Medical Genetics Commons^™

Phase Ib Study Of Telisotuzumab Vedotin In Combination With Erlotinib In Patients With C-Met Protein-Expressing Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, D Ross Camidge, Fabrice Barlesi, Jonathan W Goldman, Daniel Morgensztern, Rebecca Heist, Everett Vokes, Alex Spira, Eric Angevin, Wu-Chou Su, David S Hong, John H Strickler, Monica Motwani, Martin Dunbar, Apurvasena Parikh, Elysa Noon, Vincent Blot, Jun Wu, Karen Kelly

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Overexpression of c-Met protein and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations can co-occur in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), providing strong rationale for dual targeting. Telisotuzumab vedotin (Teliso-V), a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate targeting c-Met, has shown a tolerable safety profile and antitumor activity as monotherapy. Herein, we report the results of a phase Ib study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02099058) evaluating Teliso-V plus erlotinib, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), in patients with c-Met-positive (+) NSCLC.

Patients and methods: This study evaluated Teliso-V (2.7 mg/kg once every 21 days) plus erlotinib (150 mg once daily) in adult patients (age …

Health Benefits And Cost-Effectiveness Of Children's Oncology Group Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines For Chest-Irradiated Hodgkin Lymphoma Survivors, F Lennie Wong, Janie M Lee, Wendy M Leisenring, Joseph P Neglia, Rebecca M Howell, Susan A Smith, Kevin C Oeffinger, Chaya S Moskowitz, Tara O Henderson, Ann Mertens, Paul C Nathan, Yutaka Yasui, Wendy Landier, Gregory T Armstrong, Leslie L Robison, Smita Bhatia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the Children's Oncology Group Guideline recommendation for breast cancer (BC) screening using mammography (MAM) and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in female chest-irradiated childhood Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors. Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), increasingly replacing MAM in practice, was also examined.

Methods: Life years (LYs), quality-adjusted LYs (QALYs), BC mortality, health care costs, and false-positive screen frequencies of undergoing annual MAM, DBT, MRI, MAM + MRI, and DBT + MRI from age 25 to 74 years were estimated by microsimulation. BC risks and non-BC mortality were estimated from female 5-year survivors of …

Micrornas And Gene Regulatory Networks Related To Cleft Lip And Palate, Chihiro Iwaya, Akiko Suzuki, Junichi Iwata

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common congenital birth defects and has a complex etiology. Either genetic or environmental factors, or both, are involved at various degrees, and the type and severity of clefts vary. One of the longstanding questions is how environmental factors lead to craniofacial developmental anomalies. Recent studies highlight non-coding RNAs as potential epigenetic regulators in cleft lip and palate. In this review, we will discuss microRNAs, a type of small non-coding RNAs that can simultaneously regulate expression of many downstream target genes, as a causative mechanism of cleft lip and palate in humans …

Associations Of Financial Toxicity With Symptoms And Unplanned Healthcare Utilization Among Cancer Patients Taking Oral Chemotherapy At Home: A Prospective Observational Study, Yongfeng Chen, Zhenxiang Chen, Haiyun Jin, Yanrong Chen, Jinbing Bai, Guifen Fu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Cancer patients with financial toxicity experience psychological distress and often miss medical appointments and quit treatments early, which could be a barrier to the effective management of oral chemotherapy drugs at home. This study explores whether financial toxicity predicts symptoms and unplanned healthcare utilization among cancer patients taking oral chemotherapy at home, which will contribute to the safe management of oral chemotherapy.

