Medical Specialties Commons^™

Estimating The Direct Effects Of The Genetic Liabilities To Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, And Behavioral Traits On Suicide Attempt Using A Multivariable Mendelian Randomization Approach, Brenda Cabrera-Mendoza, Necla Aydin, Gabriel R Fries, Anna R Docherty, Consuelo Walss-Bass, Renato Polimanti

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are associated with higher odds of suicide attempt (SA). In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of BD and SZ genetic liabilities on SA, also considering the contribution of behavioral traits, socioeconomic factors, and substance use disorders. Leveraging large-scale genome-wide association data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and the UK Biobank (UKB), we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate the putative causal effect of BD (41,917 cases, 371,549 controls) and SZ (53,386 cases, 77,258 controls) on SA (26,590 cases, 492,022 controls). Then, we assessed the putative causal effect …

Markov Models For Clinical Decision-Making In Radiation Oncology: A Systematic Review, Lucas B Mccullum, Aysenur Karagoz, Cem Dede, Raul Garcia, Fatemeh Nosrat, Mehdi Hemmati, Seyedmohammadhossein Hosseinian, Andrew J Schaefer, Clifton D Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The intrinsic stochasticity of patients' response to treatment is a major consideration for clinical decision-making in radiation therapy. Markov models are powerful tools to capture this stochasticity and render effective treatment decisions. This paper provides an overview of the Markov models for clinical decision analysis in radiation oncology. A comprehensive literature search was conducted within MEDLINE using PubMed, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Only studies published from 2000 to 2023 were considered. Selected publications were summarized in two categories: (i) studies that compare two (or more) fixed treatment policies using Monte Carlo simulation …

Pb-05204, A Supercritical Co2 Extract Of Nerium Oleander, Suppresses Glioblastoma Stem Cells By Inhibiting Grp78 And Inducing Programmed Necroptotic Cell Death, Sharmistha Chakraborty, Daoyan Wei, Megan Tran, Frederick F Lang, Robert A Newman, Peiying Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Successful treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive form of primary brain neoplasm, mandates the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. In this study, we investigated the potential of PBI-05204 in targeting GBM stem cells (GSCs) and the underlying mechanisms. Treatment with PBI-05204 significantly reduced both the number and size of tumor spheres derived from patient-derived GSCs (GBM9, GSC28 and TS543), and suppressed the tumorigenesis of GBM9 xenografts. Moreover, PBI-05204 treatment led to a significant decrease in the expression of CD44 and NANOG, crucial markers of progenitor stem cells, in GBM9 and GSC28 GSCs. This treatment also down-regulated GRP78 expression …

Pharmacodynamic Activity Of [18f]-Fluorthanatrace Poly(Adp-Ribose) Polymerase Positron Emission Tomography In Patients With Brca1/2-Mutated Breast Cancer Receiving Talazoparib, Lilie L Lin, Franklin Wong, Ruitao Lin, Timothy Yap, Jennifer K Litton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: We tested the ability of [18F] fluorthanatrace (FTT), a radiolabeled analog of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 inhibitors, to demonstrate target engagement on positron emission tomography (PET) scans from patients with newly diagnosed primary breast cancer receiving the PARP inhibitor (PARPi) talazoparib.

Methods: Seven patients with germline BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants underwent [18F]FTT PET-computed tomography scanning at baseline, and five underwent repeat scanning 14 days after talazoparib initiation. Maximum uptake on PET was quantified in the primary tumor, involved nodes, contralateral pectoralis muscle, and lumbar vertebra body level 3, and compared between the two time points.

Results: Blocking of [18F]FTT was observed …

Patient Education Practices And Preferences Of Radiation Oncologists And Interprofessional Radiation Therapy Care Teams: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Strategies For Effective Patient Education Delivery, Jie Jane Chen, Anna M Brown, Allison E Garda, Ellen Kim, Sarah A Mcavoy, Subha Perni, Michael K Rooney, Kevin Shiue, Kristi L Tonning, Laura E Warren, Daniel W Golden, Jennifer M Croke

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Patients' understanding of radiation therapy (RT) and data regarding optimal approaches to patient education (PE) within radiation oncology (RO) are limited. We aimed to evaluate PE practices of radiation oncologists and interprofessional RT care team members to inform recommendations for delivering inclusive and accessible PE.

