Medical Specialties Commons^™

Frontline Ph-Negative B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment And The Emerging Role Of Blinatumomab, Elias J Jabbour, Hagop M Kantarjian, Nicola Goekbuget, Bijal D Shah, Sabina Chiaretti, Jae H Park, Anita W Rijneveld, Lia Gore, Shaun Fleming, Aaron C Logan, Josep M Ribera, Tobias F Menne, Khalid Mezzi, Faraz Zaman, Kelly Velasco, Nicolas Boissel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This narrative review seeks to summarize chemotherapeutic regimens commonly used for patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-negative B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) in the frontline setting and to describe the latest clinical research using the bispecific T-cell-engaging immunotherapy blinatumomab in the first-line treatment setting. Current standard-of-care chemotherapeutic backbones for newly diagnosed Ph-negative BCP-ALL are based on the same overarching treatment principle: to reduce disease burden to undetectable levels and maintain lasting remission. The adult treatment landscape has progressively evolved following the adoption of pediatric-inspired regimens. However, these intense regimens are not tolerated by all, and high-risk patients still …

Leptin Levels Are Associated With Coronary Artery Calcification In Patients With Advanced Prostate Cancer, Efstratios Koutroumpakis, Neha Venkatesh, Ana Aparicio, Juhee Song, Theocharis Panaretakis, Anita Deswal, Christopher J Logothetis, Daniel E Frigo, Andrew W Hahn

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Convergent data suggest that advanced prostate cancer and coronary heart disease (CHD) share biological vulnerabilities that may be linked to adiposity. Here we explore whether leptin, as a marker and mediator of adiposity, could link prostate cancer to CHD.

Methods: Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) enrolled in a phase II trial (NCT02703623) studying androgen deprivation therapy, abiraterone, prednisone, and apalutamide were eligible if they had plasma and a chest CT scan available. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores and adipokine levels were measured upon enrollment.

Results: Of 164 patients, 87% were white. The mean age was …

Genomic And Transcriptomic Analyses Identify Distinctive Features Of Triple-Negative Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Xiaoping Wang, Li Zhao, Xingzhi Song, Xiaogang Wu, Savitri Krishnamurthy, Takashi Semba, Shan Shao, Mark Knafl, Larry W Coffer, Angela Alexander, Anita Vines, Swetha Bopparaju, Wendy A Woodward, Randy Chu, Jianhua Zhang, Clinton Yam, Lenora W M Loo, Azadeh Nasrazadani, Le-Petross Huong, Scott E Woodman, Andrew Futreal, Debu Tripathy, Naoto T Ueno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer (TN-IBC) is the most aggressive type of breast cancer, yet its defining genomic, molecular, and immunological features remain largely unknown. In this study, we performed the largest and most comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic analyses of prospectively collected TN-IBC patient samples from a phase II clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02876107, registered on August 22, 2016) and compared them to similarly analyzed stage III TN-non-IBC patient samples (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02276443, registered on October 21, 2014). We found that TN-IBC tumors have distinctive genomic, molecular, and immunological characteristics, including a lower tumor mutation load than TN-non-IBC, and an association …

Camkk2: Bridging The Gap Between Ca2+ Signaling And Energy-Sensing, Luke M Mcaloon, Abbey G Muller, Kevin Nay, Eudora L Lu, Benoit Smeuninx, Anthony R Means, Mark A Febbraio, John W Scott

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Calcium (Ca2+) ions are ubiquitous and indispensable signaling messengers that regulate virtually every cell function. The unique ability of Ca2+ to regulate so many different processes yet cause stimulus specific changes in cell function requires sensing and decoding of Ca2+ signals. Ca2+-sensing proteins, such as calmodulin, decode Ca2+ signals by binding and modifying the function of a diverse range of effector proteins. These effectors include the Ca2+-calmodulin dependent protein kinase kinase-2 (CaMKK2) enzyme, which is the core component of a signaling cascade that plays a key role in important physiological and pathophysiological processes, including brain function and cancer. In addition …