Methods: Data in this study was from a prospective observational study, which was conducted between October 2018 and December 2019. 151 patients completed the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity at discharge and completed the MD Anderson Symptom …

North American Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm Consortium: Position On Standards Of Care And Areas Of Need, Naveen Pemmaraju, Hagop Kantarjian, Kendra Sweet, Eunice Wang, Jayastu Senapati, Nathaniel R Wilson, Marina Konopleva, Arthur E Frankel, Vikas Gupta, Ruben Mesa, Matthew Ulrickson, Edward Gorak, Sumeet Bhatia, Tulin Budak-Alpdogan, James Mason, Maria Teresa Garcia-Romero, Norma Lopez-Santiago, Gabriela Cesarman-Maus, Pankit Vachhani, Sangmin Lee, Vijaya Raj Bhatt, William Blum, Roland B Walter, Dale Bixby, Ivana Gojo, Madeleine Duvic, Raajit K Rampal, Marcos De Lima, James Foran, Amir T Fathi, Aric Cameron Hall, Meagan A Jacoby, Jeffrey Lancet, Gabriel Mannis, Anthony S Stein, Alice Mims, David Rizzieri, Rebecca Olin, Alexander Perl, Gary Schiller, Paul Shami, Richard M Stone, Stephen Strickland, Matthew J Wieduwilt, Naval Daver, Farhad Ravandi, Sumithira Vasu, Monica Guzman, Gail J Roboz, Joseph Khoury, Muzaffar Qazilbash, Phyu P Aung, Branko Cuglievan, Yazan Madanat, Mohamed A Kharfan-Dabaja, Anna Pawlowska, Justin Taylor, Martin Tallman, Prajwal Dhakal, Andrew A Lane

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare hematologic malignancy with historically poor outcomes and no worldwide consensus treatment approach. Unique among most hematologic malignancies for its frequent cutaneous involvement, BPDCN can also invade other extramedullary compartments, including the central nervous system. Generally affecting older adults, many patients are unfit to receive intensive chemotherapy, and although hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is preferred for younger, fit individuals, not all are eligible. One recent therapeutic breakthrough is that all BPDCNs express CD123 (IL3Rα) and that this accessible surface marker can be pharmacologically targeted. The first-in-class agent for BPDCN, tagraxofusp, which targets …

Incidence And Clearance Of Anal Human Papillomavirus Infection In 16 164 Individuals, According To Human Immunodeficiency Virus Status, Sex, And Male Sexuality: An International Pooled Analysis Of 34 Longitudinal Studies, Feixue Wei, Marc T Goodman, Ningshao Xia, Jun Zhang, Anna R Giuliano, Gypsyamber D'Souza, Nancy A Hessol, Maarten F Schim Van Der Loeff, Jianghong Dai, Karin Neukam, Alexandra De Pokomandy, I Mary Poynten, Ronald B Geskus, Joaquin Burgos, Isabelle Etienney, Anna-Barbara Moscicki, Maria Gabriella Donà, Maura L Gillison, Alan G Nyitray, Rebecca G Nowak, Evy Yunihastuti, Huachun Zou, Carmen Hidalgo-Tenorio, Nittaya Phanuphak, Jean-Michel Molina, Alice M Schofield, Stephen Kerr, Song Fan, Yong Lu, Jason J Ong, Admire T Chikandiwa, Sirinya Teeraananchai, Nicola Squillace, Dorothy J Wiley, Joel M Palefsky, Damien Georges, Catharina J Alberts, Gary M Clifford

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Understanding the natural history of anal high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection is key for designing anal cancer prevention programs but has not been systematically characterized.

Methods: We reanalyzed data from 34 studies including 16 164 individuals in 6 risk groups defined by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, sex, and male sexuality: men who have sex with men (MSM) and people with HIV (MSMWH), HIV-negative MSM, women with HIV (WWH), HIV-negative women, men who have sex with women (MSW) with HIV (MSWWH), and HIV-negative MSW. We used Markov models to estimate incidence and clearance of 13 hrHPV types and their …

Clinical And Molecular Analyses Of Recurrent Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections, Andrew Bock, Blake M Hanson, Felicia Ruffin, Joshua B Parsons, Lawrence P Park, Batu Sharma-Kuinkel, Michael Mohnasky, Cesar A Arias, Vance G Fowler, Joshua T Thaden

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The causes and clinical characteristics of recurrent gram-negative bacterial bloodstream infections (GNB-BSI) are poorly understood.

Methods: We used a cohort of patients with GNB-BSI to identify clinical characteristics, microbiology, and risk factors associated with recurrent GNB-BSI. Bacterial genotyping (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE] and whole-genome sequencing [WGS]) was used to determine whether episodes were due to relapse or reinfection. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for recurrence.

