Medical Specialties Commons^™

Real-World Outcomes Of Upfront Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation In Patients With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma With Deletion 17p, Curtis Marcoux, Oren Pasvolsky, Denái R Milton, Mark R Tanner, Qaiser Bashir, Samer Srour, Neeraj Saini, Paul Lin, Jeremy Ramdial, Yago Nieto, Guilin Tang, Hans C Lee, Krina K Patel, Partow Kebriaei, Amna Ahmed, Yosra Aljawai, Sheeba K Thomas, Robert Z Orlowski, Elizabeth J Shpall, Richard E Champlin, Muzaffar H Qazilbash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite tremendous advancements in multiple myeloma (MM) therapeutics, outcomes remain heterogeneous, heavily influenced by clinical and cytogenetic factors. Among these, deletion of the short arm of chromosome 17 (del(17p)) is a strong predictor of poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate real-world outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) with del(17p) undergoing upfront autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HCT). We conducted a single-center retrospective analysis of patients with NDMM who underwent upfront auto-HCT at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2008 and 2018. Primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), with secondary endpoints being …

Practical Application Of Multivendor Mri-Based R2* Mapping For Liver Iron Quantification At 15 T And 30 T, Gregory Simchick, Ruiyang Zhao, Qing Yuan, Mounes Aliyari Ghasabeh, Stefan Ruschke, Dimitrios C Karampinos, David T Harris, Raphael Do Vale Souza, Ryan J Mattison, Michael R Jeng, Ivan Pedrosa, Ihab R Kamel, Shreyas Vasanawala, Takeshi Yokoo, Scott B Reeder, Diego Hernando

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Recent multicenter, multivendor MRI-based R2* vs. liver iron concentration (LIC) calibrations (i.e., MCMV calibrations) may facilitate broad clinical dissemination of R2*-based LIC quantification. However, these calibrations are based on a centralized offline R2* reconstruction, and their applicability with vendor-provided R2* maps is unclear.

Purpose: To determine R2* ranges of agreement between the centralized and three MRI vendors' R2* reconstructions.

Study type: Prospective.

Subjects: Two hundred and seven subjects (mean age 37.6 ± 19.6 years; 117 male) with known or suspected iron overload from four academic medical centers.

Field strength/sequence: Standardized multiecho spoiled gradient echo sequence at 1.5 T and …

Longitudinal Host Transcriptional Responses To Sars-Cov-2 Infection In Adults With Extremely High Viral Load, Vasanthi Avadhanula, Chad J Creighton, Laura Ferlic-Stark, Divya Nagaraj, Yiqun Zhang, Richard Sucgang, Erin G Nicholson, Anubama Rajan, Vipin Kumar Menon, Harshavardhan Doddapaneni, Donna Marie Muzny, Ginger A Metcalf, Sara Joan Javornik Cregeen, Kristi Louise Hoffman, Richard A Gibbs, Joseph F Petrosino, Pedro A Piedra

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Current understanding of viral dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and host responses driving the pathogenic mechanisms in COVID-19 is rapidly evolving. Here, we conducted a longitudinal study to investigate gene expression patterns during acute SARS-CoV-2 illness. Cases included SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals with extremely high viral loads early in their illness, individuals having low SARS-CoV-2 viral loads early in their infection, and individuals testing negative for SARS-CoV-2. We could identify widespread transcriptional host responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection that were initially most strongly manifested in patients with extremely high initial viral loads, then attenuating within the patient over time as viral loads decreased. Genes …

Eradication Rates Of Empiric Helicobacter Pylori Treatment Regimens By Race/Ethnicity In A Predominantly Immigrant Us Population, Min J Kim, Isiah Gonzalez, Nia M Choi, David Y Graham, Hashem B El-Serag, Mimi C Tan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Helicobacter pylori infections are mostly treated empirically (without antibiotic susceptibility testing). Determining eradication rates of different treatment regimens can inform antibiotic resistance. Our aim was to examine eradication rates of empiric H. pylori treatments based on treatment regimen, race/ethnicity and previous treatment status in a multiethnic U.S.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients with a positive H. pylori test from 7/2021 to 4/2022 at Harris Health (Houston, Texas) who had received treatment and eradication testing within 1 year. We compared eradication rates based on treatment regimen, race/ethnicity, and prior treatment and examined other possible …

Predictors For Spontaneous Pleurodesis In Patients With Indwelling Pleural Catheters For Malignant Pleural Effusion: A Safety Net Hospital Experience, Saad Farooq, Sabiha Armin, Jordan E Killingsworth, Akriti Agrawal, Adishwar Rao, Rosa M Estrada-Y-Martin, Sujith V Cherian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) affects approximately 150,000 patients in the United States each year and usually signifies advanced-stage cancer. The optimal treatment remains a challenge but indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) offer several advantages and may help achieve spontaneous pleurodesis (SP) in some patients.

