. For each patient with a CRO-R E coli BSI enrolled, the next consecutive patient with a ceftriaxone-susceptible (CRO-S) E coli BSI was included. Primary outcome was desirability of outcome ranking (DOOR) at day 30, with 50% probability of worse outcomes in the CRO-R group as the null hypothesis. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was used to reduce confounding.

Results

Notable differences between patients infected with CRO-R and CRO-S …

Medication Complexity Among Older Adults With Hf: How Can We Assess Better?, Min Ji Kwak, Monica Cheng, Parag Goyal, Dae Hyun Kim, Scott L Hummel, Abhijeet Dhoble, Ashish Deshmukh, Rajender Aparasu, Holly M Holmes

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Medical management of heart failure (HF) has evolved and has achieved significant survival benefits, resulting in highly complex medication regimens. Complex medication regimens create challenges for older adults, including nonadherence and increased adverse drug events, especially associated with cognitive impairment, physical limitations, or lack of social support. However, the association between medication complexity and patients' health outcomes among older adults with HF is unclear. The purpose of this review is to address how the complexity of HF medications has been assessed in the literature and what clinical outcomes are associated with medication regimen complexity in HF. Further, we aimed to …

Is Antibiotic Prophylaxis Necessary After Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration Of Pancreatic Cysts?, Seifeldin Hakim, Mihajlo Gjeorgjievski, Zubair Khan, Michael E Cannon, Kevin Yu, Prithvi Patil, Roy Tomas Davee, Sushovan Guha, Ricardo Badillo, Laith Jamil, Nirav Thosani, Srinivas Ramireddy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Current society guidelines recommend antibiotic prophylaxis for 3 to 5 days after endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs). The overall quality of the evidence supporting this recommendation is low. In this study, we aimed to assess cyst infection and adverse event rates after EUS-FNA of PCLs among patients treated with or without postprocedural prophylactic antibiotics.

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent EUS-FNA of PCLs between 2015 and 2019 at two large-volume academic medical centers with different practice patterns of postprocedural antibiotic prophylaxis. Data on patient demographics, cyst characteristics, fine-needle aspiration technique, periprocedural and …

Outcomes Of Gynecologic Cancer Surgery During The Covid-19 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Prospective Covidsurg-Gynecologic Oncology Cancer Study, Christina Fotopoulou, Tabassum Khan, Juraj Bracinik, James Glasbey, Nadeem Abu-Rustum, Luis Chiva, Anna Fagotti, Keiichi Fujiwara, Rahel Ghebre, Murat Gutelkin, Thomas O Konney, Joseph Ng, Rene Pareja, Rajkumar Kottayasamy Seenivasagam, Jalid Sehouli, Shylasree T S Surappa, Aneel Bhangu, Elaine Leung, Sudha Sundar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The CovidSurg-Cancer Consortium aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 in surgical patients and services for solid cancers at the start of the pandemic. The CovidSurg-Gynecologic Oncology Cancer subgroup was particularly concerned about the magnitude of adverse outcomes caused by the disrupted surgical gynecologic cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are currently unclear.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the changes in care and short-term outcomes of surgical patients with gynecologic cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a delay in surgical cancer care, especially in patients who required more extensive …

Protein Profiling By Reverse Phase Protein Array (Rppa) In Classical Hairy Cell Leukemia (Hcl) And Hcl-Variant, Fieke W Hoff, Ti'ara L Griffen, Yihua Qiu, Steven M Kornblau

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Classical hairy cell leukemia (HCL-c) and HCL variant (HCL-v) are recognized as separate entities with HCL-v having significantly shorter overall survival. Proteomic studies, shown to be prognostic in various forms of leukemia, have not been performed in HCL. We performed reverse phase protein array-based protein profiling with 384 antibodies in HCL-c (

Advances In Understanding Cancer-Associated Neurogenesis And Its Implications On The Neuroimmune Axis In Cancer, Ismail Yaman, Didem Ağaç Çobanoğlu, Tongxin Xie, Yi Ye, Moran Amit

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nerves and immunologic mediators play pivotal roles in body homeostasis by interacting with each other through diverse mechanisms. The spread of nerves in the tumor microenvironment increases tumor cell proliferation and disease progression, and this correlates with poor patient outcomes. The effects of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves on cancer regulation are being investigated. Recent findings demonstrate the possibility of developing therapeutic strategies that target the tumor microenvironment and its components such as immune cells, neurotransmitters, and extracellular vesicles. Therefore, examining and understanding the mechanisms and pathways associated with the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, neurotransmitters, cancer-derived mediators and their interactions …

