Medical Specialties Commons^™

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

Anticancer Effects Of Wild Baicalin On Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Downregulation Of Akr1b10 And Pi3k/Akt Signaling Pathways, Longjun Sun, Wenjuan Chen, Peixi Zhao, Bin Zhao, Guangyan Lei, Le Han, Yili Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

ntroduction

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common and deadly malignancy. Traditional Chinese medicine, such as the compound Astragalus (wild Baicalin), has shown promise in improving outcomes for HCC patients. This study aimed to investigate the effects of wild Baicalin on the human hepatoma cell line HepG2 and elucidate the underlying mechanisms, particularly the role of the AKR1B10 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways.

Methods

HepG2 cells were treated with varying concentrations of wild Baicalin. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and cell cycle were evaluated using CCK-8, flow cytometry, scratch, Transwell, and clonogenic assays, respectively. Transcriptome sequencing was performed to analyze gene expression …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

Mnemonic Utilization In Stroke Education: Fast And Befast Adoption By Certified Comprehensive Stroke Centers, Christopher Hogge, Larry B Goldstein, Sushanth R Aroor

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction

Symptom recognition and timely access to treatment are critical components of acute stroke care systems. Two mnemonics widely used in public educational campaigns for recognizing stroke symptoms include FAST (Face-Arm-Speech-Time) and BEFAST (Balance-Eyes-Face-Arm Speech-Time). The FAST mnemonic can miss up to 14% of strokes. BEFAST includes common posterior circulation stroke symptoms and has been implemented by several Comprehensive Stroke Centers (CSCs).

Methods

We sought to analyze the pattern of public educational materials available on the websites of US CSCs. The Joint Commission (JC) quality check website compiles a list containing the names and locations of the country’s 217 JC-certified …

Risk Stratification And Prediction Of Severity Of Covid-19 Infection In Patients With Preexisting Cardiovascular Disease, Stanislava Matejin, Igor D Gregoric, Rajko Radovancevic, Slobodan Paessler, Vladimir Perovic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a highly contagious viral disease. Cardiovascular diseases and heart failure elevate the risk of mechanical ventilation and fatal outcomes among COVID-19 patients, while COVID-19 itself increases the likelihood of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods: We collected blood samples and clinical data from hospitalized cardiovascular patients with and without proven COVID-19 infection in the time period before the vaccine became available. Statistical correlation analysis and machine learning were used to evaluate and identify individual parameters that could predict the risk of needing mechanical ventilation and patient survival.

Results: Our results confirmed that COVID-19 …

Synergistic Effects Of Β-Nafeo2 Ferrite Nanoparticles For Photocatalytic Degradation, Antibacterial, And Antioxidant Applications†, Forsad Al Hossain, M Tanjid Hasan Tonmoy, Sri Nuvvula, Brittany P Chapman, Rajesh K Gupta, Andrew A Lover, Rhoel R Dinglasan, Stephanie Carreiro, Tauhidur Rahman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Syndromic surveillance is an effective tool for enabling the timely detection of infectious disease outbreaks and facilitating the implementation of effective mitigation strategies by public health authorities. While various information sources are currently utilized to collect syndromic signal data for analysis, the aggregated measurement of cough, an important symptom for many illnesses, is not widely employed as a syndromic signal. With recent advancements in ubiquitous sensing technologies, it becomes feasible to continuously measure population-level cough incidence in a contactless, unobtrusive, and automated manner. In this work, we demonstrate the utility of monitoring aggregated cough count as a syndromic indicator to …

The Uprmt Preserves Mitochondrial Import To Extend Lifespan, Jolaade Kalinowski, Elizabeth A Hintz, Chigozirim Izeogu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic introduced many challenges and nuances that have transformed medical practice and research. The uncertainty caused by COVID-19 led to inevitable challenges to patient-provider relationships. The ever-changing landscape of COVID-19 research and policy proved to be challenging for the medical community and patients. These challenges also exacerbated long-standing issues regarding patient-provider communication and trust. On the other hand, these challenges gave voice to a burgeoning patient advocacy community. Through social media, advocacy and patient organizing, patients harnessed their power and organized over challenges relating to COVID-19 fears and concerns, ramifications of "Long COVID," and much more. During …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

