Genetic Phenomena Commons^™

Cotargeting Of Btk And Malt1 Overcomes Resistance To Btk Inhibitors In Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Vivian Changying Jiang, Yang Liu, Junwei Lian, Shengjian Huang, Alexa Jordan, Qingsong Cai, Ruitao Lin, Fangfang Yan, Joseph Mcintosh, Yijing Li, Yuxuan Che, Zhihong Chen, Jovanny Vargas, Maria Badillo, John Nelson Bigcal, Heng-Huan Lee, Wei Wang, Yixin Yao, Lei Nie, Christopher R Flowers, Michael Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a proven target in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, resistance to BTK inhibitors is a major clinical challenge. We here report that MALT1 is one of the top overexpressed genes in ibrutinib-resistant MCL cells, while expression of CARD11, which is upstream of MALT1, is decreased. MALT1 genetic knockout or inhibition produced dramatic defects in MCL cell growth regardless of ibrutinib sensitivity. Conversely, CARD11-knockout cells showed antitumor effects only in ibrutinib-sensitive cells, suggesting that MALT1 overexpression could drive ibrutinib resistance via bypassing BTK/CARD11 signaling. Additionally, BTK knockdown and MALT1 knockout …

Azacitidine Monotherapy In Patients With Treatment-Naïve Higher-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome: A Systematic Literature Review And Meta-Analysis, Ken Hasegawa, Andrew H Wei, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Naval G Daver, Nishanthan Rajakumaraswamy, Shahed Iqbal, Rebecca J Chan, Hao Hu, Preston Tse, Jiajun Yan, Michael J Zoratti, Feng Xie, David A Sallman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The global incidence of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has been estimated as 0.06 to 0.26/100,000. Since their introduction, hypomethylating agents have played a central role in the treatment of MDS, with heterogeneous real-world outcomes.

Materials and methods: We assessed and synthesized clinical outcomes of azacitidine (AZA) monotherapy in treatment-naïve patients with higher-risk MDS. A systematic literature review was conducted by searching MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL to identify randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies, both prospective and retrospective, reporting complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), overall survival (OS), duration of response (DOR), time-to-response (TTR), and myelosuppressive adverse events (AEs) for …

Improved Benefit Of Continuing Luspatercept Therapy: Sub-Analysis Of Patients With Lower-Risk Mds In The Medalist Study, Ulrich Germing, Pierre Fenaux, Uwe Platzbecker, Rena Buckstein, Valeria Santini, María Díez-Campelo, Aylin Yucel, Derek Tang, Shannon Fabre, George Zhang, Roberto Zoffoli, Xianwei Ha, Dimana Miteva, Christina Hughes, Rami S Komrokji, Amer M Zeidan, Guillermo Garcia-Manero

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Red blood cell transfusion independence (RBC-TI) is an important goal in treating lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with ring sideroblasts. In the phase 3 MEDALIST study, RBC-TI of ≥ 8 weeks was achieved by significantly more luspatercept- versus placebo-treated patients in the first 24 weeks of treatment. In this post hoc analysis, we evaluated RBC transfusion units and visits based on patients' baseline transfusion burden level and the clinical benefit of luspatercept treatment beyond week 25 in initial luspatercept nonresponders (patients who did not achieve RBC-TI ≥ 8 weeks by week 25) but continued luspatercept up to 144 weeks. RBC transfusion burden, …

