Medical Specialties Commons^™

Safety And Activity Of Ctx130, A Cd70-Targeted Allogeneic Crispr-Cas9-Engineered Car T-Cell Therapy, In Patients With Relapsed Or Refractory T-Cell Malignancies (Cobalt-Lym): A Single-Arm, Open-Label, Phase 1, Dose-Escalation Study, Swaminathan P Iyer, R Alejandro Sica, P Joy Ho, Anca Prica, Jasmine Zain, Francine M Foss, Boyu Hu, Amer Beitinjaneh, Wen-Kai Weng, Youn H Kim, Michael S Khodadoust, Auris O Huen, Leah M Williams, Anna Ma, Elaine Huang, Avanti Ganpule, Shashwat Deepali Nagar, Parin Sripakdeevong, Erika L Cullingford, Sushant Karnik, Mary-Lee Dequeant, Janki N Patel, Xinyi Shirley He, Ziliang Li, Qiuling Ally He, Joy H Mendonez, Alissa Keegan, Steven M Horwitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Effective treatment options are scarce for relapsed or refractory T-cell lymphoma. This study assesses the safety and activity of CTX130 (volamcabtagene durzigedleucel), a CD70-directed, allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immunotherapy manufactured from healthy donor T cells, in patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell lymphoma.

Methods: This single-arm, open-label, phase 1 study was done at ten medical centres across the USA, Australia, and Canada in patients (aged ≥18 years) with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma or cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, who had received at least one or at least two previous systemic therapy lines, respectively, and had an Eastern Cooperative …

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Management And Research In 2025, Hagop M Kantarjian, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan M Kadia, Naval G Daver, Jessica K Altman, Eytan M Stein, Elias Jabbour, Charles A Schiffer, Amy Lang, Farhad Ravandi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The first 5 decades of research in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were dominated by the cytarabine plus anthracyclines backbone, with advances in strategies including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, high-dose cytarabine, supportive care measures, and targeted therapies for the subset of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Since 2017, a turning point in AML research, 12 agents have received regulatory approval for AML in the United States: venetoclax (BCL2 inhibitor); gemtuzumab ozogamicin (CD33 antibody-drug conjugate); midostaurin, gilteritinib, and quizartinib (fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 inhibitors); ivosidenib, olutasidenib, and enasidenib (isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 inhibitors); oral azacitidine (a partially absorbable formulation); CPX351 …

Management Of Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions In A Patient With Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia And Rare Antibodies: A Case Report, Grace S Park, Himachandana Atluri, Courtney D Dinardo, Bryan Guillroy, Jean Horak, Effrosyni Apostolidou, Maryam Buni, Guillermo Montalban Bravo, Naveen Pemmaraju

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction (DHTR) poses a significant challenge in patients receiving blood transfusions. This case report highlights the complexities of managing DHTR in a newly diagnosed chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) patient with clinically significant JKa and little c antibodies during induction chemotherapy. A 46-year-old woman with CMML-2 who presented for induction chemotherapy was found to have hemolytic anemia. Due to presence of JKa and little c antibodies, she required intensive monitoring and supportive care measures. The coexistence of JKa and little c antibodies complicates transfusion management and chemotherapy tolerance in CMML patients.

Phase 1 Trial Of Hypofractionated Stereotactic Re-Irradiation In Combination With Nivolumab, Ipilimumab, And Bevacizumab For Recurrent High-Grade Gliomas, Solmaz Sahebjam, Raju R Raval, Peter A Forsyth, Heiko Enderling, Nam D Tran, John A Arrington, Robert Macaulay, Haley K Perlow, Joshua D Palmer, Jayeeta Ghose, Prajwal Rajappa, Pierre Giglio, Zihai Li, Arnold B Etame, Sepideh Mokhtari, Ruben J Cruz-Chamorro, Menal Bhandari, Ram Thapa, Timothy J Robinson, Dung-Tsa Chen, Hsiang-Hsuan Michael Yu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Our previous clinical investigation suggested that hypofractionated stereotactic re-irradiation (HFSRT) and PD-1 blockade may act synergistically to enhance the immune response against glioma. This subsequent trial investigated the dual blockade of CTLA4 and PD-1 in combination with HFSRT and bevacizumab.