Objectives: We aim to investigate the predictors of SP among patients with MPE, particularly in a resource-limited community-based safety net hospital.

Design: This is a retrospective cohort study done at a community-based safety net hospital.

Methods: Adults diagnosed with or suspected of having MPE between January 2015 and December 2023 who underwent IPC placement were included. …

Long-Term Symptom Burden In A Young, Ambulatory Cohort After The Omicron Outbreak In China, Simeng Ren, Yumeng Tan, Hongkun Xu, Mian Wang, Rumei Xiang, Jiayue Jin, Baojin Han, Jiaheng Shi, Jingyu Zhang, Jinliang Yang, Xin Tian, Ying Li, Jiaojiao Chen, Wenzheng Zhang, Jingqi Yang, Xin Shelley Wang, Qiuling Shi, Jie Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: At the end of 2022, an outbreak of the Omicron BF.7 and BA.5.2 subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 occurred in China. In this prospective cohort study, we investigated the pattern of development of major symptom burden and influencing factors in infected Chinese patients.

Methods: First-time infected outpatients were enrolled from December 7, 2022, to January 11, 2023 (N = 355). The prevalence of symptoms was monitored by a repeated patient-reported quantitative symptom survey over nine months.

Results: At the onset of the infection, the most prevalent symptoms (score ≥1 on a 0-10 numeric rating scale) were fatigue (91.8%), cough (91.8%), …

Characterization Of Additive Gene-Environment Interactions For Colorectal Cancer Risk, Claire E Thomas, Yi Lin, Michelle Kim, Eric S Kawaguchi, Conghui Qu, Caroline Y Um, Brigid M Lynch, Bethany Van Guelpen, Kostas Tsilidis, Robert Carreras-Torres, Franzel J B Van Duijnhoven, Lori C Sakoda, Peter T Campbell, Yu Tian, Jenny Chang-Claude, Stéphane Bézieau, Arif Budiarto, Julie R Palmer, Polly A Newcomb, Graham Casey, Loic Le Marchandz, Marios Giannakis, Christopher I Li, Andrea Gsur, Christina Newton, Mireia Obón-Santacana, Victor Moreno, Pavel Vodicka, Hermann Brenner, Michael Hoffmeister, Andrew J Pellatt, Robert E Schoen, Niki Dimou, Neil Murphy, Marc J Gunter, Sergi Castellví-Bel, Jane C Figueiredo, Andrew T Chan, Mingyang Song, Li Li, D Timothy Bishop, Stephen B Gruber, James W Baurley, Stephanie A Bien, David V Conti, Jeroen R Huyghe, Anshul Kundaje, Yu-Ru Su, Jun Wang, Temitope O Keku, Michael O Woods, Sonja I Berndt, Stephen J Chanock, Catherine M Tangen, Alicja Wolk, Andrea Burnett-Hartman, Anna H Wu, Emily White, Matthew A Devall, Virginia Díez-Obrero, David A Drew, Edward Giovannucci, Akihisa Hidaka, Andre E Kim, Juan Pablo Lewinger, John Morrison, Jennifer Ose, Nikos Papadimitriou, Bens Pardamean, Anita R Peoples, Edward A Ruiz-Narvaez, Anna Shcherbina, Mariana C Stern, Xuechen Chen, Duncan C Thomas, Elizabeth A Platz, W James Gauderman, Ulrike Peters, Li Hsu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common, fatal cancer. Identifying subgroups who may benefit more from intervention is of critical public health importance. Previous studies have assessed multiplicative interaction between genetic risk scores and environmental factors, but few have assessed additive interaction, the relevant public health measure.

Methods: Using resources from CRC consortia, including 45,247 CRC cases and 52,671 controls, we assessed multiplicative and additive interaction (relative excess risk due to interaction, RERI) using logistic regression between 13 harmonized environmental factors and genetic risk score, including 141 variants associated with CRC risk.

