Medical Specialties Commons^™

Explainable Suicide Phenotyping From Initial Psychiatric Evaluation Notes Using Reasoning Large Language Models, Zehan Li, Wanjing Wang, Lokesh Shahani, Rodrigo M Vieira, Salih Selek, Jair Soares, Hongfang Liu, Ming Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Clinical phenotyping is the process of extracting patient's observable symptoms and traits to better understand their disease condition. Suicide phenotyping focuses more on behavioral and cognitive characteristics, such as suicide ideation, attempt, and self-injury, to identify suicide risks and improve interventions. In this study, we leveraged the latest reasoning models, namely 4o, o1, and o3-mini, to perform note-level multi-label classification and reasoning generation tasks using previously annotated psychiatric evaluation notes from a safety-net psychiatric inpatient hospital in Harris County, Texas. Compared with the previously finetuned GPT-3.5 model, the out-of-box reasoning models prompted with in-context learning achieved comparable and better performance, …

Monet: A Database For Prediction Of Neoantigens Derived From Microsatellite Loci, Nan Deng, Krishna M Sinha, Eduardo Vilar

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BACKGROUND: Microsatellite instability (MSI) secondary to mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency is characterized by insertions and deletions (indels) in short DNA sequences across the genome. These indels can generate neoantigens, which are ideal targets for precision immune interception. However, current neoantigen databases lack information on neoantigens arising from coding microsatellites. To address this gap, we introduce The MicrOsatellite Neoantigen Discovery Tool (MONET).

METHOD: MONET identifies potential mutated tumor-specific neoantigens (neoAgs) by predicting frameshift mutations in coding microsatellite sequences of the human genome. Then MONET annotates these neoAgs with key features such as binding affinity, stability, expression, frequency, and potential pathogenicity using …

Are Published Cancer Care Trial Protocols With Traditional Chinese Medicine Interventions Concordant With Spirit-Tcm Extension 2018? A Scoping Review On Published Trial Protocols Between 2019 And 2022, Hezheng Lai, Peiying Yang, Xin Shelley Wang, David Lim, Anderson Lam, Yucong Shi, Yishi Huang, Xiaoshu Zhu

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BACKGROUND: The SPIRIT-TCM Extension 2018 was created to guide the design and reporting of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinical trial protocols. This study aims to investigate the extent of concordance with this guideline in the relevant field of cancer care research.

METHODS: A scoping review of TCM cancer trial protocols published in English and Chinese since January 2019 was conducted. Five major academic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) were searched. Concordance with the SPIRIT-TCM Extension 2018 was assessed by descriptive analysis.

RESULTS: Fifty-three TCM cancer care trial protocols were identified, comprising 23 acupuncture, 26 Chinese …

Postmortem-Derived Ipsc Models In Substance Use Disorders Research, Emily Frances Mendez, Consuelo Walss-Bass

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No abstract provided.

Correction To: Egfr Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors For The Treatment Of Metastatic Non‑Small Cell Lung Cancer Harboring Uncommon Egfr Mutations: A Podcast, Xiuning Le, Eric Nadler, Daniel B Costa, John Victor Heymach

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No abstract provided.

Her4 And Egfr Activate Cell Signaling In Nrg1 Fusion-Driven Cancers: Implications For Her2-Her3-Specific Versus Pan-Her Targeting Strategies, Hibiki Udagawa, Monique B Nilsson, Jacqulyne P Robichaux, Junqin He, Alissa Poteete, Hong Jiang, Simon Heeke, Yasir Y Elamin, Yuji Shibata, Shingo Matsumoto, Kiyotaka Yoh, Shogo Okazaki, Takashi Masuko, Igor Odintsov, Romel Somwar, Marc Ladanyi, Koichi Goto, John V Heymach

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Introduction: NRG1 gene fusions are clinically actionable alterations identified in NSCLC and other tumors. Previous studies have reported that NRG1 fusions signal through HER2 and HER3 but, thus far, strategies targeting HER3 specifically or HER2-HER3 signaling have exhibited modest activity in patients with NSCLC bearing NRG1 fusions. Although NRG1 fusion proteins can bind HER4 in addition to HER3, the contribution of HER4 and other HER family members in NRG1 fusion-positive cancers is not fully understood.