Methods and materials: An anonymous survey was administered to all Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group members (10/5/22-11/23/22). Respondent demographics, individual practices/preferences, and institutional practices were collected. Qualitative items explored strategies, challenges, and desired resources for PE. Descriptive statistics summarized survey responses. The Fisher exact test compared PE practices by respondent role and PE …

Proteomics In Orthopedic Research: Recent Studies And Their Translational Implications, George Li, Argyrios Stampas, Yoshihiro Komatsu, Xueqin Gao, Johnny Huard, Sheng Pan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Proteomics is a growing field that offers insights into various aspects of disease processes and therapy responses. Within the field of orthopedics, there are a variety of diseases that have a poor prognosis due to a lack of targeted curative therapy or disease modifying therapy. Other diseases have been difficult to manage in part due to lack of clinical biomarkers that offer meaningful insight into disease progression or severity. As an emerging technology, proteomics has been increasingly applied in studying bone biology and an assortment of orthopedics related diseases, such as osteoarthritis, osteosarcoma and bone tumors, osteoporosis, traumatic bone injury, …

A First-In-Class Selective Inhibitor Of Egfr And Pi3k Offers A Single-Molecule Approach To Targeting Adaptive Resistance, Christopher E Whitehead, Elizabeth K Ziemke, Christy L Frankowski-Mcgregor, Rachel A Mumby, June Chung, Jinju Li, Nathaniel Osher, Oluwadara Coker, Veerabhadran Baladandayuthapani, Scott Kopetz, Judith S Sebolt-Leopold

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite tremendous progress in precision oncology, adaptive resistance mechanisms limit the long-term effectiveness of molecularly targeted agents. Here we evaluated the pharmacological profile of MTX-531 that was computationally designed to selectively target two key resistance drivers, epidermal growth factor receptor and phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase (PI3K). MTX-531 exhibits low-nanomolar potency against both targets with a high degree of specificity predicted by cocrystal structural analyses. MTX-531 monotherapy uniformly resulted in tumor regressions of squamous head and neck patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. The combination of MTX-531 with mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase or KRAS-G12C inhibitors led to durable regressions of BRAF-mutant or KRAS-mutant colorectal …

Perioperative Nivolumab Versus Observation In Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma Undergoing Nephrectomy (Prosper Ecog-Acrin Ea8143): An Open-Label, Randomised, Phase 3 Study, Mohamad E Allaf, Se-Eun Kim, Viraj Master, David F Mcdermott, Lauren C Harshman, Suzanne M Cole, Charles G Drake, Sabina Signoretti, Mahmut Akgul, Nicholas Baniak, Elsa Li-Ning, Matthew B Palmer, Hamid Emamekhoo, Nabil Adra, Hristos Kaimakliotis, Yasser Ged, Phillip M Pierorazio, E Jason Abel, Mehmet A Bilen, Kenneth Ogan, Helen H Moon, Krishna A Ramaswamy, Eric A Singer, Tina M Mayer, Jay Lohrey, Vitaly Margulis, Jessie Gills, Scott E Delacroix, Mark J Waples, Andrew C James, Peng Wang, Toni Choueiri, M Dror Michaelson, Anil Kapoor, Daniel Y Heng, Brian Shuch, Bradley C Leibovich, Primo N Lara, Judith Manola, Deborah Maskens, Dena Battle, Robert Uzzo, Gennady Bratslavsky, Naomi B Haas, Michael A Carducci

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The standard of care for patients with intermediate-to-high risk renal cell carcinoma is partial or radical nephrectomy followed by surveillance. We aimed to investigate use of nivolumab before nephrectomy followed by adjuvant nivolumab in patients with high-risk renal cell carcinoma to determine recurrence-free survival compared with surgery only.