Results: There was no evidence of multiplicative interaction …

Improved Survival And Decreased Cancer Deaths In Young Adults With Cancer After Passage Of The Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Expansion, Michael Roth, Clark R Andersen, Amy Berkman, Stuart Siegel, Branko Cuglievan, J Andrew Livingston, Michelle Hildebrandt, Jaime Estrada, Archie Bleyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowed Americans aged 19-25 years to remain on their parents' health insurance plans until age 26 years (the Dependent Care Expansion [DCE]). Have those with cancer diagnoses benefited?

Methods: The ACE DCE 7-year age range of 19-25 years was compared for changes in cancer survival and mortality before and after enactment of the ACA with groups that were younger and older (in 7-year age spans: ages 12-18 and 26-32 years, respectively). Cancer death data for the entire United States were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and relative …

Utility Of Pre-Procedural [99mtc]Tcmaa Spect/Ct Multicompartment Dosimetry For Treatment Planning Of 90y Glass Microspheres In Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Comparison Of Anatomic Versus [99mtc]Tcmaa-Based Segmentation, Marnix Lam, Etienne Garin, Paul Haste, Alban Denys, Brian Geller, S Cheenu Kappadath, Cuneyt Turkmen, Daniel Y Sze, Hamad Saleh Alsuhaibani, Ken Herrmann, Marco Maccauro, Murat Cantasdemir, Matthew Dreher, Kirk D Fowers, Vanessa Gates, Riad Salem

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Pre-treatment [99mTc]TcMAA-based radioembolization treatment planning using multicompartment dosimetry involves the definition of the tumor and normal tissue compartments and calculation of the prescribed absorbed doses. The aim was to compare the real-world utility of anatomic and [99mTc]TcMAA-based segmentation of tumor and normal tissue compartments.

Materials and methods: Included patients had HCC treated by glass [90Y]yttrium microspheres, ≥ 1 tumor, ≥ 3 cm diameter and [99mTc]TcMAA SPECT/CT imaging before treatment. Segmentation was performed retrospectively using dedicated dosimetry software: (1) anatomic (diagnostic CT/MRI-based), and (2) [99mTc]TcMAA threshold-based (i.e., using an activity-isocontour threshold). CT/MRI was co-registered with [99mTc]TcMAA SPECT/CT. Logistic regression and …

Exploring The Role Of Reward Functioning In The Overlap Of Post-Traumatic Stress And Cocaine Use Disorder, Kate Hull, Hanaan Bing-Canar, Krista Miloslavich, Christopher Holden, Aneet Ahluwalia, Scott D Lane, Joy M Schmitz, Margaret C Wardle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common in people with cocaine use disorder (CUD), and even sub-threshold PSTD symptoms result in worse treatment outcomes. Difficulties with reward functioning may drive this comorbidity. Impairments in reward functioning are prominent in both PTSD and CUD and contribute to development of substance use problems after trauma. There are three distinct reward processes that may be involved in the PTSD/CUD overlap: consummatory reward (ability to experience pleasure), motivational reward (willingness to exert effort for rewards), and reward learning (adapting behavior based on reward history). Here we test whether impairments in these reward functions …

Exposure Therapy Consortium: Outcomes Of The Proof-Of-Principle Study, Jasper A J Smits, Jonathan S Abramowitz, Rebecca A Anderson, Joanna J Arch, Daniel Badeja, Snir Barzilay, Amanda N Belanger, Thomas Borchert, Emma Bryant, Alane S Burger, Laura J Dixon, Christina D Dutcher, Hayley E Fitzgerald, Bronwyn M Graham, Anke Haberkamp, Stefan G Hofmann, Jürgen Hoyer, Jonathan D Huppert, David Johnson, Baraa Q Kabha, Alex Kirk, Jürgen Margraf, Peter M Mcevoy, Bryan Mcspadden, Jill Newby, Michael W Otto, Santiago Papini, E Marie Parsons, Andre Pittig, Roxana Pittig, Winfried Rief, Svenja Schaumburg, Kiara R Timpano, Lena Waltemate, Andre Wannemüller, Cornelia Weise, Exposure Therapy Consortium

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: This paper reports on the outcomes of a proof-of-principle study for the Exposure Therapy Consortium, a global network of researchers and clinicians who work to improve the effectiveness and uptake of exposure therapy. The study aimed to test the feasibility of the consortium's big-team science approach and test the hypothesis that adding post-exposure processing focused on enhancing threat reappraisal would enhance the efficacy of a one-session large-group interoceptive exposure therapy protocol for reducing anxiety sensitivity.