Tumor-Associated Antigen Prediction Using A Single-Sample Gene Expression State Inference Algorithm, Xinpei Yi, Hongwei Zhao, Shunjie Hu, Liangqing Dong, Yongchao Dou, Jing Li, Qiang Gao, Bing Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We developed a Bayesian-based algorithm to infer gene expression states in individual samples and incorporated it into a workflow to identify tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) across 33 cancer types using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Our analysis identified 212 candidate TAAs, with 78 validated in independent RNA-seq datasets spanning seven cancer types. Eighteen of these TAAs were further corroborated by proteomics data, including 10 linked to liver cancer. We predicted that 38 peptides derived from these 10 TAAs would bind strongly to HLA-A02, the most common HLA allele. Experimental validation confirmed …

Tumor-Infiltrating Mast Cells Confer Resistance To Immunotherapy In Pancreatic Cancer, Ying Ma, Xiangqin Zhao, Jingyan Feng, Suimin Qiu, Baoan Ji, Lu Huang, Patrick Hwu, Craig D Logsdon, Huamin Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) exhibits an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) contributing to its therapeutic resistance. Following our previous studies, we report that mast cells infiltrating the PDAC TME foster this immunosuppression and desmoplasia. Mast cell infiltration correlated with human PDAC progression, and genetic or pharmacological mast cell depletion reduced tumor growth and desmoplasia while enhancing survival in mouse PDAC models. Mechanistically, mast cell-derived IL-10 promoted PDAC progression. Strikingly, combining an agonistic anti-OX40 immunotherapy with mast cell blockade synergistically elicited durable anti-tumor immunity, marked by increased infiltration of CD8

Life Course Stressors, Latent Coping Strategies, Alcohol Use, And Adherence Among People With Hiv, Amrita Gill, Gretchen Clum, Patricia Molina, David Welsh, Tekeda Ferguson, Katherine P. Theall

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

People with HIV (PWH) have often experienced chronic stressors across their lifespan, including adverse childhood experiences (ACES), lifetime economic hardship (LEH), and concurrent stressors associated with living in urban areas (urban stress). Prolonged exposure to stressors might result in differential coping patterns among PWH that can impact care trajectories. We utilized a life course-informed approach to examine chronic stressors as antecedents of latent coping strategies among PWH in care. High-risk alcohol use and non-adherence to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) were examined as consequences of latent coping strategies. Data were utilized from the baseline and interim follow-up visit of the New Orleans …

Long-Term Follow-Up Of Levonorgestrel Intrauterine Device For Atypical Hyperplasia And Early Endometrial Cancer Reveals Relapse Characterized By Immune Exhaustion, Mikayla B Bowen, Brenda Melendez, Qian Zhang, Richard K Yang, Bryan M Fellman, Barrett C Lawson, Naomi N Adjei, Joseph Celestino, Khalida M Wani, Bhavana Singh, Diana L Urbauer, Alexander J Lazar, Karen H Lu, Jennifer A Wargo, Shannon N Westin, Melinda S Yates

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Nonsurgical treatment options are increasingly needed for endometrial atypical hyperplasia (AH) and endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC). Despite promising initial response rates, prospective long-term data and determinants for relapse are limited.

Materials and methods: Follow-up data from patients in our prospective phase II trial of levonorgestrel intrauterine device (LIUD) for AH/G1EEC were collected from medical records. Spatial transcriptomics (Nanostring GeoMX digital spatial profiling) with in silico cell type deconvolution and pathway analyses were employed on longitudinal biopsy samples from five patients across pre-treatment, on-treatment, and relapse.

Results: Of 43 participants exhibiting initial response to LIUD, 41 had follow-up data. Sixteen …

Assessing Mechanical Agency During Apical Apoptotic Cell Extrusion, Sommer Anjum, Llaran Turner, Youmna Atieh, George T Eisenhoffer, Lance A Davidson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Homeostasis is necessary for epithelia to maintain barrier function and prevent the accumulation of defective cells. Unfit, excess, and dying cells in the larval zebrafish tail fin epidermis are removed via controlled cell death and extrusion. Extrusion coincides with oscillations of cell area, both in the extruding cell and its neighbors. Here, we develop a biophysical model of this process to explore the role of autonomous and non-autonomous mechanics. We vary biophysical properties and oscillatory behaviors of extruding cells and their neighbors along with tissue-wide cell density and viscosity. We find that cell autonomous processes are major contributors to the …