Methods: In this open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial (PROSPER EA8143), patients were recruited from 183 community and academic sites across the USA and Canada. Eligible patients were aged 18 years or older with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1, with previously untreated clinical stage T2 or greater or …

Updated Understanding Of The Protein-Dna Recognition Code Used By C2h2 Zinc Finger Proteins, Xing Zhang, Robert M Blumenthal, Xiaodong Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

C2H2 zinc-finger (ZF) proteins form the largest family of DNA-binding transcription factors coded by mammalian genomes. In a typical DNA-binding ZF module, there are twelve residues (numbered from -1 to -12) between the last zinc-coordinating cysteine and the first zinc-coordinating histidine. The established C2H2-ZF "recognition code" suggests that residues at positions -1, -4, and -7 recognize the 5', central, and 3' bases of a DNA base-pair triplet, respectively. Structural studies have highlighted that additional residues at positions -5 and -8 also play roles in specific DNA recognition. The presence of bulky and either charged or polar residues at these five …

Simulation-Based Caregiving Skills Training For Family Members Of High-Grade Glioma Patients, Meagan Whisenant, Shiao-Pei Weathers, Yisheng Li, Ellen Aldrich, Kristin Ownby, Jessica Thomas, An Ngo-Huang, Eduardo Bruera, Kathrin Milbury

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Because family caregivers of patients with a high-grade glioma experience high levels of distress and feel unprepared to perform the complex caregiving tasks associated with the disease and its treatment, we pilot-tested a caregiving skills intervention that integrates hands-on caregiving with coping skill training.

METHODS: In this single-arm trial, caregivers participated in a 4-session research nurse-led intervention involving simulation-based caregiving skills training at the hospital and psychoeducation delivered via videoconference. We collected measures of patients' and caregivers' psychological symptoms; caregivers' caregiving self-efficacy and role adjustment; and patients' cancer-related symptoms (MDASI) at baseline and again postintervention. We tracked feasibility data. …

Central Irf4/5 Signaling Are Critical For Microglial Activation And Impact On Stroke Outcomes, Conelius Ngwa, Abdullah Al Mamun, Shaohua Qi, Romana Sharmeen, Maria P Blasco Conesa, Bhanu P Ganesh, Bharti Manwani, Fudong Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Microglia and monocytes play a critical role in immune responses to cerebral ischemia. Previous studies have demonstrated that interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) and IRF5 direct microglial polarization after stroke and impact outcomes. However, IRF4/5 are expressed by both microglia and monocytes, and it is not clear if it is the microglial (central) or monocytic (peripheral) IRF4-IRF5 regulatory axis that functions in stroke. In this work, young (8-12 weeks) male pep boy (PB), IRF4 or IRF5 flox, and IRF4 or IRF5 conditional knockout (CKO) mice were used to generate 8 types of bone marrow chimeras, to differentiate the role of …

P53r172h And P53r245w Hotspot Mutations Drive Distinct Transcriptomes In Mouse Mammary Tumors Through A Convergent Transcriptional Mediator, Joy M Mcdaniel, Rhiannon L Morrissey, Denada Dibra, Lalit R Patel, Shunbin Xiong, Yun Zhang, Gilda P Chau, Xiaoping Su, Yuan Qi, Adel K El-Naggar, Guillermina Lozano

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aggressive breast cancers harbor TP53 missense mutations. Tumor cells with TP53 missense mutations exhibit enhanced growth and survival through transcriptional rewiring. To delineate how TP53 mutations in breast cancer contribute to tumorigenesis and progression in vivo, we created a somatic mouse model driven by mammary epithelial cell-specific expression of Trp53 mutations. Mice developed primary mammary tumors reflecting the human molecular subtypes of luminal A, luminal B, HER2-enriched, and triple-negative breast cancer with metastases. Transcriptomic analyses comparing MaPR172H/− or MaPR245W/− mammary tumors to MaP−/− tumors revealed (1) differences in cancer-associated pathways activated in both p53 …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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