Methods: We investigated the role of HER4 and EGFR-HER3 signaling in NRG1 fusion-positive cancers using Ba/F3 models engineered to express various HER family members in …

Establishment Of A Brain Tumor Consortium Of Africa: Advancing Collaborative Research And Advocacy For Brain Tumors In Africa, Lateef A Odukoya, Kwadwo Darko, Francis Zerd, Nathalie C Ghomsi, Gloria Kabare, David O Kamson, Jeanette E Eckel-Passow, Robert B Jenkins, Gaspar J Kitange, Andrea O Akinjo, Kabir B Badmos, Olufemi Bankole, Olufemi E Idowu, Claire Karekezi, Elias Edrick, Chukwuyem Ekhator, Victoria M Katasi, Desmond A Brown, Jason Huse, Henry Llewellyn, Margreth Magambo, Michael Magoha, Umaru Barrie, Advera Ngaiza, Arsene D Nyalundja, Minda Okemwa, Lawrence Osei-Tutu, Bernard Petershie, W Elorm Yevudza, Charles C Anunobi, Liadi Tiamiyu, Gbetoho Fortuné Gankpe, Kashaigili Heronima, Dominique Higgins, Kristin Schroeder, Teddy Totimeh, James Balogun, Beverly Cheserem, Arnold B Etame, Ekokobe Fonkem

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Brain tumors represent a significant global health challenge, with rising incidence and mortality impacting individuals worldwide and contributing to cancer-related morbidity and mortality. In Africa, this burden is exacerbated by limited access to advanced diagnostics, treatment options, and multidisciplinary care, compounded by the absence of standardized cancer registration and tumor biobanking. The introduction of molecular diagnostics, as outlined in the 2021 World Health Organization central nervous system (CNS) tumor classification, adds complexity to brain tumor management, particularly in regions with scarce resources.

Methods: To address these issues, the Brain Tumor Consortium for Africa (BTCA) was established in 2023, bringing …

Circulating Cancer-Associated Macrophage-Like Cells And Macrophage-Related Cytokines In Obese Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer Who Undergo Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, Toshiaki Iwase, Aaroh Parikh, Dong Wenli, Yu Shen, Daniel L Adams, Cha-Mei Tang, Evan N Cohen, James M Reuben, Tushaar Vishal Shrimanker, Sudpreeda Chainitikun, Kumiko Kida, Akshara Singareeka Raghavendra, Maryanne E Sapon, Onur Sahin, Anjali James, Nithya Sridhar, Ann H Klopp, Debasish Tripathy, Naoto T Ueno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Cancer-associated macrophage-like cells (CAMLs) are rare, gigantic, and atypical circulating cells found exclusively in the peripheral blood of patients with solid cancers. Obesity-induced hypoxia attracts macrophages to the tumor microenvironment, where they contribute to establishing chronic inflammation, leading to cancer progression. We hypothesized that obese patients with advanced breast cancer may have CAML profiles different from those of nonobese patients, and these profiles may correlate with proinflammatory markers or other macrophage-related markers.

Methods: We prospectively collected 20 mL of peripheral blood from patients diagnosed with stage 2-4 breast cancer. We identified CAMLs using the CellSieve microfiltration system and in …

Investigation Of Autosegmentation Techniques On T2-Weighted Mri For Off-Line Dose Reconstruction In Mr-Linac Workflow For Head And Neck Cancers, Brigid A Mcdonald, Carlos E Cardenas, Nicolette O'Connell, Sara Ahmed, Mohamed A Naser, Kareem A Wahid, Jiaofeng Xu, Dan Thill, Raed J Zuhour, Shane Mesko, Alexander Augustyn, Samantha M Buszek, Stephen Grant, Bhavana V Chapman, Alexander F Bagley, Renjie He, Abdallah S R Mohamed, John Christodouleas, Kristy K Brock, Clifton D Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: In order to accurately accumulate delivered dose for head and neck cancer patients treated with the Adapt to Position workflow on the 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-linear accelerator (MR-linac), the low-resolution T2-weighted MRIs used for daily setup must be segmented to enable reconstruction of the delivered dose at each fraction.

Purpose: In this pilot study, we evaluate various autosegmentation methods for head and neck organs at risk (OARs) on on-board setup MRIs from the MR-linac for off-line reconstruction of delivered dose.

Methods: Seven OARs (parotid glands, submandibular glands, mandible, spinal cord, and brainstem) were contoured on 43 images by …

Blood-Based Microrna Biomarker Signature Of Early-Stage Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma With Lead-Time Trajectory In Prediagnostic Samples, Warapen Treekitkarnmongkol, Jianliang Dai, Suyu Liu, Deivendran Sankaran, Tristian Nguyen, Seetharaman Balasenthil, Mark W Hurd, Meng Chen, Hiroshi Katayama, Sinchita Roy-Chowdhuri, George A Calin, Randall E Brand, Paul D Lampe, Tony Y Hu, Anirban Maitra, Eugene J Koay, Ann M Killary, Subrata Sen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and aims: Clinically validated biomarker of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), has limited sensitivity and specificity for early-stage disease. Circulating miRNAs in plasma associated with cancer relevant pathways were developed as early detection biomarkers.