Author Correction: The Evolutionary History Of 2,658 Cancers, Moritz Gerstung, Clemency Jolly, Ignaty Leshchiner, Stefan C Dentro, Santiago Gonzalez, Daniel Rosebrock, Thomas J Mitchell, Yulia Rubanova, Pavana Anur, Kaixian Yu, Maxime Tarabichi, Amit Deshwar, Jeff Wintersinger, Kortine Kleinheinz, Ignacio Vázquez-García, Kerstin Haase, Lara Jerman, Subhajit Sengupta, Geoff Macintyre, Salem Malikic, Nilgun Donmez, Dimitri G Livitz, Marek Cmero, Jonas Demeulemeester, Steven Schumacher, Yu Fan, Xiaotong Yao, Juhee Lee, Matthias Schlesner, Paul C Boutros, David D Bowtell, Hongtu Zhu, Gad Getz, Marcin Imielinski, Rameen Beroukhim, S Cenk Sahinalp, Yuan Ji, Martin Peifer, Florian Markowetz, Ville Mustonen, Ke Yuan, Wenyi Wang, Quaid D Morris, Paul T Spellman, David C Wedge, Peter Van Loo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Phase Ii Trial Of Weekly Erlotinib Dosing To Reduce Duodenal Polyp Burden Associated With Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, N Jewel Samadder, Nathan Foster, Ryan P Mcmurray, Carol A Burke, Elena Stoffel, Priyanka Kanth, Rohit Das, Marcia Cruz-Correa, E Vilar, Gautam Mankaney, Navtej Buttar, Selvi Thirumurthi, Danielle K Turgeon, Michael Sossenheimer, Michelle Westover, Ellen Richmond, Asad Umar, Gary Della'zanna, Luz M Rodriguez, Eva Szabo, David Zahrieh, Paul J Limburg

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) are at markedly increased risk for duodenal adenomas and cancer. Combination sulindac and erlotinib was previously shown to reduce duodenal polyp burden but was associated with a relatively high adverse event (AE) rate.

Objective: To evaluate if a once weekly dosing schedule for erlotinib intervention improves the AE profile, while still providing efficacy with respect to reduced polyp burden, in participants with FAP.

Design, setting and participants: Single-arm trial, enrolling 46 participants with FAP, conducted from October 2017 to September 2019 in eight academic cancer centres.

Exposures: Participants self-administered 350 mg of erlotinib …

Identifying The Current Status And Future Needs Of Clinical, Educational, And Laboratory Genetics Services In Pakistan: A Web-Based Panel Discussion, Myla Ashfaq, Syed A Ahmed, Rabia Aziz-Rizvi, Zahra Hasan, Salman Kirmani, Shama Munim, Rizwan Naeem, Jamal Raza, Aisha Furqan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While the prevalence of genetic disorders has been well documented in the Muslim-majority, low-socioeconomic country of Pakistan, the provision of medical genetic services remains limited and cost-prohibitive to the masses in the country. With the objective of identifying gaps in the provision of medical genetics services as perceived by the healthcare providers and the general public, the Pakistani Society of Medical Genetics and Genomics (PSMG) organized a needs assessment webinar on December 6, 2020, titled, “A Vibrant Discussion on the Current Status and Future Needs of Medical Genetic Services in Pakistan.” The objectives of the webinar were (1) to explore …

Cost Of Failure To Achieve Textbook Outcomes: Association Of Insurance Type With Outcomes And Cumulative Cost For Inpatient Surgery, Michael A Jacobs, Jeongsoo Kim, Jasmine C Tetley, Susanne Schmidt, Bradley B Brimhall, Virginia Mika, Chen-Pin Wang, Laura S Manuel, Paul Damien, Paula K Shireman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Surgical outcome/cost analyses typically focus on single outcomes and do not include encounters beyond the index hospitalization.

Study design: This cohort study used NSQIP (2013-2019) data with electronic health record and cost data risk-adjusted for frailty, preoperative acute serious conditions (PASC), case status, and operative stress assessing cumulative costs of failure to achieve textbook outcomes defined as absence of 30-day Clavien-Dindo level III and IV complications, emergency department visits/observation stays (EDOS), and readmissions across insurance types (private, Medicare, Medicaid, uninsured). Return costs were defined as costs of all 30-day emergency department visits/observation stays and readmissions.