International Delphi Consensus Guidelines For Follow-Up After Prophylactic Total Gastrectomy: The Life After Prophylactic Total Gastrectomy (Lap-Tg) Study, Geoffrey Roberts, Patrick R Benusiglio, Tanya Bisseling, Daniel Coit, Jeremy L Davis, Sam Grimes, Theresa A Guise, Richard Hardwick, Kirsty Harris, Paul Furman Mansfield, Jeremy Rossaak, Karen Chelcun Schreiber, Peter P Stanich, Vivian E Strong, Pardeep Kaurah

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Prophylactic total gastrectomy (PTG) remains the only means of preventing gastric cancer for people with genetic mutations predisposing to Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC), mainly in the CDH1 gene. The small but growing cohort of people undergoing PTG at a young age are expected to have a life-expectancy close to the general population, however, knowledge of the long-term effects of, and monitoring requirements after, PTG is limited. This study aims to define the standard of care for follow-up after PTG.

METHODS: Through a combination of literature review and two-round Delphi consensus of major HDGC/PTG units and physicians, and patient …

Rad Regulation Of Cav12 Channels Controls Cardiac Fight-Or-Flight Response, Arianne Papa, Sergey I Zakharov, Alexander N Katchman, Jared S Kushner, Bi-Xing Chen, Lin Yang, Guoxia Liu, Alejandro Sanchez Jimenez, Robyn J Eisert, Gary A Bradshaw, Wen Dun, Shah R Ali, Aaron Rodriques, Karen Zhou, Veli Topkara, Mu Yang, John P Morrow, Emily J Tsai, Arthur Karlin, Elaine Wan, Marian Kalocsay, Geoffrey S Pitt, Henry M Colecraft, Manu Ben-Johny, Steven O Marx

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fight-or-flight responses involve β-adrenergic-induced increases in heart rate and contractile force. In the present study, we uncover the primary mechanism underlying the heart's innate contractile reserve. We show that four protein kinase A (PKA)-phosphorylated residues in Rad, a calcium channel inhibitor, are crucial for controlling basal calcium current and essential for β-adrenergic augmentation of calcium influx in cardiomyocytes. Even with intact PKA signaling to other proteins modulating calcium handling, preventing adrenergic activation of calcium channels in Rad-phosphosite-mutant mice (4SA-Rad) has profound physiological effects: reduced heart rate with increased pauses, reduced basal contractility, near-complete attenuation of β-adrenergic contractile response and diminished …

Nab-Paclitaxel, Capecitabine, And Radiation Therapy After Induction Chemotherapy In Treating Patients With Locally Advanced And Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer: Phase 1 Trial And Imaging-Based Biomarker Validation, Eugene J Koay, Mohamed Zaid, Maureen Aliru, Polycarpe Bagereka, Arie Van Wieren, Maria Jovie Rodriguez, Galia Jacobson, Robert A Wolff, Michael Overman, Gauri Varadhachary, Shubham Pant, Huamin Wang, Ching-Wei Tzeng, Naruhiko Ikoma, Michael Kim, Jeffrey E Lee, Matthew Hg Katz, Eric Tamm, Priya Bhosale, Cullen M Taniguchi, Emma B Holliday, Grace L Smith, Ethan B Ludmir, Bruce D Minsky, Christopher H Crane, Albert C Koong, Prajnan Das, Xuemei Wang, Milind Javle, Sunil Krishnan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Effective consolidative chemoradiation (CRT) regimens are lacking. In this phase 1 trial, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of nab-paclitaxel, capecitabine, and radiation therapy after induction chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced and borderline-resectable pancreatic cancer (LAPC and BRPC). Also, we evaluated a computed tomography (CT)-based biomarker of response.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Eligible patients had pathologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, underwent computed tomography-imaging, received a diagnosis of LAPC or BRPC, and received induction chemotherapy. Standard 3 + 3 study design was used, with 3 escalating nab-paclitaxel dose levels (50, 75, and 100 mg/m