Methods: This phase I study enrolled eligible patients with bevacizumab-naïve recurrent glioblastoma or anaplastic astrocytoma. Participants received nivolumab, ipilimumab, and bevacizumab concurrently with HFSRT (3000 cGy in 5 fractions). Subsequently, nivolumab, ipilimumab, and bevacizumab were administered for a total of 4 cycles followed by nivolumab and bevacizumab until progression. The primary end point of this study was the safety …

Exercise And Nutrition To Improve Cancer Treatment-Related Outcomes (Enicto), Kathryn H Schmitz, Justin C Brown, Melinda L Irwin, Kim Robien, Jessica M Scott, Nathan A Berger, Bette Caan, Andrea Cercek, Tracy E Crane, Scott R Evans, Jennifer A Ligibel, Jeffrey A Meyerhardt, Tanya Agurs-Collins, Karen Basen-Engquist, Jennifer W Bea, Sheng F Cai, Brenda Cartmel, Vernon M Chinchilli, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Christina M Dieli-Conwright, Loretta Dipietro, Shawna E Doerksen, Sharon L Edelstein, Joanne Elena, William Evans, Leah M Ferrucci, Julia Foldi, Sarah Freylersythe, Helena Furberg, Lee W Jones, Ross Levine, Chaya S Moskowitz, Cynthia Owusu, Frank Penedo, Borsika A Rabin, Elena Ratner, Margaret Rosenzweig, Talya Salz, Tara Sanft, Matthew Schlumbrecht, Guillaume Spielmann, Cynthia A Thomson, Ashley H Tjaden, Martin R Weiser, Shengping Yang, Anthony F Yu, Frank M Perna, Enicto Consortium

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chemotherapy treatment-related side effects are common and increase the risk of suboptimal outcomes. Exercise interventions during cancer treatment improve self-reported physical functioning, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, but it is unclear whether these interventions improve important clinical outcomes, such as chemotherapy relative dose intensity. The National Cancer Institute funded the Exercise and Nutrition to Improve Cancer Treatment-Related Outcomes (ENICTO) Consortium to address this knowledge gap. This article describes the mechanisms hypothesized to underpin intervention effects on clinically relevant treatment outcomes, briefly outlines each project's distinct research aims, summarizes the scope and organizational structure of ENICTO, and provides an overview of the …

Machine Learning Predicting Acute Pain And Opioid Dose In Radiation Treated Oropharyngeal Cancer Patients, Vivian Salama, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Brandon Godinich, Kareem A Wahid, Dina M Elhabashy, Mohamed A Naser, Renjie He, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Ariana J Sahli, Katherine A Hutcheson, Gary Brandon Gunn, David I Rosenthal, Clifton D Fuller, Amy C Moreno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Acute pain is common among oral cavity/oropharyngeal cancer (OCC/OPC) patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT). This study aimed to predict acute pain severity and opioid doses during RT using machine learning (ML), facilitating risk-stratification models for clinical trials.

Methods: A retrospective study examined 900 OCC/OPC patients treated with RT during 2017-2023. Pain intensity was assessed using NRS (0-none, 10-worst) and total opioid doses were calculated using morphine equivalent daily dose (MEDD) conversion factors. Analgesics efficacy was assessed using combined pain intensity and total MEDD. ML predictive models were developed and validated, including Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random …

Psychometric Properties And Meaningful Change Thresholds For The Qol-E Instrument In Patients With Myelodysplastic Neoplasms, Esther Natalie Oliva, Shien Guo, Jennifer Lord-Bessen, Aylin Yucel, Roberto Latagliata, Massimo Breccia, Giuseppe A Palumbo, Grazia Sanpaolo, Marta Riva, Valeria Santini, Uwe Platzbecker, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Pierre Fenaux, Christopher G Pelligra

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

peripheral blood cytopenias, and an increased risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia. One of the main treatment goals is improving quality of life (QoL), particularly for patients with lower-risk MDS (LR-MDS) who may live longer with compromised QoL. The QOL-E© is a patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure specifically developed to address the lack of a health-related QoL questionnaire for patients with MDS. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric performance of the QOL-E in patients with LR-MDS.