Results: Cases were performed …

Reply To J Widder, Steven J Chmura, Wendy A Woodward, Julia R White

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

E Pluribus Unum: Prospective Acceptability Benchmarking From The Contouring Collaborative For Consensus In Radiation Oncology Crowdsourced Initiative For Multiobserver Segmentation, Diana Lin, Kareem A Wahid, Benjamin E Nelms, Renjie He, Mohammed A Naser, Simon Duke, Michael V Sherer, John P Christodouleas, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Michael Cislo, James D Murphy, Clifton D Fuller, Erin F Gillespie

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Contouring Collaborative for Consensus in Radiation Oncology (C3RO) is a crowdsourced challenge engaging radiation oncologists across various expertise levels in segmentation. An obstacle to artificial intelligence (AI) development is the paucity of multiexpert datasets; consequently, we sought to characterize whether aggregate segmentations generated from multiple nonexperts could meet or exceed recognized expert agreement.

Approach: Participants who contoured ≥1 region of interest (ROI) for the breast, sarcoma, head and neck (H&N), gynecologic (GYN), or gastrointestinal (GI) cases were identified as a nonexpert or recognized expert. Cohort-specific ROIs were combined into single simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) consensus segmentations. …

Gender Bias In The Evaluation Of Surgical Performance: Results Of A Prospective Randomized Trial, Mara B Antonoff, Hope Feldman, Jessica G Y Luc, Paula I Iaeger, M Laura Rubin, Liang Li, Ara A Vaporciyan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: The study aims to determine the influence of trainee gender on assessments of coronary anastomosis performance.

Summary of background data: Understanding the impact of gender bias on the evaluation of trainees may enable us to identify and utilize assessment tools that are less susceptible to potential bias.

Methods: Cardiothoracic surgeons were randomized to review the video performance of trainees who were described by either male or female pronouns. All participants viewed the same video of a coronary anastomosis and were asked to grade technique using either a Checklist or Global Rating Scale (GRS). Effect of trainee gender on scores …

American Radium Society (Ars) Appropriate Use Criteria (Auc) For Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma, Leila T Tchelebi, Krishan R Jethwa, Anna T Levy, Christopher J Anker, Timothy Kennedy, Elliot Grodstein, Christopher L Hallemeier, Salma K Jabbour, Ed Kim, Rachit Kumar, Percy Lee, William Small, Vonetta M Williams, Navesh Sharma, Suzanne Russo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although uncommon, extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHCC) is a deadly malignancy, and the treatment approaches remain controversial. While surgery remains the only cure, few patients are candidates for resection up front, and there are high rates of both local and distant failure following resection. Herein, we systematically review the available evidence regarding treatment approaches for patients with EHCC, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The evidence regarding treatment outcomes was assessed using the Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, and Study design (PICOS) framework. A summary of recommendations based on the available literature is outlined for specific clinical scenarios encountered by providers in the clinic …

Malignant Transformation By Oncogenic K-Ras Requires Idh2-Mediated Reductive Carboxylation To Promote Glutamine Utilization, Rui Liu, Panpan Liu, Huichang Bi, Jianhua Ling, Huiqin Zhang, Mingquan Zhang, Yumin Hu, Paul J Chiao, Peng Huang, Jinyun Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Mental Health, War Trauma, And Migration: The Contribution Of Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, Robert Dantzer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

A Genome-Wide Association Study Identified Novel Genetic Susceptibility Loci For Oral Cancer In Taiwan, Da-Tian Bau, Ting-Yuan Liu, Chia-Wen Tsai, Wen-Shin Chang, Jian Gu, Jai-Sing Yang, Liang-Chun Shih, Fuu-Jen Tsai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Taiwan has the highest incidence rate of oral cancer in the world. Although oral cancer is mostly an environmentally induced cancer, genetic factors also play an important role in its etiology. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified nine susceptibility regions for oral cancers in populations of European descent. In this study, we performed the first GWAS of oral cancer in Taiwan with 1529 cases and 44,572 controls. We confirmed two previously reported loci on the 6p21.33 (HLA-B) and 6p21.32 (HLA-DQ gene cluster) loci, highlighting the importance of the human leukocyte antigen and, hence, the immunologic mechanisms in oral carcinogenesis. The …

Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation In The Management Of Myelodysplastic Syndrome: An Evidence-Based Review From The American Society For Transplantation And Cellular Therapy Committee On Practice Guidelines, Zachariah Defilipp, Stefan O Ciurea, Corey Cutler, Marie Robin, Erica D Warlick, Ryotaro Nakamura, Andrew M Brunner, Bhagirathbhai Dholaria, Alison R Walker, Nicolaus Kröger, Nelli Bejanyan, Ehab Atallah, Roni Tamari, Melhem M Solh, Mary-Elizabeth Percival, Marcos De Lima, Bart Scott, Betul Oran, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Mehdi Hamadani, Paul Carpenter, Amy E Dezern

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The sole curative therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Here this therapeutic modality is reviewed and critically evaluated in the context of the evidence. Specific criteria were used for searching the published literature and for grading the quality and strength of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations. A panel of MDS experts comprising transplantation and nontransplantation physicians developed consensus treatment recommendations. This review summarizes the standard MDS indications for HCT and addresses areas of controversy. Recent prospective trials have confirmed that allogeneic HCT confers survival benefits in patients with advanced or high-risk MDS …

Erratum: "Aapm Task Group Report 303 Endorsed By The Abs: Mri Implementation In Hdr Brachytherapy-Considerations From Simulation To Treatment", Joann Prisciandaro, Jacqueline Esthappan Zoberi, Gil'ad Cohen, Yusung Kim, Perry Johnson, Eric Paulson, William Song, Ken-Pin Hwang, Beth Erickson, Sushil Beriwal, Christian Kirisits, Firas Mourtada

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Spatiotemporal View Of Malignant Histogenesis And Macroevolution Via Formation Of Polyploid Giant Cancer Cells, Xiaoran Li, Yanping Zhong, Xudong Zhang, Anil K Sood, Jinsong Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To understand how malignant tumors develop, we tracked cell membrane, nuclear membrane, spindle, and cell cycle dynamics in polyploid giant cancer cells (PGCCs) during the formation of high-grade serous carcinoma organoids using long-term time-lapse imaging. Single cells underwent traditional mitosis to generate tissue with uniform nuclear size, while others formed PGCCs via asymmetric mitosis, endoreplication, multipolar endomitosis, nuclear fusion, and karyokinesis without cytokinesis. PGCCs underwent restitution multipolar endomitosis, nuclear fragmentation, and micronuclei formation to increase nuclear contents and heterogeneity. At the cellular level, the development of PGCCs was associated with forming transient intracellular cells, termed fecundity cells. The fecundity cells …

Profiling Human Pathogenic Repeat Expansion Regions By Synergistic And Multi-Level Impacts On Molecular Connections, Cong Fan, Ken Chen, Yukai Wang, Edward V Ball, Peter D Stenson, Matthew Mort, Albino Bacolla, Hildegard Kehrer-Sawatzki, John A Tainer, David N Cooper, Huiying Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Whilst DNA repeat expansions cause numerous heritable human disorders, their origins and underlying pathological mechanisms are often unclear. We collated a dataset comprising 224 human repeat expansions encompassing 203 different genes, and performed a systematic analysis with respect to key topological features at the DNA, RNA and protein levels. Comparison with controls without known pathogenicity and genomic regions lacking repeats, allowed the construction of the first tool to discriminate repeat regions harboring pathogenic repeat expansions (DPREx). At the DNA level, pathogenic repeat expansions exhibited stronger signals for DNA regulatory factors (e.g. H3K4me3, transcription factor-binding sites) in exons, promoters, 5'UTRs and …

Incidence Of Postoperative Complications Following Pancreatectomy For Pancreatic Cystic Lesions Or Pancreatic Cancer, Eileen C Donovan, Laura R Prakash, Yi-Ju Chiang, Morgan L Bruno, Jessica E Maxwell, Naruhiko Ikoma, Ching-Wei D Tzeng, Matthew H G Katz, Jeffrey E Lee, Michael P Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: In contrast to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the risks of pancreatectomy for mucinous pancreatic cysts (MCs) are balanced against the putative goal of removing potentially malignant tumors. Despite undergoing similar operations, different rates of perioperative complications and morbidity between MC and PDAC patient populations may affect recommendations for resection. We therefore sought to compare the rates of postoperative complications between patients undergoing pancreatectomies for MCs or PDAC.