Therapeutic Efficacy Of A Potent Anti-Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Antibody Is Contingent On Fc Effector Functionslc6a1 Variant Pathogenicity, Molecular Function And Phenotype: A Genetic And Clinical Analysis, Jennifer L Schwedler, Maxwell A Stefan, Christine E Thatcher, Peter R Mcilroy, Anupama Sinha, Ashlee M Phillips, Christopher A Sumner, Colleen M Courtney, Christina Y Kim, Dina R Weilhammer, Brooke Harmon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The development of specific, safe, and potent monoclonal antibodies (Abs) has led to novel therapeutic options for infectious disease. In addition to preventing viral infection through neutralization, Abs can clear infected cells and induce immunomodulatory functions through engagement of their crystallizable fragment (Fc) with complement proteins and Fc receptors on immune cells. Little is known about the role of Fc effector functions of neutralizing Abs in the context of encephalitic alphavirus infection. To determine the role of Fc effector function in therapeutic efficacy against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), we compared the potently neutralizing anti-VEEV human IgG F5 (hF5) Ab …

Healthcare Utilization And Clinical Characteristics Of Genetic Epilepsy In Electronic Health Records, Christian M Boßelmann, Alina Ivaniuk, Mark St John, Sara C Taylor, Gokul Krishnaswamy, Alex Milinovich, Costin Leu, Ajay Gupta, Elia M Pestana-Knight, Imad Najm, Dennis Lal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding the clinical characteristics and medical treatment of individuals affected by genetic epilepsies is instrumental in guiding selection for genetic testing, defining the phenotype range of these rare disorders, optimizing patient care pathways and pinpointing unaddressed medical need by quantifying healthcare resource utilization. To date, a matched longitudinal cohort study encompassing the entire spectrum of clinical characteristics and medical treatment from childhood through adolescence has not been performed. We identified individuals with genetic and non-genetic epilepsies and onset at ages 0–5 years by linkage across the Cleveland Clinic Health System. We used natural language processing to extract medical terms and …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Re-Evaluating The Gender Gap: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Accepted American Academy Of Neurology Annual Meeting Abstracts In 2020 And 2021, Minseon Kim, Youngran Kim, Anjail Z Sharrief, Thy P Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Prior studies reveal that invited speaker panels, editorial boards, authors of practice guidelines, and senior authors of published articles are disproportionately male in the neurology field. We aimed to analyze a gender gap in authorship of accepted abstracts to the American Academy of Neurology annual meetings in 2020 and 2021.

DESIGN/METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study evaluating the proportions of female first and senior abstract authors in 2020 and 2021. Abstracts were reviewed manually (

RESULTS: Accepted abstracts with female first and senior authors comprised 46%, 34% in 2020, and the same in 2021, without change. Female …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

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

Late-Onset Parry-Romberg Syndrome With Atypical Neurological Manifestations: A Case Report, Sema Akkus, Suban Amatya, Kriti Shrestha, Shitiz Sriwastava, Demetrios A Karides

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Parry-Romberg Syndrome (PRS) is a rare neurocutaneous disorder characterized by gradual facial hemiatrophy. We present a case study of a 64-year-old woman with late-onset PRS and linear scleroderma. The patient exhibited atypical PRS symptoms including leg numbness, hyper-reflexia, trigeminal neuralgia, and severe headaches. Diagnostic evaluations revealed chronic left-sided cerebral infarction, microhemorrhages, and nerve involvement. Treatment options for PRS are limited and aim to manage symptoms. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges of late-onset PRS, emphasizing interdisciplinary approach. Further research and improved therapies are essential for better patient outcomes.

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

Dew: A Wavelet Approach Of Rare Sound Event Detection, Sania Gul, Muhammad Salman Khan, Ata Ur-Rehman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This paper presents a novel sound event detection (SED) system for rare events occurring in an open environment. Wavelet multiresolution analysis (MRA) is used to decompose the input audio clip of 30 seconds into five levels. Wavelet denoising is then applied on the third and fifth levels of MRA to filter out the background. Significant transitions, which may represent the onset of a rare event, are then estimated in these two levels by combining the peak-finding algorithm with the K-medoids clustering algorithm. The small portions of one-second duration, called 'chunks' are cropped from the input audio signal corresponding to the …