Results: Of the 1423 patients with GNB-BSI in this study, 60 (4%) had recurrent GNB-BSI. Non-White race (odds ratio [OR], 2.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-4.01; P = .002), admission …

Life-Threatening Complications Of Influenza Vs Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) In Us Children, Natasha B Halasa, Andrew J Spieker, Cameron C Young, Samantha M Olson, Margaret M Newhams, Justin Z Amarin, Kristin L Moffitt, Mari M Nakamura, Emily R Levy, Vijaya L Soma, Rana Talj, Scott L Weiss, Julie C Fitzgerald, Elizabeth H Mack, Aline B Maddux, Jennifer E Schuster, Bria M Coates, Mark W Hall, Stephanie P Schwartz, Adam J Schwarz, Michele Kong, Philip C Spinella, Laura L Loftis, Gwenn E Mclaughlin, Charlotte V Hobbs, Courtney M Rowan, Melania M Bembea, Ryan A Nofziger, Christopher J Babbitt, Cindy Bowens, Heidi R Flori, Shira J Gertz, Matt S Zinter, John S Giuliano, Janet R Hume, Natalie Z Cvijanovich, Aalok R Singh, Hillary A Crandall, Neal J Thomas, Melissa L Cullimore, Manish M Patel, Adrienne G Randolph, Pediatric Intensive Care Influenza, Overcoming Covid-19 Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Clinical differences between critical illness from influenza infection vs coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have not been well characterized in pediatric patients.

Methods: We compared demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of US children (aged 8 months to 17 years) admitted to the intensive care or high-acuity unit with influenza or COVID-19. Using mixed-effects models, we assessed the odds of death or requiring life support for influenza vs COVID-19 after adjustment for age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and underlying conditions including obesity.

Results: Children with influenza (n = 179) were younger than those with COVID-19 (n = 381; median, 5.2 …

Bintrafusp Alfa: A Bifunctional Fusion Protein Targeting Pd-L1 And Tgf-Β, In Patients With Pretreated Colorectal Cancer: Results From A Phase I Trial, Alexander Spira, Michael S Wertheim, Edward J Kim, Benjamin Tan, Heinz-Josef Lenz, Petros Nikolinakos, Patricia L Rich, Genevieve Jehl, Andreas Machl, Rena Ito, James L Gulley, Scott Kopetz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous and complex disease with limited treatment options. Targeting transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and programmed death ligand 1 pathways may enhance antitumor efficacy. Bintrafusp alfa is a first-in-class bifunctional fusion protein composed of the extracellular domain of TGF-β receptor II (a TGF-β "trap") fused to a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody blocking programmed cell death ligand 1. We report results from an expansion cohort of a phase I study (NCT02517398) in patients with heavily pretreated advanced CRC treated with bintrafusp alfa. As of May 15, 2020, 32 patients with advanced CRC had received …

Dynamic Cone-Beam Ct Reconstruction Using Spatial And Temporal Implicit Neural Representation Learning (Stinr), You Zhang, Hua-Chieh Shao, Tinsu Pan, Tielige Mengke

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective. Dynamic cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging is highly desired in image-guided radiation therapy to provide volumetric images with high spatial and temporal resolutions to enable applications including tumor motion tracking/prediction and intra-delivery dose calculation/accumulation. However, dynamic CBCT reconstruction is a substantially challenging spatiotemporal inverse problem, due to the extremely limited projection sample available for each CBCT reconstruction (one projection for one CBCT volume).

Approach. We developed a simultaneous spatial and temporal implicit neural representation (STINR) method for dynamic CBCT reconstruction. STINR mapped the unknown image and the evolution of its motion into spatial and temporal multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs), and …

Patient-Reported Symptoms At Discharge And Risk Of Complications After Gynecologic Surgery, Xin Shelley Wang, Pedro T Ramirez, Qiuling Shi, Mona Kamal, Araceli Garcia-Gonzalez, Maria D Iniesta, Charles S Cleeland, Larissa A Meyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Current gaps in knowledge limit clinicians from fully implementing patient-reported outcomes in routine post-operative care.