Epigenome Reprogramming Through H3k27 And H3k4 Trimethylation As A Resistance Mechanism To Dna Methylation Inhibition In Brafv600e-Mutated Colorectal Cancer, Hey Min Lee, Ajay Kumar Saw, Van K Morris, Stefania Napolitano, Christopher Bristow, Sanjana Srinivasan, Micheal Peoples, Alexey Sorokin, Preeti Kanikarla Marie, Jonathan Schulz, Anand K Singh, Christopher Terranova, Oluwadara Coker, Abhinav Jain, Scott Kopetz, Kunal Rai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: BRAFV600E-mutated colorectal cancer exhibits a strong correlation with DNA hypermethylation, suggesting that this subgroup of tumors presents unique epigenomic phenotypes. Nonetheless, 5-azacitidine, which inhibits DNA methyltransferase activity, is not efficacious in BRAFV600E colorectal cancer in vivo.

Experimental design: We randomized and treated mice implanted with patient-derived tumor xenografts harboring BRAFV600E mutation with control, 5-azacitidine, vemurafenib (BRAF inhibitor), or the combination. Comprehensive epigenomic profiling was conducted on control and 5-azacitidine-treated tumor samples, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression. Combinations of epigenetic agents were explored in preclinical BRAFV600E colorectal cancer models.

Results: A profound reduction of DNA …

Association Of Clonal Hematopoiesis And Mosaic Chromosomal Alterations With Solid Malignancy Incidence And Mortality, Pinkal Desai, Ying Zhou, Justin Grenet, Samuel K Handelman, Cynthia M Crispino, Laura N Tarbay, Eric A Whitsel, Gail Roboz, Ana Barac, Michael Honigberg, Alexander Bick, Garnet Anderson, Jean Wactawski-Wende, Yasminka A Jakubek Swartzlander, Jason Bacon, Justin Wong, Xiaolong Ma, Paul Scheet, Zichan Li, Pashtoon Kasi, Ross Prentice, Paul Auer, Joann E Manson, Alexander Reiner, Michael Simon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Understanding the impact of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs) on solid tumor risk and mortality can shed light on novel cancer pathways.

Methods: The authors analyzed whole genome sequencing data from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Women's Health Initiative study (n = 10,866). They investigated the presence of CHIP and mCA and their association with the development and mortality of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers.

Results: CHIP was associated with higher risk of breast (hazard ratio [HR], 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.64; p = .02) but not colorectal (p = .77) or …

Disease Site Specialization In The Academic Radiation Oncology Workforce: Evidence Of Gender Differences, Kelsey L Corrigan, Mikaela E Bankston, Emma B Holliday, Simona F Shaitelman, Anna Lee, Chelain R Goodman, C David Fuller, Fumiko L Chino, Charles R Thomas, Reshma Jagsi, Ethan B Ludmir

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Because some stakeholders within medicine seek to diversify and attain greater workforce equity, it is critical to understand gender-based divisions within specialization. Radiation oncology (RO) has one of the smallest proportions of women representation of all specialties, and to our knowledge, no prior studies have investigated gender differences in all the disease site specializations within RO. Thus, we analyzed the relationship between gender and disease site(s) treated in academic RO (ARO).

Methods and materials: Faculty gender and disease site(s) treated by faculty from ARO departments were collected via publicly available department websites in January 2020. X2 analyses were conducted …

Outcomes Of Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia And Bone Marrow Fibrosis, Samuel Urrutia, Hagop M Kantarjian, Farhad Ravandi-Kashani, Carlos Bueso-Ramos, Rashmi Kanagal-Shamanna, Elias Jabbour, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Nicholas J Short, Naval Daver, Gautam Borthakur, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan M Kadia, Lucia Masarova, Prithviraj Bose, Naveen Pemmaraju, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Koji Sasaki