Methods: 2083 miRNAs in 15 μl of plasma from multicenter age-matched cohorts (N = 203: healthy controls, n = 46; pancreatitis controls, n = 36; diagnosed cases: n = 121) and a prediagnostic Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian age- and gender-matched cohort (N = 96; controls, n = 48; prediagnosed cases, n = 48) were interrogated. A three-miRNA biomarker signature …

The Mir-17-92 Cluster In Cardiac Health And Disease, Yuhan Cao, Mingjie Zheng, Maham A Sewani, Jun Wang

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MicroRNAs (miRs) are small noncoding RNAs that play important roles in both physiological and pathological processes through post-transcriptional regulation. The miR-17-92 cluster includes six individual members: miR-17, miR-18a, miR-19a, miR-19b-1, miR-20a, and miR-92a-1. The miR-17-92 cluster has been extensively studied and reported to broadly function in cancer biology, immunology, neurology, pulmonology, and cardiology. This review focuses on its roles in heart development and cardiac diseases. We briefly introduce the nature of the miR-17-92 cluster and its crucial roles in both normal development and the pathogenesis of various diseases. We summarize the recent progress in understanding the versatile roles of miR-17-92 …

Pathologic Processing Of Lung Cancer Resection Specimens After Neoadjuvant Therapy, Annikka Weissferdt, Cheuk H Leung, Heather Lin, Boris Sepesi, William N William, Stephen G Swisher, Tina Cascone, J Jack Lee, Abujiang Pataer

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Neoadjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer challenges the traditional processing of pathology specimens. Induction therapy before resection allows evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant agents at the time of surgery. Many clinical trials use pathologic tumor response, measured as major pathologic response (MPR, ≤10% residual viable tumor [RVT]) or complete pathologic response (CPR, 0% RVT) as a surrogate of clinical efficacy. Consequently, accurate pathologic evaluation of RVT is crucial. However, pathologic assessment has not been uniform, which is particularly true for sampling of the primary tumor, which instead of the traditional processing, requires different tissue submission because the focus …

Single-Molecule Fret Analyses Of Nmda Receptors, Ryan J Durham, Vasanthi Jayaraman

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Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) enables the real-time observation of conformational changes in a single protein molecule of interest. These observations are achieved by attaching fluorophores to proteins of interest in a site-specific manner and investigating the FRET between the fluorophores. Here we describe the method wherein the FRET is studied by adhering the protein molecules to a slide using affinity-based interactions and measuring the fluorophores' fluorescence intensity from a single molecule over time. The resulting information can be used to derive distance values for a point-to-point measurement within a protein or to calculate kinetic transition rates between various …

Hormone Regulation Of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor 1 In The Female Mouse Brain, Rose M De Guzman, Jason S Jacobskind, Zachary J Rosinger, Krystyna A Rybka, Katherine E Parra, Aya L Caballero, Massoud S Sharif, Nicholas J Justice, Damian G Zuloaga

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Introduction: Corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) is a key regulator of neuroendocrine and behavioral stress responses. Previous studies have demonstrated that CRFR1 in certain hypothalamic and preoptic brain areas is modified by chronic stress and during the postpartum period in female mice, although the potential hormonal contributors to these changes are unknown.

Methods: This study focused on determining the contributions of hormones associated with stress and the maternal period (glucocorticoids, prolactin, estradiol/progesterone) on CRFR1 levels using a CRFR1-GFP reporter mouse line and immunohistochemistry.