Methods: This prospective study assessed symptoms via the gynecologic module of the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-PeriOp-GYN) in patients who underwent open laparotomy.

Results: At discharge, patient-reported moderate to severe (≥4 on a 0-10 scale) abdominal bloating or abdominal cramping, combined with length of stay of ≥4 days, were found to be associated with a higher risk of 30-day post-operative grade II-IV complications by the Clavien-Dindo system (all p values < 0.01). Also, length of stay of ≥4 days and moderate to severe urinary urgency at discharge were found to be associated with the need for re-admission (all p values < 0.01).

Conclusion: This study defined the clinically meaningful symptoms that related to the risk of …

Factors For Poor Oral Health In Long-Term Childhood Cancer Survivors, Tushar Patni, Chun-Teh Lee, Yimei Li, Sue Kaste, Liang Zhu, Ryan Sun, Melissa M Hudson, Kirsten K Ness, Ana Neumann, Leslie L Robison

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for therapy-related dental diseases. The purpose of the study was to investigate the associations between clinical, socioeconomic, and demographic factors and oral diseases in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE) participants.

Methods: We performed a retrospective medical chart review and evaluated longitudinal self-reported dental outcomes in 4856 childhood cancer survivors and 591 community controls participating in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE) study. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of socioeconomic factors, treatment exposures and patient demographics on dental outcomes.

Results: Cancer survivors were more likely …

Spatial Regulation Of The Glycocalyx Component Podocalyxin Is A Switch For Prometastatic Function, Alvaro Román-Fernández, Mohammed A Mansour, Fernanda G Kugeratski, Jayanthi Anand, Emma Sandilands, Laura Galbraith, Kai Rakovic, Eva C Freckmann, Erin M Cumming, Ji Park, Konstantina Nikolatou, Sergio Lilla, Robin Shaw, David Strachan, Susan Mason, Rachana Patel, Lynn Mcgarry, Archana Katoch, Kirsteen J Campbell, Colin Nixon, Crispin J Miller, Hing Y Leung, John Le Quesne, James C Norman, Sara Zanivan, Karen Blyth, David M Bryant

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The glycocalyx component and sialomucin podocalyxin (PODXL) is required for normal tissue development by promoting apical membranes to form between cells, triggering lumen formation. Elevated PODXL expression is also associated with metastasis and poor clinical outcome in multiple tumor types. How PODXL presents this duality in effect remains unknown. We identify an unexpected function of PODXL as a decoy receptor for galectin-3 (GAL3), whereby the PODXL-GAL3 interaction releases GAL3 repression of integrin-based invasion. Differential cortical targeting of PODXL, regulated by ubiquitination, is the molecular mechanism controlling alternate fates. Both PODXL high and low surface levels occur in parallel subpopulations within …

Response To: What Is Missing From The 2022 Practice Recommendation Updates From The World Consensus Conference On Bia-Alcl?, Fabio Santanelli Di Pompeo, Mark W Clemens, Michael Atlan, Giovanni Botti, Peter G Cordeiro, Daphne De Jong, Arianna Di Napoli, Dennis Hammond, Cara L Haymaker, Steven M Horwitz, Kelly Hunt, Peter Lennox, Patrick Mallucci, Roberto N Miranda, Alexandre M Munhoz, Demosthenes Panagiotakos, Eric C Swanson, Suzanne D Turner, Guido Firmani, Michail Sorotos

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Effective Treatment Of Low-Risk Acute Gvhd With Itacitinib Monotherapy, Aaron Etra, Alexandra Capellini, Amin Alousi, Monzr M Al Malki, Hannah Choe, Zachariah Defilipp, William J Hogan, Carrie L Kitko, Francis Ayuk, Janna Baez, Isha Gandhi, Stelios Kasikis, Sigrun Gleich, Elizabeth Hexner, Matthias Hoepting, Urvi Kapoor, Steven Kowalyk, Deukwoo Kwon, Amelia Langston, Marco Mielcarek, George Morales, Umut Özbek, Muna Qayed, Ran Reshef, Wolf Rösler, Nikolaos Spyrou, Rachel Young, Yi-Bin Chen, James L M Ferrara, John E Levine