Methods: Data from four clinical trials in MDS (MEDALIST, DARB-MDS, EQoL-MDS, and RevMDS trials) were used to assess construct validity, …

Efficacy Of A Smartphone Application Assisting Home-Based Rehabilitation And Symptom Management For Patients With Lung Cancer Undergoing Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Lobectomy: A Prospective, Single-Blinded, Randomised Control Trial (Popper Study, Chao Lv, Fangliang Lu, Xiugeng Zhou, Xiang Li, Wenhua Yu, Chune Zhang, Kaishen Chen, Songtao Du, Chao Han, Jia Wang, Yuzhao Wang, Shaolei Li, Liang Wang, Yinan Liu, Shanyuan Zhang, Miao Huang, Dongdong Song, Dachuan Zhao, Bing Liu, Yaqi Wang, Xinrun Cui, Zhiwei Zhou, Shi Yan, Nan Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy can affect patients' pulmonary function and quality of life significantly. No optimal protocol combining patient-reported outcome-based symptom management and postdischarge rehabilitation programme has yet been established. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a novel smartphone app designed for home-based symptom management and rehabilitation.

Methods: The app was developed based on three modules: a symptom reporting system with alerts, aerobic and respiratory training exercises, and educational material. Four core symptoms were selected based on a questionnaire survey of 201 patients and three rounds of Delphi voting by 30 experts. The authors screened 265 patients …

The Impact Of A Small-Group Mammography Video Discussion On Promoting Screening Uptake Among Nonadherent Chinese American Immigrant Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Naomi Q P Tan, Grace X Ma, Annette E Maxwell, Roger L Brown, Kathy Zhou, Alice Loh, Lucy Young, Robert J Volk, Qian Lu, Judy Huei-Yu Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an in-person, small-group mammography video discussion (SMVD) intervention on mammography uptake among nonadherent Chinese American immigrant women.

Methods: Women (N = 956) were randomized into either an SMVD group, where Chinese-speaking community health workers (CHWs) used an effective, culturally appropriate video to discuss mammography, or a video-only group, which viewed the cultural video sent by mail. Outcomes were mammography uptake at 6 months and 21 months postintervention.

Results: Women in both groups increased mammography uptake, and an outcome analysis revealed no group differences (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.18; …

Correction: New Insights Into The Mechanisms Of Electroconvulsive Therapy In Treatment-Resistant Depression, Ana C Ruiz, Abdul Haseeb, William Baumgartner, Edison Leung, Giselli Scaini, Joao Quevedo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This corrects the article "New insights into the mechanisms of electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant depression", 1614076.

Head And Neck Gross Tumor Volume Automatic Segmentation Using Pocketnet, Awj Twam, Adrian Celaya, Evan Lim, Khaled Elsayes, David Fuentes, Tucker Netherton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Head and neck cancer (HNC) represents a significant global health burden, often requiring complex treatment strategies, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Accurate delineation of tumor volumes is critical for effective treatment, particularly in MR-guided interventions, where soft tissue contrast enhances visualization of tumor boundaries. Manual segmentation of gross tumor volumes (GTV) is labor intensive, time-consuming and prone to variability, motivating the development of automated segmentation techniques. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have emerged as powerful tools in this task, offering significant improvements in speed and consistency. In this study, we participated as Team Pocket in Task 1 of the HNTS-MRG …

Longitudinal Genomic Profiling Of Chemotherapy-Related Chip Variants In Patients With Ovarian Cancer, Sara Corvigno, Jun Yao, Amma Asare, Li Zhao, Joseph Celestino, Richard A Hajek, Ency A Arboleda Goette, Ridge T Rogers, Raymond N Montoya, Ping Song, Qingxiu C Zhang, Xingzhi Song, Mohammad M Mohammad, Kenna R Shaw, Jianhua Zhang, Karen H Lu, Amir A Jazaeri, Shannon N Westin, Anil K Sood, Sanghoon Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is characterized by the presence of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with the potential of clonally expanding and giving rise to hematological malignancies. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is the outgrowth of a single HSC clone with an acquired somatic mutation in the absence of hematological abnormalities. CHIP variants occur with a variant allele frequency (VAF) of at least 2% in peripheral blood. This definition does not account for less frequent mutations that give rise to hematopoietic clones. Previous studies indicate an association between CH and secondary hematologic malignancies in cancer patients who receive chemotherapy.