Methods: A prospectively maintained institutional database was used to identify patients who underwent surgical resection for MCs or PDAC from July 2011 to August 2019. Patient demographics, complications, and perioperative data were …

A 24-Month Updated Analysis Of The Comparative Effectiveness Of Zuma-5 (Axi-Cel) Vs Scholar-5 External Control In Relapsed/Refractory Follicular Lymphoma, M Lia Palomba, Paola Ghione, Anik R Patel, Myrna Nahas, Sara Beygi, Anthony J Hatswell, Steve Kanters, Eve H Limbrick-Oldfield, Sally W Wade, Markqayne D Ray, Jessica Owen, Sattva S Neelapu, John Gribben, John Radford, Sabela Bobillo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: In the ZUMA-5 trial (Clinical trials identification: NCT03105336), axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel; a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy) demonstrated high rates of durable response in relapsed/refractory (r/r) follicular lymphoma (FL) patients and clear superiority relative to the SCHOLAR-5 external control cohort. We update this comparison using the ZUMA-5 24-month data.

Research design and methods: The SCHOLAR-5 cohort is comprised of r/r FL patients who initiated ≥3rd line of therapy after July 2014 and meeting ZUMA-5 eligibility criteria. Groups were balanced for patient characteristics through propensity scoring on prespecified prognostic factors using standardized mortality ratio (SMR) weighting. The overall response …

Sox17: A Highly Sensitive And Specific Immunomarker For Ovarian And Endometrial Carcinomas, Xudong Zhang, Jun Yao, Na Niu, Xiaoran Li, Yan Liu, Lei Huo, Elizabeth D Euscher, Huamin Wang, Diana Bell, Anil K Sood, Guoliang Wang, Barrett C Lawson, Preetha Ramalingam, Anais Malpica, Aysegul A Sahin, Qingqing Ding, Jinsong Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PAX8 is the most commonly used immunomarker to link a carcinoma to the gynecologic tract; however, it lacks specificity. Through mining The Cancer Genome Atlas mRNA expression profile data, we identified SOX17 as a potential specific marker at the mRNA level for gynecologic tumors. To evaluate the utility of this marker in the identification of the gynecologic origin of a given carcinoma, we performed immunochemical staining in a large cohort of ovarian and endometrial cancer cases (n = 416), together with a large cohort of solid tumors from other organs (n = 1544) in tissue microarrays. Similar to PAX8, SOX17 …

Ampk Regulates Homeostasis Of Invasion And Viability In Trophoblasts By Redirecting Glucose Metabolism: Implications For Pre-Eclampsia, Ping Xu, Yangxi Zheng, Jiujiang Liao, Mingyu Hu, Yike Yang, Baozhen Zhang, Mark D Kilby, Huijia Fu, Yamin Liu, Fumei Zhang, Liling Xiong, Xiyao Liu, Huili Jin, Yue Wu, Jiayu Huang, Tingli Han, Li Wen, Rufei Gao, Yong Fu, Xiujun Fan, Hongbo Qi, Philip N Baker, Chao Tong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is deemed an ischemia-induced metabolic disorder of the placenta due to defective invasion of trophoblasts during placentation; thus, the driving role of metabolism in PE pathogenesis is largely ignored. Since trophoblasts undergo substantial glycolysis, this study aimed to investigate its function and regulatory mechanism by AMPK in PE development. Metabolomics analysis of PE placentas was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Trophoblast-specific AMPKα1-deficient mouse placentas were generated to assess morphology. A mouse PE model was established by Reduced Uterine Perfusion Pressure, and placental AMPK was modulated by nanoparticle-delivered A769662. Trophoblast glucose uptake was measured by 2-NBDG and 2-deoxy-d-[