RESULTS: Twenty-three patients started and finished …

Differential Integrated Stress Response And Asparagine Production Drive Symbiosis And Therapy Resistance Of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Cells, Christopher J Halbrook, Galloway Thurston, Seth Boyer, Cecily Anaraki, Jennifer A Jiménez, Amy Mccarthy, Nina G Steele, Samuel A Kerk, Hanna S Hong, Lin Lin, Fiona V Law, Catherine Felton, Lorenzo Scipioni, Peter Sajjakulnukit, Anthony Andren, Alica K Beutel, Rima Singh, Barbara S Nelson, Fran Van Den Bergh, Abigail S Krall, Peter J Mullen, Li Zhang, Sandeep Batra, Jennifer P Morton, Ben Z Stanger, Heather R Christofk, Michelle A Digman, Daniel A Beard, Andrea Viale, Ji Zhang, Howard C Crawford, Marina Pasca Di Magliano, Claus Jorgensen, Costas A Lyssiotis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The pancreatic tumor microenvironment drives deregulated nutrient availability. Accordingly, pancreatic cancer cells require metabolic adaptations to survive and proliferate. Pancreatic cancer subtypes have been characterized by transcriptional and functional differences, with subtypes reported to exist within the same tumor. However, it remains unclear if this diversity extends to metabolic programming. Here, using metabolomic profiling and functional interrogation of metabolic dependencies, we identify two distinct metabolic subclasses among neoplastic populations within individual human and mouse tumors. Furthermore, these populations are poised for metabolic cross-talk, and in examining this, we find an unexpected role for asparagine supporting proliferation during limited respiration. Constitutive …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Resistance To Kinase Inhibitors And Redifferentiation In Thyroid Cancers, Marie-Claude Hofmann, Muthusamy Kunnimalaiyaan, Jennifer R Wang, Naifa L Busaidy, Steven I Sherman, Stephen Y Lai, Mark Zafereo, Maria E Cabanillas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Protein kinases play critical roles in cell survival, proliferation and motility. Their dysregulation is therefore a common feature in the pathogenesis of a number of solid tumors, including thyroid cancers. Inhibiting activated protein kinases has revolutionized thyroid cancer therapy, offering a promising strategy in treating tumors refractory to radioactive iodine treatment or cytotoxic chemotherapies. However, despite satisfactory early responses, these drugs are not curative and most patients inevitably progress due to drug resistance. This review summarizes up-to-date knowledge on various mechanisms that thyroid cancer cells develop to bypass protein kinase inhibition and outlines strategies that are being explored to overcome …

Endoscopic Tacking System As A Novel Tissue Approximation Measure For Very Large Emr Defects, Tara Keihanian, Mohamed O Othman, Salmaan A Jawaid

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: Defect closure post-EMR and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is recommended to decrease the risk of delayed bleeding and perforation. Current methods of tissue approximation and closure of mucosal defects have their limitations, including restricted maneuverability, need for scope withdrawal, or difficulty in apposing larger defects. Through-the-scope HeliX tacking system (Apollo Endosurgery, Austin, Tex, USA) is a novel tissue apposition device designed to mimic suture closure without the need to withdraw the endoscope or insert bulky devices on the tip of the endoscope. Previous reports demonstrate its effectiveness for closure of standard postresection defects, fistulae, and peroral endoscopic …

Isotretinoin, Vitamin A Supplements, And Unintended Pregnancies In Post Roe V Wade America, Praneet S Paidisetty, Leonard K Wang, Dina H Zamil, Shangyi Fu, Zeena Y Nawas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Isotretinoin is a potent vitamin A derivative that is used to treat acne. However, despite its utility in dermatologic care, it is also highly teratogenic and can cause severe life-threatening fetal abnormalities in the first trimester of pregnancy. As a result, existing regulations are stringent in order to prevent accidental pregnancies in women taking isotretinoin. In the unlikely case of an unintended pregnancy, while taking isotretinoin, a woman could terminate her pregnancy with an abortion. However, with the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, we explore the consequences of this landmark United States Supreme Court ruling with special attention …

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Based Superficial Femoral Artery Velocity Measurements In Peripheral Artery Disease, Ankita Sinharoy, Neeti Reddy, John Kent Lin, Vijay Nambi, Eric Y Yang, Panagiotis Kougias, Addison A Taylor, Alan B Lumsden, Christie M Ballantyne, Joel D Morrisett, Gerd Brunner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) causes lower extremity dysfunction and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. In this study, we analyzed how non-invasive 2-dimensional-phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (2D-PC-MRI) measured velocity markers of the distal superficial femoral artery (SFA) are associated with clinical and functional characteristics of PAD. A total of 70 (27 diabetic and 43 non-diabetic) PAD patients were included in this secondary analysis of data collected from the Effect of Lipid Modification on Peripheral Artery Disease after Endovascular Intervention Trial (ELIMIT). Electrocardiographically (ECG)-gated 2D-PC-MRI was performed at a proximal and a distal imaging location of …