Methods: …

Racial Differences In Systemic Immune Parameters In Individuals With Lung Cancer, Mitchell S Von Itzstein, Jialiang Liu, Hong Mu-Mosley, Farjana Fattah, Jason Y Park, Jeffrey A Sorelle, J David Farrar, Mary E Gwin, David Hsiehchen, Yvonne Gloria-Mccutchen, Edward K Wakeland, Suzanne Cole, Sheena Bhalla, Radhika Kainthla, Igor Puzanov, Benjamin Switzer, Gregory A Daniels, Yousef Zakharia, Montaser Shaheen, Jianjun Zhang, Yang Xie, David E Gerber

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Racial and ethnic disparities in the presentation and outcomes of lung cancer are widely known. To evaluate potential factors contributing to these observations, we measured systemic immune parameters in Black and White patients with lung cancer.

Methods: Patients scheduled to receive cancer immunotherapy were enrolled in a multi-institutional prospective biospecimen collection registry. Clinical and demographic information were obtained from electronic medical records. Pretreatment peripheral blood samples were collected and analyzed for cytokines using a multiplex panel and for immune cell populations using mass cytometry. Differences between Black and White patients were determined and corrected for multiple comparisons.

Results: A …

Predicting Sinonasal Inverted Papilloma Attachment Using Machine Learning: Current Lessons And Future Directions, Sean P Mckee, Xiaomin Liang, William C Yao, Brady Anderson, Jumah G Ahmad, David Z Allen, Salman Hasan, Andy J Chua, Chinmay Mokashi, Samia Islam, Amber U Luong, Martin J Citardi, Luca Giancardo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Hyperostosis is a common radiographic feature of inverted papilloma (IP) tumor origin on computed tomography (CT). Herein, we developed a machine learning (ML) model capable of analyzing CT images and identifying IP attachment sites.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients treated for IP at our institution was performed. The tumor attachment site was manually segmented on CT scans by the operating surgeon. We used a nnU-Net model, a state-of-the-art deep learning-based segmentation algorithm that automatically configures image preprocessing, network architecture, training, and post-processing to identify the IP attachment site. The model was trained and evaluated using a 5-fold cross …

Empathy Unmasked: Patient Perception Of Physician Empathy In An Oncologic Emergency Setting A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Personal Protective Equipment Wear Versus Unmasked Video Communication, Kathryn J Burk, John J Stroh, Kelly Larkin, Patrick Chaftari, Denise M Langabeer, Jazmin R Menendez, Jeanie F Woodruff, Jan Hargrave, Hongxu Zhu, James P Long, Sai-Ching J Yeung, Kumar Alagappan, Aiham Qdaisat

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine emerged as an important option that supports and facilitates clinical practice, however, its usefulness in emergency settings that treat patients with cancer is unclear.

Objective: To evaluate patient perception of physician empathy in an emergency oncology setting, comparing video interaction to an in-person with personal protective equipment (PPE) approach.

Methods: In this single-center, prospective, cross-sectional, survey-based randomized controlled trial, patients were randomized 1:1 for the concluding conversation done in-person which included either interacting with physicians wearing PPE or video interaction with physicians without PPE (virtual). Patients' perceptions of the physicians' relational empathy were assessed …

Weighted Hypoxemia Index: An Adaptable Method For Quantifying Hypoxemia Severity, Diane C Lim, Cheng-Bang Chen, Ankita Paul, Yujie Wang, Jinyoung Kim, Soonhyun Yook, Emily Y Kim, Edison Q Kim, Anup Das, Medhi Wangpaichitr, Virend K Somers, Chi Hang Lee, Phyllis C Zee, Toshihiro Imamura, Hosung Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To quantitate hypoxemia severity.