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and bone marrow fibrosis (MF) are not well defined. The study objectives were to evaluate the degrees of MF in AML, and corresponding response rates and outcomes. We performed a retrospective review of 2302 patients with AML. We annotated the clinical and molecular characteristics, response to therapy, and survival outcomes of patients with bone marrow fibrosis. Overall, 492 patients (21.4%) had a reported microscopic evaluation of MF: 344 (69.9%) had MF grade 0-1 and 148 (30.1%) had MF grade 2-3. Patients with MF 2-3 had a higher proportion of complex cytogenetics …

Low-Molecular Weight Cyclin E Confers A Vulnerability To Pkmyt1 Inhibition In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Mi Li, Amriti R Lulla, Yan Wang, Spyros Tsavaschidis, Fuchenchu Wang, Cansu Karakas, Tuyen D T Nguyen, Tuyen N Bui, Marc A Pina, Mei-Kuang Chen, Sofia Mastoraki, Asha S Multani, Natalie W Fowlkes, Aysegul Sahin, C Gary Marshall, Kelly K Hunt, Khandan Keyomarsi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cyclin E is a regulatory subunit of CDK2 that mediates S phase entry and progression. The cleavage of full-length cyclin E (FL-cycE) to low-molecular weight isoforms (LMW-E) dramatically alters substrate specificity, promoting G1-S cell cycle transition and accelerating mitotic exit. Approximately 70% of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) express LMW-E, which correlates with poor prognosis. PKMYT1 also plays an important role in mitosis by inhibiting CDK1 to block premature mitotic entry, suggesting it could be a therapeutic target in TNBC expressing LMW-E. In this study, analysis of tumor samples of patients with TNBC revealed that coexpression of LMW-E and PKMYT1-catalyzed CDK1 …

What Do Cancer Genetic Providers Want Us To Know About Variant Reclassification And Recontact That We Are Not Asking? A Thematic Analysis Of Open-Ended Survey Responses, Kerri Brown, Marisel Ponton, Elenita Davidson, Banu Arun, Robert J Volk, Sanjay Shete, Susan K Peterson, Sukh Makhnoon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Accurate variant classification and relaying reclassified results to patients is critical for hereditary cancer care delivery. Over a 5- to 10-year period, 6%-15% of variants undergo reclassification. As the frequency of reclassifications increases, the issue of whether, how, when, and which providers should recontact patients becomes important but remains contentious.

METHODS: The authors used inductive thematic analysis to analyze open-ended comments offered by oncologists and genetic counselors (GCs) from a large national survey.

RESULTS: Of the 634 oncologists and cancer GCs, 126 (20%) offered substantive free-text comments. Four thematic areas emerged: 1) ambiguity over professional responsibility to recontact, 2) …

Personalized Composite Dosimetric Score-Based Machine Learning Model Of Severe Radiation-Induced Lymphopenia Among Patients With Esophageal Cancer, Yan Chu, Cong Zhu, Brian P Hobbs, Yiqing Chen, Peter S N Van Rossum, Clemens Grassberger, Degui Zhi, Steven H Lin, Radhe Mohan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) is common among patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT)' Severe RIL has been linked to adverse outcomes. The severity and risk of RIL can be predicted from baseline clinical characteristics and dosimetric parameters. However, dosimetric parameters, e.g. dose-volume (DV) indices, are highly correlated with one another and are only weakly associated with RIL. Here we introduce the novel concept of "composite dosimetric score" (CDS) as the index that condenses the dose distribution in immune tissues of interest to study the dosimetric dependence of RIL. We derived an improved multivariate classification scheme for risk of grade 4 RIL …

Clonal Hematopoiesis And Solid Tumor Risk: New Insights From The Women's Health Initiative, Nehali Shah, Koichi Takahashi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Alternatively Spliced Map4 Isoforms Have Key Roles In Maintaining Microtubule Organization And Skeletal Muscle Function, Lathan Lucas, Larissa Nitschke, Brandon Nguyen, James A Loehr, George G Rodney, Thomas A Cooper