Methods: The study involved a multi-site cluster-randomized controlled trial comparing exposure with post-processing (ENHANCED), exposure without post-processing (STANDARD), and a stress management intervention (CONTROL) …

Moderately Hypofractionated, Preoperative Radiotherapy In Patients With Soft Tissue Sarcomas (Hyport-Sts): Updated Local Control, Late Toxicities, And Patient-Reported Outcomes, Andrew J Bishop, Devarati Mitra, Ahsan Farooqi, David M Swanson, Caroline Hempel, Tiara Willis, Chris Pearlnath, Wei-Lien Wang, Ravin Ratan, Neeta Somaiah, Robert S Benjamin, Keila E Torres, Kelly K Hunt, Christopher P Scally, Emily Z Keung, Robert L Satcher, Justin E Bird, Patrick P Lin, Bryan S Moon, Valerae O Lewis, Christina L Roland, B Ashleigh Guadagnolo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Moderately hypofractionated, preoperative radiotherapy in patients with soft tissue sarcomas (HYPORT-STS; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03819985) investigated a radiobiologically equivalent, moderately hypofractionated course of preoperative radiotherapy (RT) 15 × 2.85 Gy in patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Here, the authors report longer term follow-up to update local control and report late toxicities, as well as functional and patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: HYPORT-STS was a single-center, open-label, single-arm, prospective phase 2 clinical trial that enrolled 120 eligible adult patients with localized STS of the extremities or superficial trunk between 2018 and 2021. Patients received a 3-week course of preoperative RT followed …

Incidence Of Bacterial Blood Stream Infections In Patients With Acute Gvhd, Whitney Wallis, Alison M Gulbis, Tao Wang, Catherine J Lee, Akshay Sharma, Kirsten M Williams, Taiga Nishihori, Tim Prestidge, Lohith Gowda, Michael Byrne, Maxwell M Krem, Margaret L Macmillan, Carrie L Kitko, Joseph Pidala, Stephen R Spellman, Stephanie J Lee, Amin M Alousi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bacterial bloodstream infections (BSI) can be a substantial contributor to complications of GVHD treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the risk for BSI from neutrophil engraftment through day 100 post transplant in patients with acute GVHD (AGVHD) based on organ involvement and severity. Patients (n = 4064) who underwent an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) reported to the CIBMTR registry were analyzed. Grade II-IV AGVHD occurred in 1607 (39.5%) patients and was associated with a greater day-100 incidence of post engraftment BSI than with grade 0/I (24.9 vs. 15.3%). Patients with grade III/IV AGVHD had the …

Long-Term Follow-Up Of A Phase 2 Study Of All-Trans Retinoic Acid, Arsenic Trioxide, And Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin In Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, Wei-Ying Jen, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Hagop M Kantarjian, Yesid Alvarado, Gautam Borthakur, Elias Jabbour, William Wierda, Tapan M Kadia, Naval G Daver, Courtney D Dinardo, Nicholas J Short, Nitin Jain, Alessandra Ferrajoli, Steven Kornblau, Musa Yilmaz, Maro Ohanian, David Mccue, Jan Burger, Danielle Hammond, Keyur Patel, Ghayas C Issa, Naveen Pemmaraju, Koji Sasaki, Abhishek Maiti, Hussein A Abbas, Kelly Chien, Koichi Takahashi, Fadi Haddad, Prithviraj Bose, Lucia Masarova, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Mahesh Swaminathan, Mark Brandt, Sherry Pierce, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Farhad Ravandi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO) combinations have produced excellent outcomes in patients with standard-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Herein, the authors update their long-term results with the regimen of ATO-ATRA and gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) in standard-risk and high-risk APL.

Methods: This was a phase 2 trial of patients with newly diagnosed APL. Induction comprised ATRA 45 mg/m2 and ATO 0.15 mg/kg daily. GO 6-9 mg/m2 was added for high-risk patients and for standard-risk patients who developed leukocytosis >10 × 109/L. Consolidation consisted of four courses of ATO-ATRA, with GO for patients who had PML::RARA persistence.