Methods: We developed the Weighted Hypoxemia Index to be adapted to different clinical settings by applying 5 steps to the oxygen saturation curve: (1) Identify desaturation/resaturation event [Formula: see text] by setting the upper threshold; (2) Exclude events as artifact by setting a lower threshold; (3) Calculate weighted area for each [Formula: see text] as [Formula: see text]; (4) Calculate a normalization factor [Formula: see text] for each subject; (5) Calculate the Weighted Hypoxemia Index as the summation of all weighted areas multiplied by [Formula: see text]. We assessed the Weighted Hypoxemia Index predictive value …

Stat3 Inhibition In Combination With Cd47 Blockade Inhibits Osteosarcoma Lung Metastasis, Pradeep Shrestha, Rejeena Shrestha, You Zhou, Rafal Zielinski, Waldemar Priebe, Eugenie S Kleinerman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: New therapies are urgently needed for patients with osteosarcoma (OS). STAT3 and CD47 are potential therapeutic target in OS. Here we investigated the therapeutic activity of the orally bioavailable STAT3 inhibitor, WP1066, and anti-CD47 antibody using OS mouse models.

Methods: Cytotoxic effect of WP1066 against OS cell lines and its immunomodulatory effects were evaluated in vitro. Experimental metastasis and orthotopic syngeneic mouse models were used to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of WP1066 and anti-CD47 antibody. Further flow cytometric analysis was performed.

Results: STAT3 was constitutively activated in multiple human and mouse OS cell lines. WP1066 suppressed STAT3 activation …

Evaluation Of Quantum Contouring Algorithms For Treatment Planning On Mr Abdominal Images, Rachel Glenn, Tucker Netherton, Adrian Celaya, Mohamed Eltaher, Beatrice Riviere, Eugene J Koay, David Fuentes

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Quantum computing is increasingly being investigated for integration into medical radiology and healthcare applications worldwide. Given its potential to enhance clinical care and medical research, there is growing interest in evaluating its practical applications in clinical workflows.

Methods: We developed an evaluation of quantum computing-based auto-contouring methods to introduce medical physicists to this emerging technology. We implemented existing quantum algorithms as prototypes tailored for specific quantum hardware, focusing on their application to auto-contouring in medical imaging. The evaluation was performed using a medical resonance imaging (MRI) abdominal dataset, comprising 102 patient scans.

Results: The quantum algorithms were applied to …

Novel Use And Value Of Contrast-Enhanced Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging Morphologic And Radiomic Features In Predicting Extremity Soft Tissue Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma Treatment Response, Raul F Valenzuela, Elvis De Jesus Duran Sierra, Mathew A Canjirathinkal, Behrang Amini, Ken-Pin Hwang, Jingfei Ma, Keila E Torres, R Jason Stafford, Wei-Lien Wang, Robert S Benjamin, Andrew J Bishop, John E Madewell, William A Murphy, Colleen M Costelloe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (UPSs) demonstrate therapy-induced hemosiderin deposition, granulation tissue formation, fibrosis, and calcification. We aimed to determine the treatment-assessment value of morphologic tumoral hemorrhage patterns and first- and high-order radiomic features extracted from contrast-enhanced susceptibility-weighted imaging (CE-SWI).

Materials and methods: This retrospective institutional review board-authorized study included 33 patients with extremity UPS with magnetic resonance imaging and resection performed from February 2021 to May 2023. Volumetric tumor segmentation was obtained at baseline, postsystemic chemotherapy (PC), and postradiation therapy (PRT). The pathology-assessed treatment effect (PATE) in surgical specimens separated patients into responders (R; ≥90%, n = 16), partial responders …

Quantile Regression Based Method For Characterizing Risk-Specific Behavioral Patterns In Relation To Longitudinal Left-Censored Biomarker Data Collected From Heterogeneous Populations, Minjae Lee, Belinda M Reininger, Kelley Pettee Gabriel, Nalini Ranjit, Larkin L Strong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There are many studies aimed at promoting positive lifestyle behaviors to reduce lifetime risk of cancer and related diseases. However, assessing these modifiable behaviors through statistical modeling is challenging because of the multidimensionality of interrelated measurements that may dramatically differ between at-risk individuals. Taking into account this heterogeneity while considering the multidimensionality of behavior changes is fundamental to tailoring interventions to their needs. Biomarkers that identify high-risk individuals may help validate proximal measures, but the number of validated methods that link biomarkers to multiple behavioral measurements by determining their dynamic relations with disease risks is limited to just a few, …