Biallelic Variants In Ogdh Encoding Oxoglutarate Dehydrogenase Lead To A Neurodevelopmental Disorder Characterized By Global Developmental Delay, Movement Disorder, And Metabolic Abnormalities, Ella F Whittle, Madison Chilian, Ehsan Ghayoor Karimiani, Helga Progri, Daniela Buhas, Melis Kose, Rebecca D Ganetzky, Mehran Beiraghi Toosi, Paria Najarzadeh Torbati, Reza Shervin Badv, Ivan Shelihan, Hui Yang, Houda Zghal Elloumi, Sukyeong Lee, Yalda Jamshidi, Alan M Pittman, Henry Houlden, Erika Ignatius, Shamima Rahman, Reza Maroofian, Wan Hee Yoon, Christopher J Carroll

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: This study aimed to establish the genetic cause of a novel autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by global developmental delay, movement disorder, and metabolic abnormalities.

METHODS: We performed a detailed clinical characterization of 4 unrelated individuals from consanguineous families with a neurodevelopmental disorder. We used exome sequencing or targeted-exome sequencing, cosegregation, in silico protein modeling, and functional analyses of variants in HEK293 cells and Drosophila melanogaster, as well as in proband-derived fibroblast cells.

RESULTS: In the 4 individuals, we identified 3 novel homozygous variants in oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH) (NM_002541.3), which encodes a subunit of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme …

Solid Organ Transplantation In Methylmalonic Acidemia And Propionic Acidemia: A Points To Consider Statement Of The American College Of Medical Genetics And Genomics (Acmg), Kuntal Sen, Lindsay C Burrage, Kimberly A Chapman, Ilona Ginevic, George V Mazariegos, Brett H Graham, Acmg Therapeutics Committe

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Biallelic Variants In Hect E3 Paralogs, Hectd4 And Ube3c, Encoding Ubiquitin Ligases Cause Neurodevelopmental Disorders That Overlap With Angelman Syndrome, Eissa A Faqeih, Malak Ali Alghamdi, Marwa A Almahroos, Essa Alharby, Makki Almuntashri, Amnah M Alshangiti, Prouteau Clément, Daniel G Calame, Leila Qebibo, Lydie Burglen, Martine Doco-Fenzy, Mario Mastrangelo, Annalaura Torella, Filippo Manti, Vincenzo Nigro, Ziegler Alban, Ghadeer Saleh Alharbi, Jamil Amjad Hashmi, Rawya Alraddadi, Razan Alamri, Tadahiro Mitani, Barth Magalie, Zeynep Coban-Akdemir, Bilgen Bilge Geckinli, Davut Pehlivan, Antonio Romito, Vasiliki Karageorgou, Javier Martini, Estelle Colin, Dominique Bonneau, Aida Bertoli-Avella, James R Lupski, Annalisa Pastore, Roy W A Peake, Ashraf Dallol, Majid Alfadhel, Naif A M Almontashiri

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: Pathogenic variants in genes encoding ubiquitin E3 ligases are known to cause neurodevelopmental syndromes. Additional neurodevelopmental disorders associated with the other genes encoding E3 ligases are yet to be identified.

Methods: Chromosomal analysis and exome sequencing were used to identify the genetic causes in 10 patients from 7 unrelated families with syndromic neurodevelopmental, seizure, and movement disorders and neurobehavioral phenotypes.

Results: In total, 4 patients were found to have 3 different homozygous loss-of-function (LoF) variants, and 3 patients had 4 compound heterozygous missense variants in the candidate E3 ligase gene, HECTD4, that were rare, absent from controls as homozygous, …

Gene Expression Profiling Of Circulating Tumor Cells Captured By Microcavity Array Is Superior To Enumeration In Demonstrating Therapy Response In Patients With Newly Diagnosed Advanced And Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Evan N Cohen, Gitanjali Jayachandran, Hui Gao, Phillip Peabody, Heather B Mcbride, Franklin D Alvarez, Pablo Lopez Bravo, Wei Qiao, Suyu Liu, Luyang Yao, Steven H Lin, James M Reuben

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a promising non-invasive tool for monitoring therapy response. The only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test is limited to enumeration of epithelial CTC without further characterization and is not approved for the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we use a MicroCavity Array (MCA) system to capture CTC agnostic of epithelial markers for further molecular testing in NSCLC.