Results: Administration of dexamethasone, an agonist of the glucocorticoid receptor, elevated CRFR1 in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus …

Tissue Transglutaminase: A Multifunctional And Multisite Regulator In Health And Disease, Zhouzhou Yao, Yuhua Fan, Lizhen Lin, Rodney E Kellems, Yang Xia

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Tissue transglutaminase (TG2) is a widely distributed multifunctional protein involved in a broad range of cellular and metabolic functions carried out in a variety of cellular compartments. In addition to transamidation, TG2 also functions as a Gα signaling protein, a protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), a protein kinase, and a scaffolding protein. In the nucleus, TG2 modifies histones and transcription factors. The PDI function catalyzes the trimerization and activation of heat shock factor-1 in the nucleus and regulates the oxidation state of several mitochondrial complexes. Cytosolic TG2 modifies proteins by the addition of serotonin or other primary amines and in this …

Generation Of Non-Alloreactive Antiviral Central Memory Cd8 Human Veto T Cells For Cell Therapy, Esther Bachar-Lustig, Assaf Lask, Yaki Eidelstein, Noga Or-Geva, Rotem Gidron-Budovsky, Bar Nathansohn-Levy, Matthias Eyrich, Wei-Hsin Liu, Giang Dang, Karla Castro Miranda, Alejandro Ramirez, Indreshpal Kaur, Katayoun Rezvani, Elizabeth Shpall, Richard E Champlin, Arnon Nagler, Avichai Shimoni, Sivan Barnees-Kagan, Yair Reisner

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Previous studies in mice demonstrated that CD8 T cells exhibit marked veto activity enhancing engraftment in several models for T cell-depleted bone marrow (TDBM) allografting. To reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) associated with allogeneic CD8 veto T cells, these studies made use of naive CD8 T cells stimulated against third-party stimulators under cytokine deprivation and subsequent expansion in the presence of IL-15. More recently, it was shown that mouse CD8 veto T cells can be generated by stimulating CD8 memory T cells from ovalbumin immunized mice under cytokine deprivation, using ovalbumin as a third-party antigen. These cells also …

Differences In Connected Speech Outcomes Across Elicitation Methods, Tatiana T Schnur, Sharon Wang

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Background: Connected speech is often used to assess many aspects of an individual's language abilities after stroke. However, it is unknown the degree to which elicitation methods differ in generating structural and syntactic aspects of connected speech, two critical components of successful communication. Quantifying the degree to which elicitation methods differ in eliciting structurally, syntactically, and lexically complex connected speech at the earliest stage of stroke before reorganization and rehabilitation of function independent of clinical diagnosis of aphasia has not been examined to date. Addressing this gap has implications for early clinical intervention as well as empirical studies of connected …

Clearance Of Neutrophils From Ich-Affected Brain By Macrophages Is Beneficial And Is Assisted By Lactoferrin And Cd91, Xiurong Zhao, Shun-Ming Ting, Guanghua Sun, Jesus Bautista Garrido, Lidiya Obertas, Jaroslaw Aronowski

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Background: Within hours after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) onset, masses of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) infiltrate the ICH-affected brain. After degranulation involving controlled release of many toxic antimicrobial molecules, the PMNs undergo rapid apoptosis and then are removed by phagocytic microglia/macrophages (MΦ) through a process called efferocytosis. Effective removal of PMNs may limit secondary brain damage and inflammation; however, the molecular mechanisms governing these cleanup activities are not well understood. We propose that scavenger receptor CD91 on myeloid phagocytes especially in presence of CD91 ligand, LTF (lactoferrin, protein abundant in PMNs), plays an important role in clearance of dead apoptotic PMNs (ANs). …

Innovations In Molecular Biomarkers And Biomaterial-Based Immunotherapies For Head & Neck Cancer, Sarah Anne Wong, Victoria A Manon, Simon Young, Chi T Viet

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Purpose of review: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) survival rates have remained stagnant due to a lack of targeted therapies and diagnostic tools. Patient risk is currently determined solely through clinicopathologic features, primarily tumor staging, which lacks the necessary precision to stratify patients by risk and accurately dictate adjuvant treatment. Similarly, conventional OSCC therapies have well-established toxicities and limited efficacy.

Recent findings: Recent studies show that patient risk can now be assessed using non-invasive techniques, at earlier time points, and with greater accuracy using molecular biomarker panels. Additionally, novel immunotherapies not only utilize the host's immune response to combat disease …

Accelerate Vaccine Development Using Seamless Phase 2/3 Trial Designs, Jia-Ying Yang, Guo-Chun Li, Ying Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Traditional vaccine development, often a lengthy and costly process of three separated phases. However, the swift development of COVID-19 vaccines highlighted the critical importance of accelerating the approval of vaccines. This article showcases a seamless phase 2/3 trial design to expedite the development process, particularly for multi-valent vaccines.