Prrx1 Has Functional Roles In Pancreatic Acinar To Ductal Metaplasia And Carcinogenesis, Noriyuki Nishiwaki, Kensuke Sugiura, Kensuke Suzuki, Alina L Li, Constanza Tapia Contreras, Gizem Efe, Alice E Shin, Dorsay Sadeghian, Jun Zhao, Anirban Maitra, Jason R Pitarresi, Peter A Sims, Rohit Chandwani, Anil K Rustgi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Building Boundary-Crossers In Clinical-Translational Research: An Exploratory Study Of A Novel Communication Intervention, Carrie Cameron, Irene Rull-Garcia, Laura G Meyer, Jose-Armando Fernandez-Guerrero, Erin K Dahlstrom, Christine Bell, Christine Pribbenow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Integrating scientific research across multiple disciplines to advance breakthroughs is at the heart of clinical-translational science (CTS); among competencies that have been identified as essential for progress, skillful communication is critical. Few tools are available to address the social dynamics of the multidimensional diversity characteristics of CTS. We created the "Building a Diverse Biomedical Workforce Through Communication Across Difference (CAD)" workshop intervention. Based on principles of intercultural communication, CAD taught novel situationally-based communication skills to dyads of near-peer mentors and their undergraduate mentees. This study reports on the effectiveness of the operative mechanisms employed in CAD workshops for helping …

Tissue And Imaging Biomarkers Of Response To Neoadjuvant Nivolumab Or Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab In Patients With Resectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Michael Lapelusa, Shadi Chamseddine, Hop Sanderson Tran Cao, Lianchun Xiao, Elshad Hasanov, Priya Bhosale, Hesham M Amin, Yehia I Mohamed, Betul Gok Yavuz, Yara Sakr, Li Xu, Ian Hu, Sunyoung S Lee, Divya Sakamuri, Sonali Jindal, Van Nguyen, Michael A Curran, Ryan Sun, Asif Rashid, Dan Gabriel Duda, Padmanee Sharma, Aliya Qayyum, Ahmed Omar Kaseb

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Perioperative immunotherapy has shown promise in some patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study examined tissue and imaging biomarkers associated with pathologic response in a phase II clinical trial in patients with resectable HCC.

Methods: Analysis included 18 patients with biopsy-proven resectable HCC treated with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab alone in a phase II clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center (NCT03222076). Liver MRE (to measure tissue fibrosis) and biopsies (to evaluate immune activation markers) were obtained serially pretreatment and after completing neoadjuvant immunotherapy. A major pathologic response (MPR) was defined as tumor necrosis …

Knowledge-Based Planning For Fully Automated Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning Of 10 Different Cancer Sites, Christine V Chung, Meena S Khan, Adenike Olanrewaju, Mary Pham, Quyen T Nguyen, Tina Patel, Prajnan Das, Michael S O'Reilly, Valerie K Reed, Anuja Jhingran, Hannah Simonds, Ethan B Ludmir, Karen E Hoffman, Komeela Naidoo, Jeannette Parkes, Ajay Aggarwal, Lauren L Mayo, Shalin J Shah, Chad Tang, Beth M Beadle, Julie Wetter, Gary Walker, Simon Hughes, Vinod Mullassery, Stephen Skett, Christopher Thomas, Lifei Zhang, Son Nguyen, Raymond P Mumme, Raphael J Douglas, Hana Baroudi, Laurence E Court

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Radiation treatment planning is highly complex and can have significant inter- and intra-planner inconsistency, as well as variability in planning time and plan quality. Knowledge-based planning (KBP) is a tool that can be used to efficiently produce high-quality, consistent, clinically acceptable plans, independent of planner skills and experience. In this study, we created and validated multiple clinically acceptable and fully automatable KBP models, with the goal of creating VMAT plans without user intervention.