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The standard primary treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) requires prolonged, high-dose systemic corticosteroids (SCSs) that delay reconstitution of the immune system. We used validated clinical and biomarker staging criteria to identify a group of patients with low-risk (LR) GVHD that is very likely to respond to SCS. We hypothesized that itacitinib, a selective JAK1 inhibitor, would effectively treat LR GVHD without SCS. We treated 70 patients with LR GVHD in a multicenter, phase 2 trial (NCT03846479) with 28 days of itacitinib 200 mg/d (responders could receive a second 28-day cycle), and we compared their outcomes to those …

Capture Als: The Comprehensive Analysis Platform To Understand, Remedy And Eliminate Als, Vincent Picher-Martel, Claire Magnussen, Mathieu Blais, Tania M. Bubela, Samir Das, Annie Dionne, Alan C. Evans, Angela Genge, Russell Greiner, Yasser Iturria-Medina

Office of the Provost

The absence of disease modifying treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is in large part a consequence of its complexity and heterogeneity. Deep clinical and biological phenotyping of people living with ALS would assist in the development of effective treatments and target specific biomarkers to monitor disease progression and inform on treatment efficacy. The objective of this paper is to present the Comprehensive Analysis Platform To Understand Remedy and Eliminate ALS (CAPTURE ALS), an open and translational platform for the scientific community currently in development. CAPTURE ALS is a Canadian-based platform designed to include participants' voices in its development and …

Discovering A New Part Of The Phenotypic Spectrum Of Coffin-Siris Syndrome In A Fetal Cohort, Pleuntje J Van Der Sluijs, Marieke Joosten, Caroline Alby, Tania Attié-Bitach, Kelly Gilmore, Christele Dubourg, Mélanie Fradin, Tianyun Wang, Evangeline C Kurtz-Nelson, Kaitlyn P Ahlers, Peer Arts, Christopher P Barnett, Myla Ashfaq, Anwar Baban, Myrthe Van Den Born, Sarah Borrie, Tiffany Busa, Alicia Byrne, Miriam Carriero, Claudia Cesario, Karen Chong, Anna Maria Cueto-González, Jennifer C Dempsey, Karin E M Diderich, Dan Doherty, Stense Farholt, Erica H Gerkes, Svetlana Gorokhova, Lutgarde C P Govaerts, Pernille A Gregersen, Scott E Hickey, Mathilde Lefebvre, Francesca Mari, Jelena Martinovic, Hope Northrup, Melanie O'Leary, Kareesma Parbhoo, Sophie Patrier, Bernt Popp, Fernando Santos-Simarro, Corinna Stoltenburg, Christel Thauvin-Robinet, Elisabeth Thompson, Anneke T Vulto-Van Silfhout, Farah R Zahir, Hamish S Scott, Rachel K Earl, Evan E Eichler, Neeta L Vora, Yael Wilnai, Jessica L Giordano, Ronald J Wapner, Jill A Rosenfeld, Monique C Haak, Gijs W E Santen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In the article “Discovering a new part of the phenotypic spectrum of Coffin-Siris syndrome in a fetal cohort” by van der Sluijs PJ et al (Genet Med 2022;24:1753–1760), the author listing was updated in the Supplementary Material from “H. Scott” to “H. S. Scott” and in Supplemental Figure 1 the labels in the figure caption for A, B, C, and D have been updated to match the figure artwork. The revised supplement file has been published with this correction.