Methods: CTCs were enumerated by fluorescent microscopy as longitudinal sampling throughout disease management from 213 NSCLC patients. CTC-enriched samples from a subset of 127 patients were interrogated for gene expression by reverse transcription polymerase …

Association Between Covid-19 And Postoperative Neurological Complications And Antipsychotic Medication Use After Cancer Surgery: A Retrospective Study, Juan P Cata, Jian Hu, Lei Feng, Caroline Chung, Scott E Woodman, Larissa A Meyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Millions of Americans infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) need oncologic surgery. Patients with acute or resolved COVID-19 illness complain of neuropsychiatric symptoms. How surgery affects postoperative neuropsychiatric outcomes such as delirium is unknown. We hypothesize that patients with a history of COVID-19 could have an exaggerated risk of developing postoperative delirium after undergoing major elective oncologic surgery.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to determine the association between COVID-19 status and antipsychotic drugs during postsurgical hospitalization as a surrogate of delirium. Secondary outcomes included 30 days of postoperative complications, length of stay, and mortality. Patients …

Myelin Lipid Metabolism And Its Role In Myelination And Myelin Maintenance, Joseph A Barnes-Vélez, Fatma Betul Aksoy Yasar, Jian Hu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Myelin is a specialized cell membrane indispensable for rapid nerve conduction. The high abundance of membrane lipids is one of myelin's salient features that contribute to its unique role as an insulator that electrically isolates nerve fibers across their myelinated surface. The most abundant lipids in myelin include cholesterol, glycosphingolipids, and plasmalogens, each playing critical roles in myelin development as well as function. This review serves to summarize the role of lipid metabolism in myelination and myelin maintenance, as well as the molecular determinants of myelin lipid homeostasis, with an emphasis on findings from genetic models. In addition, the implications …

Extradural Primary Malignant Spinal Tumors In A Population Younger Than 25 Years: An Ambispective International Multicenter Study On Onco-Surgical Outcomes, Alexander C Disch, Stefano Boriani, Alessandro Luzzati, Laurence D Rhines, Charles G Fisher, Aron Lazary, Ziya L Gokaslan, Dean Chou, Michelle J Clarke, Michael G Fehlings, Klaus-Dieter Schaser, Nicole M Germscheid, Jeremy J Reynolds, The Ao Spine Knowledge Forum Tumor

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Extradural malignant primary spinal tumors are rare and outcome data, especially for younger patients, is limited. In a worldwide (11 centers) study (Predictors of Mortality and Morbidity in the Surgical Management of Primary Tumors of the Spine study; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01643174) by the AO Spine Knowledge Forum Tumor, patients surgically treated for primary tumors of the spine between 1992 and 2012, were retrospectively analyzed from a prospective database of their medical history. Medical history, tumor characteristics, diagnostics, treatments, cross-sectional survival, and local recurrences were analyzed. Sixty-eight cases (32 f; 36 m), at an average age of 18.6 ± 4.7 years …

Kynureninase Upregulation Is A Prominent Feature Of Nfr2-Activated Cancers And Is Associated With Tumor Immunosuppression And Poor Prognosis, Ricardo A León-Letelier, Ali H Abdel Sater, Yihui Chen, Soyoung Park, Ranran Wu, Ehsan Irajizad, Jennifer B Dennison, Hiroyuki Katayama, Jody V Vykoukal, Samir Hanash, Edwin J Ostrin, Johannes F Fahrmann

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) pathway is frequently activated in various cancer types. Aberrant activation of NRF2 in cancer is attributed to gain-of-function mutations in the NRF2-encoding gene NFE2L2 or a loss of function of its suppressor, Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1). NRF2 activation exerts pro-tumoral effects in part by altering cancer cell metabolism. Previously, we reported a novel mechanism of NRF2 tumoral immune suppression through the selective upregulation of the tryptophan-metabolizing enzyme kynureninase (KYNU) in lung adenocarcinoma. In the current study, we explored the relevance of NRF2-mediated KYNU upregulation across multiple cancer types. Specifically, …