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Skeletal muscle cells (myofibers) are elongated non-mitotic, multinucleated syncytia that have adapted a microtubule lattice. Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) play roles in regulating microtubule architecture. The most abundant MAP in skeletal muscle is MAP4. MAP4 consists of a ubiquitous MAP4 isoform (uMAP4), expressed in most tissues, and a striated-muscle-specific alternatively spliced isoform (mMAP4) that includes a 3,180-nucleotide exon (exon 8). To determine the role of mMAP4 in skeletal muscle, we generated mice that lack mMAP4 and express only uMAP4 due to genomic deletion of exon 8. We demonstrate that loss of mMAP4 leads to disorganized microtubule architecture and intrinsic loss of …

Sample Multiplexing For Retinal Single-Cell Rna Sequencing, Justin Ma, Ting-Kuan Chu, Maria Polo-Prieto, Yong H Park, Yumei Li, Rui Chen, Graeme Mardon, Benjamin J Frankfort, Nicholas M Tran

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rare cell populations can be challenging to characterize using microfluidic single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) platforms. Typically, the population of interest must be enriched and pooled from multiple biological specimens for efficient collection. However, these practices preclude the resolution of sample origin together with phenotypic data and are problematic in experiments in which biological or technical variation is expected to be high (e.g., disease models, genetic perturbation screens, or human samples). One solution is sample multiplexing whereby each sample is tagged with a unique sequence barcode that is resolved bioinformatically. We have established a scRNA-seq sample multiplexing pipeline for mouse retinal …

Going Against The Family: Perturbation Of A Greenbeard Pathway Leads To Falsebeard Cheating, Peter Lehmann, Mariko Katoh-Kurasawa, Peter Kundert, Gad Shaulsky

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Greenbeards facilitate cooperation by encoding a perceptible signal, the ability to detect it, and a tendency to help others that display it. Falsebeards are hypothetical cheaters that display the signal without being altruistic. Despite many examples of greenbeards, evidence for falsebeards is scarce. The Dictyostelium discoideum tgrB1-tgrC1 allorecognition pathway encodes a greenbeard. It allows development, which yields fruiting bodies with altruistic stalks that increase spore dispersal. Here we show that cells lacking rapgapB, a tgrB1-tgrC1 signaling element, cheat by avoiding the stalk fate and generating more spores in chimeras than in pure populations. rapgapB– cells cheat only on …

Systematic Review Of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Related Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary, And Pancreatic Adverse Events, Malek Shatila, Hao Chi Zhang, Anusha Shirwaikar Thomas, Antonio Pizuorno Machado, Sidra Naz, Nitish Mittal, Christine Catinis, Krishnavathana Varatharajalu, Carolina Colli Cruz, Eric Lu, Deanna Wu, Julie R Brahmer, Franck Carbonnel, Stephen B Hanauer, Bret Lashner, Bryan Schneider, John A Thompson, Michel Obeid, David P Farris, Yinghong Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events (GI irAEs) are common manifestations of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) toxicity. We present a comprehensive systematic review of the incidence, management, and clinical course of irAEs across the entire GI system, including the luminal GI tract, liver, and pancreas. MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, and Cochrane Library were used to conduct this review. All studies pertaining to GI irAEs were included. Both abstracts and full manuscripts were eligible if they included human subjects and were written in the English language. Articles not available in English, animal studies, or research not specific to GI toxicity …

Oncolytic Virotherapies And Adjuvant Gut Microbiome Therapeutics To Enhance Efficacy Against Malignant Gliomas, Natalie M Meléndez-Vázquez, Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, Filipa Godoy-Vitorino

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most prevalent malignant brain tumor. Current standard-of-care treatments offer limited benefits for patient survival. Virotherapy is emerging as a novel strategy to use oncolytic viruses (OVs) for the treatment of GBM. These engineered and non-engineered viruses infect and lyse cancer cells, causing tumor destruction without harming healthy cells. Recent advances in genetic modifications to OVs have helped improve their targeting capabilities and introduce therapeutic genes, broadening the therapeutic window and minimizing potential side effects. The efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy can be enhanced by combining it with other treatments such as immunotherapy, chemotherapy, or radiation. Recent studies …

Use Of Electrical Bone Growth Stimulators In High-Risk Patients Following Spinal Fusion, Soumya Malhotra, Khavir Sharieff