Multi-Ancestry Transcriptome-Wide Association Analyses Yield Insights Into Tobacco Use Biology And Drug Repurposing, Fang Cheng, Xingyan Wang, Seon-Kyeong Jang, Bryan C. Quach, J. Dylan Weissenkampen, Chachrit Khunsriraksakul, Lina Yang, John Blangero, Joanne E. Curran, Ravindranath Duggirala, Juan M. Peralta

School of Medicine Publications

Most transcriptome-wide association studies (TWASs) so far focus on European ancestry and lack diversity. To overcome this limitation, we aggregated genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, whole-genome sequences and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) data from diverse ancestries. We developed a new approach, TESLA (multi-ancestry integrative study using an optimal linear combination of association statistics), to integrate an eQTL dataset with a multi-ancestry GWAS. By exploiting shared phenotypic effects between ancestries and accommodating potential effect heterogeneities, TESLA improves power over other TWAS methods. When applied to tobacco use phenotypes, TESLA identified 273 new genes, up to 55% more compared with …

Structure Of The Lysosomal Mtorc1-Tfeb-Rag-Ragulator Megacomplex, Zhicheng Cui, Gennaro Napolitano, Mariana E G De Araujo, Alessandra Esposito, Jlenia Monfregola, Lukas A Huber, Andrea Ballabio, James H Hurley

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

The transcription factor TFEB is a master regulator of lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy1. The phosphorylation of TFEB by the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)2–5 is unique in its mTORC1 substrate recruitment mechanism, which is strictly dependent on the amino acid-mediated activation of the RagC GTPase activating protein FLCN6,7. TFEB lacks the TOR signalling motif responsible for the recruitment of other mTORC1 substrates. We used cryogenic-electron microscopy to determine the structure of TFEB as presented to mTORC1 for phosphorylation, which we refer to as the ‘megacomplex’. Two full Rag–Ragulator complexes …

Conducting Clinical Genomics Research During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned From The Cser Consortium Experience, Stephanie A Kraft, Heidi Russell, Jeannette T Bensen, Katherine E Bonini, Jill O Robinson, Nuriye Sahin-Hodoglugil, Kathleen Renna, Lucia A Hindorff, Dave Kaufman, Carol R Horowitz, Margaret Waltz, Jamilyn M Zepp, Sara J Knight

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Clinical research studies have navigated many changes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to describe the pandemic's impact on research operations in the context of a clinical genomics research consortium that aimed to enroll a majority of participants from underrepresented populations. We interviewed (July to November 2020) and surveyed (May to August 2021) representatives of six projects in the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) consortium, which studies the implementation of genome sequencing in the clinical care of patients from populations that are underrepresented in genomics research or are medically underserved. Questions focused on COVID's impact on participant recruitment, enrollment, and …

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 …

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 …

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. …

Superficial Low-Grade Fibromyxoid Sarcoma, Shira Ronen, Jennifer S Ko, Brian P Rubin, Scott E Kilpatrick, Wei-Lien Wang, Alexander J Lazar, John R Goldblum, Steven D Billings

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) typically involves deep soft tissue (beneath the fascia) of the proximal extremities and trunk. Long-term follow-up has shown a high rate of local recurrence, metastasis, and death. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one previous large series focusing on superficial LGFMS suggesting superficial tumors are disproportionately more common in children and may have a better prognosis. Our study's primary goals are to confirm these findings and increase general awareness that LGFMS may arise in superficial soft tissue.

Methods: We retrieved our cases of superficial LGFMS diagnosed between 2008 and 2020. Available slides …

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 …

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 …

A Multicenter Study Of Clinical Impact Of Variant Of Uncertain Significance Reclassification In Breast, Ovarian And Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility Genes, Sukh Makhnoon, Brooke Levin, Megan Ensinger, Kristin Mattie, Robert J Volk, Zhongming Zhao, Tito Mendoza, Sanjay Shete, Laila Samiian, Generosa Grana, Andrew Grainger, Banu Arun, Brian H Shirts, Susan K Peterson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Clinical interpretation of genetic test results is complicated by variants of uncertain significance (VUS) that have an unknown impact on health but can be clarified through reclassification. There is little empirical evidence regarding VUS reclassification in oncology care settings, including the prevalence and outcomes of reclassification, and racial/ethnic differences.

METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of persons with and without a personal history of cancer carrying VUS (with or without an accompanying pathogenic or likely pathogenic [P/LP] variant) in breast, ovarian, and colorectal cancer predisposition genes seen at four cancer care settings (in Texas, Florida, Ohio, and New Jersey) …

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 …

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-[

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 …