Research design and methods: This study utilizes simulation to compare the performance of seamless phase 2/3 design with that of conventional trial design, specifically by re-envisioning a 9-valent HPV vaccine trial. Across three cases, several key performance metrics are evaluated: overall power, type I error rate, average sample size, trial duration, …

Mt-Keyboard: A Bayesian Model-Assisted Interval Design To Account For Toxicity Grades And Types For Phase I Trials, Kai Chen, Li Wang, Ying Yuan

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Conventionally, dose finding trials are based on dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) that only captures the most severe toxicities, e.g., treatment related grade 3 or higher toxicity according to the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. However, this approach is often problematic for certain novel targeted therapies and immunotherapies, which may not induce DLT within a clinically active dose range and are often characterized by low grade toxicities. This important issue has been highlighted and discussed in the American Statistical Association (ASA) Biopharmaceutical (BIOP) Section Open Forums, and is also an important consideration of the Project Optimus initiated by FDA to …

A Blood-Based Metabolite Signature For Personalized Risk Assessment Of Pancreatic Cancer, Ricardo A León-Letelier, Yihui Chen, Riccardo Ballaro, Ehsan Irajizad, Kim-An Do, Anirban Maitra, Jianjun Zhang, C Max Schmidt, Johannes F Fahrmann

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Circulating Tumor Dna (Ctdna) As A Biomarker Of Response To Therapy In Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated With Nivolumab, Yehia I Mohamed, Sunyoung S Lee, Tarik Demir, Shadi Chamseddine, Zishuo Ian Hu, Lianchun Xiao, Khaled Elsayes, Jeffrey S Morris, Robert A Wolff, Rikita Hiatia, Aliya Qayyum, Asif Rashid, Dan G Duda, James C Yao, Michael Lapelusa, Eugene J Koay, Armeen Mahvash, Ahmed Al Azzam, Ecaterina E Dumbrava, Manal Hassan, Hesham M Amin, Ahmed Omar Kaseb

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Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a promising non-invasive marker for detection, diagnosis, treatment selection, and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Objective: This study aimed to examine the utility of ctDNA as a prognostic and predictive tool in HCC patients treated with nivolumab.

Methods: We analyzed pre-treatment ctDNA from 44 HCC patients using comprehensive genomic testing on a commercially available platform. We utilized log rank test and univariate Cox models to correlate overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) with ctDNA expressions.

Results: Of 44 patients, 77.3% were men with median age of 67 years. All but 3 patients had …

Plain Language Summary Of The Foenix-Cca2 Study: Futibatinib For People With Advanced Bile Duct Cancer, Lipika Goyal, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Antoine Hollebecque, Juan W Valle, Chigusa Morizane, Thomas B Karasic, Thomas A Abrams, Junji Furuse, Robin Katie Kelley, Philippe A Cassier, Heinz-Josef Klümpen, Heung-Moon Chang, Li-Tzong Chen, Josep Tabernero, Do-Youn Oh, Amit Mahipal, Markus Moehler, Yoshito Komatsu, Daniel H Ahn, Robert S Epstein, Abdel-Baset Halim, Volker Wacheck, Yaohua He, Mei Liu, Karim A Benhadji, John A Bridgewater, Foenix-Cca2 Study Investigators

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What is this summary about?: This summary describes the results from a phase 2 study called FOENIXCCA2. The study evaluated treatment with futibatinib in people with a rare form of advanced bile duct cancer called intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (or iCCA), where the tumors have changes in the structure of a gene called FGFR2. These changes include FGFR2 gene fusions. Bile duct cancer often returns after surgery or cannot be treated by surgery because the tumor has spread, so it requires treatment with chemotherapy. People live for a median of 1 year after their first chemotherapy treatment and 6 months after their …

Lights And Shadows On Local Recurrence After Renal Surgery: When, Why And How To Manage, Luca Di Gianfrancesco, Alessandro Crestani, Antonio Amodeo, Paolo Corsi, Davide De Marchi, Eugenio Miglioranza, Giuliana Lista, Ferdinando Daniele Vitelli, Francesca Simonetti, Gian Maria Busetto, Ugo Giovanni Falagario, Martina Maggi, Filippo Marino, Giannicola Genovese, Roberto Falabella, Angelo Porreca

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Introduction: This review aims to analyze the existing literature on local recurrence (LR) in patients undergoing partial nephrectomy (PN) for renal cell carcinoma, identifying relative risk factors, and exploring optimal clinical management strategies.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across bibliographic databases, primarily focusing on LR rates. Secondary outcomes included evaluation of positive surgical margins (PSM), nephrometry scores, pathological stage (T and grading), perioperative outcomes, time-to-LR, overall survival, and cancer-specific survival.