HCA-NSU MD Research Day

Title: Use of Electrical Bone Growth Stimulators in High-Risk Patients Following Spinal Fusion Authors: Soumya Malhotra, BA., MS1 & Khavir Sharieff, DO, MBA2 1Class of 2027, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, FL 2Assistant Professor of Surgery, Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tampa Bay, FLNova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the advantages of EBGSs following high-risk spinal fusions. Background: Pseudarthrosis is a condition where bones fail to fuse after an injury or surgery. It causes significant …

Nourishing Skin Health: The Impact Of A Balanced Diet On Chronic Inflammatory Skin Conditions, Archana Banda

HCA-NSU MD Research Day

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the influence a balanced diet has on the outcome of specific dermatologic conditions notably psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and rosacea. Background: Nutritional status is pivotal in shaping holistic wellness, which extends to skin health. Adequate nutrition can prevent the worsening of inflammatory conditions. Methods: A literature review was conducted to analyze how specific dietary habits for selected chronic inflammatory cutaneous conditions influence the presentation and overall clinical outcome. Results: The analysis indicates a higher incidence of flare-ups with diets heavily consisting of carbohydrates, red meat, alcohol, and fats. Specific diets, such as the Western …

Ar (Cag)N Microsatellite And Apex1 C444t>G (Pasp148glu) Polymorphisms As Independent Prognostic Biomarkers In Prostate Cancer: Insights From An Argentinian Cohort, Gaston Pascual, Agustina Sabater, Juan Bizzotto, Rocio Seniuk, Pablo Sanchis, Sabrina Ledesma-Bazan, Estefania Labanca, Carlos Scorticati, Osvaldo Mazza, Elba Vazquez, Ayelen Toro, Federico Prada, Geraldine Gueron, Javier Cotignola

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/objectives: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the leading malignancy and the third most common cause of cancer-related death in Argentinian men. Predicting outcomes in localized PCa remains difficult due to tumor heterogeneity. In this study, we assessed the impact of AR (CAG)n and APEX1 c.444T>G polymorphisms on biochemical relapse in Argentine patients with localized PCa.

Methods: We genotyped blood samples from 123 PCa patients for AR (CAG)n and APEX1 p.Asp148Glu (c.444T>G) polymorphisms. Associations with clinicopathological parameters and biochemical relapse-free survival (BRFS) were assessed.

Results: AR (CAG)20-23 was associated with a family history of breast/ovarian cancer (p = 0.0469). …

The Il-1Β Inhibitor Canakinumab In Previously Treated Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes: A Phase 2 Clinical Trial, Juan Jose Rodriguez-Sevilla, Vera Adema, Kelly S Chien, Sanam Loghavi, Feiyang Ma, Hui Yang, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Xuelin Huang, Xavier Calvo, Joby Joseph, Kristy Bodden, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Simona Colla

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the IL-1β pathway is upregulated, and previous studies using mouse models of founder MDS mutations demonstrated that it enhances hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells' (HSPCs') aberrant differentiation towards the myeloid lineage at the expense of erythropoiesis. To evaluate whether targeting the IL-1β signaling pathway can rescue ineffective erythropoiesis in patients with MDS, we designed a phase 2 non-randomized single-arm clinical trial (NCT04239157) to assess the safety profile and efficacy of the IL-1β inhibitor canakinumab in previously treated lower-risk MDS patients. We enrolled 25 patients with a median age of 74 years; 60% were male, 16% had …

Long-Read Sequencing Of An Advanced Cancer Cohort Resolves Rearrangements, Unravels Haplotypes, And Reveals Methylation Landscapes, Kieran O'Neill, Erin Pleasance, Jeremy Fan, Vahid Akbari, Glenn Chang, Katherine Dixon, Veronika Csizmok, Signe Maclennan, Vanessa Porter, Andrew Galbraith, Cameron J Grisdale, Luka Culibrk, John H Dupuis, Richard Corbett, James Hopkins, Reanne Bowlby, Pawan Pandoh, Duane E Smailus, Dean Cheng, Tina Wong, Connor Frey, Yaoqing Shen, Eleanor Lewis, Luis F Paulin, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Jessica M T Nelson, Eric Chuah, Karen L Mungall, Richard A Moore, Robin Coope, Andrew J Mungall, Melissa K Mcconechy, Laura M Williamson, Kasmintan A Schrader, Stephen Yip, Marco A Marra, Janessa Laskin, Steven J M Jones