Butyrate-Producing Bacteria And Insulin Homeostasis: The Microbiome And Insulin Longitudinal Evaluation Study (Miles), Jinrui Cui, Gautam Ramesh, Martin Wu, Elizabeth T Jensen, Osa Crago, Alain G Bertoni, Chunxu Gao, Kristi L Hoffman, Patricia A Sheridan, Kari E Wong, Alexis C Wood, Yii-Der I Chen, Jerome I Rotter, Joseph F Petrosino, Stephen S Rich, Mark O Goodarzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Gut microbiome studies have documented depletion of butyrate-producing taxa in type 2 diabetes. We analyzed associations between butyrate-producing taxa and detailed measures of insulin homeostasis, whose dysfunction underlies diabetes in 224 non-Hispanic Whites and 129 African Americans, all of whom completed an oral glucose tolerance test. Stool microbiome was assessed by whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing with taxonomic profiling. We examined associations among 36 butyrate-producing taxa (n = 7 genera and 29 species) and insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, disposition index, insulin clearance, and prevalence of dysglycemia (prediabetes plus diabetes, 46% of cohort), adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and race. The genus Coprococcus …

Analysis Of Insppire-2 Cohort: Risk Factors And Disease Burden In Children With Acute Recurrent Or Chronic Pancreatitis, Aliye Uc, Gretchen A Cress, Fuchenchu Wang, Maisam Abu-El-Haija, Kate M Ellery, Douglas S Fishman, Cheryl E Gariepy, Tanja Gonska, Tom K Lin, Quin Y Liu, Megha Mehta, Asim Maqbool, Brian A Mcferron, Veronique D Morinville, Chee Y Ooi, Emily R Perito, Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, Zachary M Sellers, Jose Serrano, Uzma Shah, David M Troendle, Michael Wilschanski, Yuhua Zheng, Ying Yuan, Mark E Lowe, Consortium For The Study Of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes And Pancreatic Cancer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to investigate risk factors and disease burden in pediatric acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP).

METHODS: Data were obtained from INternational Study group of Pediatric Pancreatitis: In search for a cuRE-2 (INSPPIRE-2), the largest multi-center prospective cohort study in pediatric patients with ARP or CP.

RESULTS: Of 689 children, 365 had ARP (53%), 324 had CP (47%). CP was more commonly associated with female sex, younger age at first acute pancreatitis (AP) attack, Asian race, family history of CP, lower BMI%, genetic and obstructive factors, PRSS1 mutations and pancreas divisum. CFTR …

Clinical Characteristics And Associated Factors Of Colonic Polyps In Acromegaly, Guiliang Peng, Xing Li, Yuanyuan Zhou, Jianying Bai, Pian Hong, Weixing Li, Yuling Zhang, Lei Zhang, Qian Liao, Mingyu Liao, Ling Zhou, Zheng Sun, Rufei Shen, Hongting Zheng, Min Long

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical characteristics and associated factors of colonic polyps in patients with acromegaly.

METHODS: Clinical characteristics and colonoscopy findings of 86 acromegaly patients who received treatment were retrospectively reviewed, and colonoscopy findings and the correlation with growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenoma (GHPA) volume and hormonal/metabolic levels were analyzed.

RESULTS: The prevalence of colonic polyps in acromegaly patients was 40.7% and increased significantly with advanced age, especially in those ≥50 years. Multiple polyps (62.8%) and colonic polyps in the left colon (54.2%) were detected more frequently. Compared to acromegaly patients without polyps, those with polyps displayed higher insulin-like …

Management Of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms In Patients With Autoimmune Gastritis, Juan D Gomez Cifuentes, Jordan Sparkman, David Y Graham

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Autoimmune gastritis is characterized by atrophy of acid secreting parietal cells resulting in achlorhydria. Upper gastrointestinal symptoms are common in autoimmune gastritis and frequently result in prescriptions for acid suppressant medications despite the inability of the stomach to secrete acid. Evidence-based recommendations for management of gastrointestinal symptoms in autoimmune gastritis are lacking.

RECENT FINDINGS: The most common symptoms in patients with autoimmune gastritis are dyspepsia, heartburn, and regurgitation. Gastroesophageal reflux should be confirmed by pH-impedance testing and is typically weakly acid or alkaline. Therapy for reflux focuses on mechanical prevention of reflux (i.e., elevation of the head …

Participation In A Longitudinal Seminar Series Increases Medical Student Engagement With The Covid-19 Pandemic, Katherine M Naeger, Kaelyn C Cummins, Prathit A Kulkarni

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required a multifaceted response by healthcare professionals. Medical students played only a limited role in the early response, resulting in feelings of disengagement. The authors developed a discussion-based elective course reviewing the COVID-19 response to address this gap in medical student education.

METHODS: Preclinical medical students enrolled in this elective participated in weekly virtual interactive seminars led by expert faculty members. Students completed a final survey quantifying their understanding of the overall COVID-19 response, knowledge of its individual facets, and their feelings of personal engagement on a Likert scale from 1 to 5, …