Results: …

Comparison Of Deep Learning Schemes In Grading Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Using B-Mode Ultrasound Hepatorenal Window Images With Liver Biopsy As The Gold Standard, Petros Drazinos, Ilias Gatos, Paraskevi F Katsakiori, Stavros Tsantis, Efstratios Syrmas, Stavros Spiliopoulos, Dimitris Karnabatidis, Ioannis Theotokas, Pavlos Zoumpoulis, John D Hazle, George C Kagadis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/introduction: To evaluate the performance of pre-trained deep learning schemes (DLS) in hepatic steatosis (HS) grading of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) patients, using as input B-mode US images containing right kidney (RK) cortex and liver parenchyma (LP) areas indicated by an expert radiologist.

Methods: A total of 112 consecutively enrolled, biopsy-validated NAFLD patients underwent a regular abdominal B-mode US examination. For each patient, a radiologist obtained a B-mode US image containing RK cortex and LP and marked a point between the RK and LP, around which a window was automatically cropped. The cropped image dataset was augmented using up-sampling, …

Prevalence Of Carotid Ultrasound Screening In Survivors Of Childhood Cancer: A Report From The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, Yolanda Bryce, Jillian A Whitton, Kayla L Stratton, Wendy M Leisenring, Eric J Chow, Gregory Armstrong, Brent Weil, Bryan Dieffenbach, Rebecca M Howell, Kevin C Oeffinger, Paul C Nathan, Emily S Tonorezos

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Many childhood cancer survivors are at risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. The North American Children's Oncology Group long-term follow-up guidelines recommend carotid ultrasound in cancer survivors 10 years after neck radiation therapy (RT) ≥40 Gy. The use of carotid ultrasound in this population has not been described.

Methods: Survivors of childhood cancer diagnosed 1970-1999 (N = 8693) and siblings (N = 1989) enrolled in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study were asked if they had ever had a carotid ultrasound. Prevalence of carotid ultrasound was evaluated. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were evaluated in multivariate Poisson …

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 …

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; …

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 …

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 …

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 …

High-Grade B-Cell Lymphoma Not Otherwise Specified, With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Gene Expression Signatures: Genomic Analysis And Potential Therapeutics, Waseem Lone, Alyssa Bouska, Tyler A Herek, Catalina Amador, Joo Song, Alexander M Xu, Dylan Jochum, Issa Ismail Issa, Dennis D Weisenburger, Xuan Zhang, Sharath Kumar Bhagavathi, Tayla B Heavican-Foral, Sunandini Sharma, Ab Rauf Shah, Abdul Rouf Mir, Aisha Ahmad Alkhinji, Dalia El-Gamal, Bhavana J Dave, Keenan Hartert, Jiayu Yu, Mallick Saumyaranjan, Timothy C Greiner, Julie Vose, Timothy W Mckeithan, Kai Fu, Michael Green, Chengfeng Bi, Akil Merchant, Wing C Chan, Javeed Iqbal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

High-grade B-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (HGBCL, NOS) has overlapping morphological and genetic features with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and Burkitt lymphoma (BL), leading to uncertainty in its diagnosis and clinical management. Using functional genomic approaches, we previously characterized HGBCL and NOS, that demonstrate gene expression profiling (GEP), and genetic signatures similar to BL. Herein, we characterize distinct HGBCL, NOS, cohort (n = 55) in adults (n = 45) and in children (n = 10), and compared the GEP, genomic DNA copy number (CN), and mutational spectrum with de novo DLBCL (n = 85) and BL (n = 52). …

Plasma Dna Methylation-Based Biomarkers For Mpnst Detection In Patients With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Katarzyna Tomczak, Manishkumar S Patel, Angela D Bhalla, Christine B Peterson, Sharon M Landers, S Carson Callahan, Di Zhang, Justin Wong, Jace P Landry, Alexander J Lazar, J Andrew Livingston, B Ashleigh Guadagnolo, Heather G Lyu, Heather Lillemoe, Christina L Roland, Emily Z Keung, Christopher P Scally, Kelly K Hunt, Ian E Mccutcheon, John M Slopis, Jian Gu, Paul Scheet, Liang Wang, Kunal Rai, Keila E Torres

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) development is characterized by an altered DNA methylation landscape, which presents a promising area for developing MPNST-specific biomarkers for screening patients with NF1. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of a cohort of 13 patients with MPNST (29 samples of tumor and adjacent neurofibroma tissues) and of NF1-MPNST cell lines was performed to identify and validate candidate MPNST-specific CpG sites (CpGs). A logistic regression prediction model was constructed to select MPNST-specific CpGs distinct from adjacent neurofibromas and normal tissues. To test if hypermethylation at selected CpGs can also be detected in plasma from patients with MPNST, …