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The Long-Read Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) dataset comprises a cohort of 189 patient tumors and 41 matched normal samples sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies PromethION platform. This dataset from the POG program and the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network includes DNA and RNA short-read sequence data, analytics, and clinical information. We show the potential of long-read sequencing for resolving complex cancer-related structural variants, viral integrations, and extrachromosomal circular DNA. Long-range phasing facilitates the discovery of allelically differentially methylated regions (aDMRs) and allele-specific expression, including recurrent aDMRs in the cancer genes RET and CDKN2A. Germline promoter methylation in MLH1 can …

Genetically Determined Telomere Length In Monoclonal Gammopathy Of Undetermined Significance, Multiple Myeloma Risk And Outcome, Matteo Giaccherini, Alyssa I Clay-Gilmour, Romano Liotti, Angelica Macauda, Manuel Gentiluomo, Elizabeth E Brown, Mitchell J Machiela, Stephen J Chanock, Michelle A T Hildebrandt, Aaron D Norman, Elisabet Manasanch, S Vincent Rajkumar, Jonathan N Hofmann, Sonja I Berndt, Parveen Bhatti, Graham G Giles, Elad Ziv, Shaji K Kumar, Nicola J Camp, Wendy Cozen, Susan L Slager, Federico Canzian, Federica Gemignani, Celine M Vachon, Daniele Campa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Addition Of Metastasis-Directed Therapy To Systemic Therapy For Oligometastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (Extend): A Multicenter, Randomized Phase Ii Trial, Ethan B Ludmir, Alexander D Sherry, Bryan M Fellman, Suyu Liu, Tharakeswara Bathala, Cara Haymaker, Marina N Medina-Rosales, Alexandre Reuben, Emma B Holliday, Grace L Smith, Sonal S Noticewala, Sarah Nicholas, Tracy R Price, Rachael M Martin-Paulpeter, Luis A Perles, Sunyoung S Lee, Michael S Lee, Brandon G Smaglo, Ryan W Huey, Jason Willis, Dan Zhao, Lorenzo Cohen, Cullen M Taniguchi, Eugene J Koay, Matthew H G Katz, Robert A Wolff, Prajnan Das, Shubham Pant, Albert C Koong, Chad Tang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: The EXTEND trial tested the hypothesis that adding comprehensive metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) to chemotherapy would improve progression-free survival (PFS) over chemotherapy alone among patients with oligometastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Methods: EXTEND (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03599765) is a multicenter, phase II basket trial randomly assigning patients with ≤five metastases 1:1 to MDT plus systemic therapy versus systemic therapy. Disease progression was defined by radiologic criteria (RECIST v1.1), clinical progression, or death. The primary end point was PFS in the per-protocol population, evaluated after all patients achieved at least 6 months of follow-up. Exploratory end points included systemic immune response …

Dna Methylation Classifier To Diagnose Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Metastases From Different Anatomical Sites, Teodor G Calina, Eilís Perez, Elena Grafenhorst, Jamal Benhamida, Simon Schallenberg, Adrian Popescu, Ines Koch, Tobias Janik, Baoqing Chen, Jana Ihlow, Stephanie Roessler, Benjamin Goeppert, Bruno Sinn, Marcus Bahra, George A Calin, Eliane T Taube, Uwe Pelzer, Christopher C M Neumann, David Horst, Erik Knutsen, David Capper, Mihnea P Dragomir

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: We have recently constructed a DNA methylation classifier that can discriminate between pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PAAD) liver metastasis and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) with high accuracy (PAAD-iCCA-Classifier). PAAD is one of the leading causes of cancer of unknown primary and diagnosis is based on exclusion of other malignancies. Therefore, our focus was to investigate whether the PAAD-iCCA-Classifier can be used to diagnose PAAD metastases from other sites.

Methods: For this scope, the anomaly detection filter of the initial classifier was expanded by 8 additional mimicker carcinomas, amounting to a total of 10 carcinomas in the negative class. We validated the …