Lifestyle Management Of Hypertension: International Society Of Hypertension Position Paper Endorsed By The World Hypertension League And European Society Of Hypertension, Fadi J Charchar, Priscilla R Prestes, Charlotte Mills, Siew Mooi Ching, Dinesh Neupane, Francine Z Marques, James E Sharman, Liffert Vogt, Louise M Burrell, Lyudmila Korostovtseva, Manja Zec, Mansi Patil, Martin G Schultz, Matthew P Wallen, Nicolás F Renna, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam, Swapnil Hiremath, Tshewang Gyeltshen, Yook-Chin Chia, Abhinav Gupta, Aletta E Schutte, Britt Klein, Claudio Borghi, Colette J Browning, Marta Czesnikiewicz-Guzik, Hae-Young Lee, Hiroshi Itoh, Katsuyuki Miura, Mattias Brunström, Norm R C Campbell, Olutope Arinola Akinnibossun, Praveen Veerabhadrappa, Richard D Wainford, Ruan Kruger, Shane A Thomas, Takahiro Komori, Udaya Ralapanawa, Véronique A Cornelissen, Vikas Kapil, Yan Li, Yuqing Zhang, Tazeen H Jafar, Nadia Khan, Bryan Williams, George Stergiou, Maciej Tomaszewski

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hypertension, defined as persistently elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) >140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at least 90 mmHg (International Society of Hypertension guidelines), affects over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Hypertension is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke) and death. An international panel of experts convened by the International Society of Hypertension College of Experts compiled lifestyle management recommendations as first-line strategy to prevent and control hypertension in adulthood. We also recommend that lifestyle changes be continued even when blood pressure-lowering medications are prescribed. Specific recommendations based on …

Subnanometer-Resolution Structures Of The Grass Carp Reovirus Core And Virion, Melissa S Oh, Nikhil T Vettikattu, Harry Michael Baddour, Jennifer H Gross, Brian J Boyce, Mihir R Patel, Nicole C Schmitt, Clementino Arturo Solares, Jackson R Vuncannon, Azeem S Kaka

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To describe our modifications to the submental island flap (SMIF) in a case series that demonstrates improved reproducibility, shortened length of stay (LOS), and reduced utilization of hospital resources.

STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective case series with chart review included adult patients who underwent resection of malignant or benign tumors resulting in lateral facial, parotid, or temporal bone defects, which were reconstructed with SMIF.

SETTING: A tertiary-care academic referral center.

METHODS: Retrospective case series included all adult patients who underwent SMIF reconstruction between March 2020 and August 2021. Patient demographic and clinical data were collected. Primary outcomes were measures of …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Hypoxia-Adenosine Axis As Therapeutic Targets For Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Katherine Figarella, Jieun Kim, Wei Ruan, Tingting Mills, Holger Klaus Eltzschig, Xiaoyi Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The human respiratory and circulatory systems collaborate intricately to ensure oxygen delivery to all cells, which is vital for ATP production and maintaining physiological functions and structures. During limited oxygen availability, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are stabilized and play a fundamental role in maintaining cellular processes for hypoxia adaptation. First discovered during investigations of erythropoietin production regulation, HIFs influence physiological and pathological processes, including development, inflammation, wound healing, and cancer. HIFs promote extracellular adenosine signaling by enhancing adenosine generation and receptor signaling, representing an endogenous feedback mechanism that curbs excessive inflammation, supports injury resolution, and enhances hypoxia tolerance. This is especially …

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

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

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

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

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

Influence Of Oral Microbiome On Longitudinal Patterns Of Oral Mucositis Severity In Patients With Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Head And Neck, Liangliang Zhang, Erin Marie D San Valentin, Teny M John, Robert R Jenq, Kim-Anh Do, Ehab Y Hanna, Christine B Peterson, Cielito C Reyes-Gibby

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: This study investigated the influence of oral microbial features on the trajectory of oral mucositis (OM) in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Methods: OM severity was assessed and buccal swabs were collected at baseline, at the initiation of cancer treatment, weekly during cancer treatment, at the termination of cancer treatment, and after cancer treatment termination. The oral microbiome was characterized via the 16S ribosomal RNA V4 region with the Illumina platform. Latent class mixed-model analysis was used to group individuals with similar trajectories of OM severity. Locally estimated scatterplot smoothing was used to fit …