Methods: Ten KBP models were configured using high quality clinical plans from a single institution. They were then honed to be part of a fully automatable …

Characterizing Spatial Immune Architecture In Metastatic Melanoma Using High-Dimensional Multiplex Imaging, Joel Eliason, Santhoshi Krishnan, Yasunari Fukuda, Matias A Bustos, Dan Winkowski, Sungnam Cho, Akshay Basi, Regan Baird, Elizabeth A Grimm, Michael A Davies, Dave S B Hoon, Arvind Rao, Jared K Burks, Suhendan Ekmekcioglu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly improved survival for patients with metastatic melanoma, yet many experienceresistance due to immunosuppressive mechanisms within the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Understanding how the spatial architecture of immune and inflammatory components changes across disease stages may reveal novel prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Methods: We performed high-dimensional spatial profiling of two melanoma tissue microarrays (TMAs), representing Stage III (n = 157) and Stage IV (n = 248) metastatic tumors. Using imaging mass cytometry (IMC) and multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF), we characterized the phenotypic, functional, and spatial properties of the TIME. Cellular neighborhoods were …

Case Report: Durable Remission After Abscopal Effect Following Transcatheter Hepatic Arterial Embolization In A Patient With Mucosal Melanoma Refractory To Immunotherapy, Lynsey M Claus, Hannah E Kostan, Marshall E Hicks, Rony Avritscher, Michael A Davies

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mucosal melanoma, a rare subtype of melanoma affecting mucosal surfaces, presents significant challenges in diagnosis and treatment, particularly due to its low programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and reduced response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This case report describes a 58-year-old woman with metastatic nasal mucosal melanoma initially resistant to neoadjuvant ipilimumab and nivolumab. After undergoing hepatic transcatheter arterial embolization, she experienced an unexpected abscopal effect, where distant metastases showed near-complete resolution despite prior lack of response to immunotherapy. The patient's disease initially progressed despite two cycles of ICI treatment, and further immunotherapy with nivolumab and relatimab did not improve …

Editorial: Molecular Mechanisms And Targeted Therapies For Colorectal Cancer Vol Ii, Alessandro Passardi, David Gibbons, Antonio Mario Scanu, Shilpa S Dhar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Cord Blood-Derived Ink T Cells As A Platform For Allogeneic Car T Cell Therapy, Maison Grefe, Abel Trujillo-Ocampo, Jelita Clinton, Hong He, Ling Yu, Dan Li, Qing Ma, Elizabeth J Shpall, Jeffrey J Molldrem, Jin S Im

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

CD1d-restricted invariant Natural Killer (iNK) T cells are a suitable candidate for allogeneic Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy as they do not cause graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) due to the monomorphic nature of CD1d proteins. However, the phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of iNK T cells from adult donors (AD) may lead to the inconstant CAR-iNK T cell products. Cord blood-derived (CB) iNK T cells, in contrast, exhibit inter-donor homogeneity in phenotype including uniform CD4 expression and are enriched in memory iNK T cell populations. Thus, we evaluated the preclinical therapeutic potential of iNK T cells derived from cord blood …

Molecular Alterations In Idh-Mutant Astrocytoma: A Multi-Institutional Retrospective Study, Keng Lam, Hanim I Ozkizilkaya, Denái R Milton, Antonio Dono, Yajie Liu, Suprateek Kundu, Vinodh A Kumar, Jason M Johnson, Yoshua Esquenazi, Chirag B Patel, Leomar Y Ballester

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Several molecular alterations have been identified to provide prognosis for patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant astrocytoma. However, contemporary baseline survival data with respect to their molecular alterations are lacking. The prognostic value of histologic grading remains controversial.

Methods: This was a retrospective multi-site study of adult IDH-mutant diffuse astrocytoma patients. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Associations between OS and measures of interest were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results: We identified 241 eligible patients. The most frequent mutations were IDH1 (98%), TP53 (91%), ATRX (70%), ARID1A (8%), BRCA2 (6%), TSC2 (6%), CDKN2A (6%), …

The Impact Of Post-Remission Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Use In The Phase 3 Studies Of Venetoclax Combination Treatments In Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Courtney D Dinardo, Keith W Pratz, Panayiotis Panayiotidis, Xudong Wei, Vladimir Vorobyev, Árpád Illés, Inho Kim, Vladimir Ivanov, Grace Ku, Catherine L Miller, Meng Zhang, Fernando Tatsch, Jalaja Potluri, Xenia Schmidt, Christian Récher

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.