Ntrk Fusion-Positive Thyroid Carcinoma: From Diagnosis To Targeted Therapy, Vicente R Marczyk, Sasan Fazeli, Ramona Dadu, Naifa L Busaidy, Priyanka Iyer, Mimi I Hu, Steven I Sherman, Sarah Hamidi, Sayed Mohsen Hosseini, Michelle D Williams, Salmaan Ahmed, Mark J Routbort, Raja Luthra, Sinchita Roy-Chowdhuri, Francis Anthony San Lucas, Keyur P Patel, David S Hong, Mark Zafereo, Jennifer R Wang, Anastasios Maniakas, Steven G Waguespack, Maria E Cabanillas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK) fusions may act as an oncogenic driver in thyroid carcinomas. Given their low frequency, clinical, pathological, and molecular data on these patients and their responses to targeted therapies are limited.

Methods: This is an observational retrospective study conducted at a single high-volume cancer center in the United States. Data were retrospectively collected from medical records.

Results: We included 65 patients (37 adult, 28 pediatric) with an NTRK fusion-positive thyroid carcinoma (24 NTRK1, 41 NTRK3), of which 54 were papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), four poorly differentiated thyroid carcinomas (PDTC), and seven …

Switching To Tumescent Dissection In Mastectomy, Emna Bakillah, Ari Brooks, Seye Adekeye

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

Introduction: Tumescent dissection (TUM) combines the use of crystalloid, local anesthetic, and epinephrine to create a bloodless plane to raise skin flaps. We aim to compare outcomes of TUM versus standard electrocautery dissection in mastectomies with and without reconstruction. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent mastectomy by a single surgeon between January 2016 and October 2020 utilizing the electronic medical record. The primary outcome was complication rate, and the secondary outcome was operative time. Chi-squared analysis and two-sample t-tests were used to examine outcomes. Results: Among 242 patients, 141 patients underwent TUM and 101 …

Home Dialysis For Latinx Individuals Living With Kidney Failure: A Qualitative Study Of Interdisciplinary Dialysis Clinicians, Katherine Rizzolo, Rebeca Gonzalez Jauregui, Jade Teakell, Michel Chonchol, Sushrut S Waikar, Lilia Cervantes

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Key Points:

1. Individual-level advocacy to overcome structural barriers to home dialysis is key in improving home dialysis access for Latinx individuals.

2. Acknowledging patient influences on dialysis modality choice is critical for Latinx individuals with kidney failure.

3. Early, repeated education from a trusted source is important for Latinx individuals with kidney failure.

Background: Latinx individuals experience two times the incidence of kidney failure compared with non-Latinx individuals and are less likely to use home dialysis therapies. In this qualitative study, interdisciplinary home dialysis clinicians were interviewed to understand the key factors and strategies used by clinicians to improve home dialysis uptake …

Burden Of Seasonal Human Coronavirus Infections In Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients, Fareed Khawaja, Terri Lynn Shigle, Layale Yaghi, May Daher, Jeremy L Ramdial, Ella Ariza-Heredia, Ying Jiang, Roy F Chemaly

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Community respiratory viruses, such as seasonal human coronavirus (HCoV), commonly infect hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Recognizing the risk factors and outcomes of HCoV infections in HCT recipients is essential for the future development of potentially lifesaving therapeutics.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all HCoV-infected HCT recipients from September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2017, at our institution. Patients were classified with upper respiratory tract infection (URI) or lower respiratory infection (LRI) based on predefined definitions for respiratory viral infections in HCT recipients. Patient data were collected to identify risk factors for HCoV LRI, and to calculate …

Combining Biology-Based And Mri Data-Driven Modeling To Predict Response To Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy In Patients With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Casey E Stowers, Chengyue Wu, Zhan Xu, Sidharth Kumar, Clinton Yam, Jong Bum Son, Jingfei Ma, Jonathan I Tamir, Gaiane M Rauch, Thomas E Yankeelov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype associated with limited targeted treatment options, heterogeneous treatment response, and high risk of early recurrence. Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly emerged as a powerful tool to address key clinical challenges in TNBC across diagnosis, treatment response assessment, and prognosis. Diagnostic and staging challenges persist due to variable imaging features in TNBC and limitations in conventional modalities, increasing the risk of delayed detection. Predicting response to neoadjuvant systemic therapy remains difficult, as patient responses are heterogeneous, and existing clinical markers provide limited early predictive value. Prognostication in TNBC is similarly constrained …