Results: Due to the heterogeneity, a narrative synthesis was performed. LR rates after PN varied in the literature; with PSM emerging as a significant risk factor. Other LR …

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence Threshold For Surveillance In Virologically Cured Hepatitis C Individuals, Jagpreet Chhatwal, Ali Hajjar, Peter P Mueller, Gizem Nemutlu, Neeti Kulkarni, Mary Linton B Peters, Fasiha Kanwal

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BACKGROUND & AIMS: Guidelines recommend biannual surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatitis C individuals with cirrhosis if the HCC incidence rate is above 1.5 per 100 person-years (PY). However, the incidence threshold for surveillance in individuals who achieve a virologic cure is unknown. We estimated the HCC incidence rate above which routine HCC surveillance is cost-effective in this growing population of virologically cured hepatitis C individuals with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis.

METHODS: We developed a Markov-based microsimulation model of the natural history of HCC in individuals with hepatitis C who achieved virologic cure with oral direct-acting antivirals. We used …

Nontuberculosis Mycobacteria (Ntm) Infections In Patients With Leukemia: A Single Center Case Series, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Koji Sasaki, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis, Javier Adachi, Maro Ohanian, Koichi Takahashi, Ghayas C Issa, Steven Kornblau, Hussein A Abbas

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Patients with leukemia experience profound immunosuppression both from their underlying disease as well as chemotherapeutic treatment. Little is known about the prevalence and clinical presentation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in this patient population. We identified six cases of NTM infection from 29,743 leukemia patients who had acid-fast bacilli (AFB) cultures. Four cases had bloodstream infections and five had disseminated disease, including one who presented with an unusual case of diffuse cellulitis/myositis. All patients were lymphopenic at time of diagnosis, and two patients ultimately died from their NTM infection. NTM infections are a rare, but potentially life-threatening infection in patients with …

Emerging Therapeutic Options For Follicular-Derived Thyroid Cancer In The Era Of Immunotherapy, Naimah Turner, Sarah Hamidi, Rim Ouni, Rene Rico, Ying C Henderson, Maria Puche, Sayan Alekseev, Jocelynn G Colunga-Minutti, Mark E Zafereo, Stephen Y Lai, Sang T Kim, Maria E Cabanillas, Roza Nurieva

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Although most follicular-derived thyroid cancers are well differentiated and have an overall excellent prognosis following treatment with surgery and radioiodine, management of advanced thyroid cancers, including iodine refractory disease and poorly differentiated/undifferentiated subtypes, is more challenging. Over the past decade, better understanding of the genetic drivers and immune milieu of advanced thyroid cancers has led to significant progress in the management of these patients. Numerous targeted kinase inhibitors are now approved by the U.S Food and Drug administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced, radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) as well as anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Immunotherapy has also …

Canadian French Translation And Validation Of The Neck Dissection Impairment Index: A Quality Of Life Measure For The Surgical Oncology Population, Michel Khoury, William Guertin, Cameo Hao, Mikhail Saltychev, Tareck Ayad, Eric Bissada, Apostolos Christopoulos, Sami Moubayed, Marie-Jo Olivier, Douglas Chepeha, Stephen Y Lai, Anastasios Maniakas

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BACKGROUND: Neck dissections (ND) are a routine procedure in head and neck oncology. Given the postoperative functional impact that some patients experience, it is imperative to identify and track quality of life (QoL) symptomatology to tailor each patient's therapeutic needs. To date, there is no validated French-Canadian questionnaire for this patient-population. We therefore sought to translate and validate the Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) in Canadian French.

METHODS: A 3-phased approach was used. Phase 1: The NDII was translated from English to Canadian French using a "forward and backward" translational technique following international guidelines. Phase 2: A cognitive debriefing session …

A Prospective Multi-Centered Registry-Based Observational Study For Patients With Cancer: Design And Rationale For Korean Medicine Cancer Registry (Kmcare), Jee Young Lee, Hayun Jin, Su Bin Park, Eun Hye Kim, Jee-Hyun Yoon, Seong Woo Yoon

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Background: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in most countries with an expected increased burden on healthcare systems. Since integrative medical treatments are not collected within the scope of existing cancer registries, the establishment of the Korean Medicine Cancer Registry (KMCARE), gathering integrative therapies, including conservative care and Korean medicine, is warranted.

Methods: A prospective observational study based on the registry will be conducted in 5 Korean medical hospitals. A total of 650 eligible participants undergoing Korean medicine treatments within 1 month of a diagnosis of lung, colorectal, stomach, or breast cancer are anticipated to be enrolled …