Oncology Commons^™

Barriers And Facilitators For Colorectal Cancer Screening Practices In The Latino Community: Perspectives From Community Leaders, Ana Natale-Pereira, Jonnie Marks, Marielos Vega, Dawne Mouzon, Shawna Hudson, Debbie Salas-Lopez

Debbie Salas-Lopez MD, MPH

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and the third most commonly diagnosed cancer among Latinos. While Latinos represent one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States, their participation in cancer prevention and treatment trials is low. METHODS: Thirty-six Latino community leaders participated in five focus groups that examined factors affecting CRC screening practices among Latinos. RESULTS: The top four barriers identified were low knowledge and awareness of CRC, language barriers, lack of insurance, and undocumented legal status. Additional barriers included seeking health care only when sick, fatalism, fear, denial …

Perspectives On Cancer Screening Among Latino Community Members And Internal Medicine Residents, Debbie Salas-Lopez, Dawne Mouzon, Jonnie Marks, Neil Kothari, Ana Natale-Pereira

Debbie Salas-Lopez MD, MPH

BACKGROUND: Latinos have lower rates of cancer screening, partially because of cultural beliefs that conflict with those of health care professionals. Moreover, established programs for training physicians in cultural competency often fail to incorporate input from the community.

METHODS: To explore beliefs about cancer and cancer screening among Latino community members and internal medicine residents. Three focus groups of Latino community members (n = 31) and one focus group of internal medicine residents (n = 9) were conducted to compare ideas regarding cancer and cancer screening.

RESULTS: We identified clear disconnects between residents and Latino community members regarding their understandings …

Heuristic Modeling Of Carcinogenesis For The Population With Dichotomous Susceptibility To Cancer: A Pancreatic Cancer Example., Tengiz Mdzinarishvili, Simon Sherman

Journal Articles: Eppley Institute

At present, carcinogenic models imply that all individuals in a population are susceptible to cancer. These models either ignore a fall of the cancer incidence rate at old ages, or use some poorly identifiable parameters for its accounting. In this work, a new heuristic model is proposed. The model assumes that, in a population, only a small fraction (pool) of individuals is susceptible to cancer and decomposes the problem of the carcinogenic modeling on two sequentially solvable problems: (i) determination of the age-specific hazard rate in individuals susceptible to cancer (individual hazard rate) from the observed hazard rate in the …

Ultraviolet Radiation, Aging And The Skin: Prevention Of Damage By Topical Camp Manipulation, Alexandra Amaro-Ortiz, Betty Yan, John A. D’Orazio

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Being the largest and most visible organ of the body and heavily influenced by environmental factors, skin is ideal to study the long-term effects of aging. Throughout our lifetime, we accumulate damage generated by UV radiation. UV causes inflammation, immune changes, physical changes, impaired wound healing and DNA damage that promotes cellular senescence and carcinogenesis. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and among the malignancies of highest increasing incidence over the last several decades. Melanoma incidence is directly related to age, with highest rates in individuals over the age of 55 years, making it a clear age-related disease. …

A Pilot Clinical Trial Of Intravesical Mitomycin-C And External Deep Pelvic Hyperthermia For Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer., Brant A Inman, Paul R. Stauffer, Oana A Craciunescu, Paolo F Maccarini, Mark W Dewhirst, Zeljko Vujaskovic

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: This paper aims to evaluate the safety and heating efficiency of external deep pelvic hyperthermia combined with intravesical mitomycin C (MMC) as a novel therapy for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enrolled subjects with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) refractory NMIBC to an early phase clinical trial of external deep pelvic hyperthermia (using a BSD-2000 device) combined with MMC. Bladders were heated to 42 °C for 1 h during intravesical MMC treatment. Treatments were given weekly for 6 weeks, then monthly for 4 months. Heating parameters, treatment toxicity, and clinical outcomes were systematically measured.

RESULTS: Fifteen patients were …

A Long-Term Study Of The Effects Of Antiviral Therapy On Survival Of Patients With Hbv-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Hcc) Following Local Tumor Ablation., Hie-Won Hann, Robert Coben, Daniel Brown, Laurence Needleman, Ernest Rosato, Albert Min, Richard Hann, Kyong Bin Park, Stephen Dunn, Anthony J. Dimarino

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The ultimate goal of antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Earlier we reported favorable effects of antiviral therapy on survival of HCC patients following curative tumor ablation (Int J Cancer online 14 April 2010; doi: 10.1002/ijc.25382). It was the first observation made in the United States. We now report 12 year follow-up of this patient group. CHB patients with no prior antiviral therapy with a single HCC (≤ 7 cm) were studied. All patients underwent local tumor ablation as their first option. Patients diagnosed before 1999 received no antiviral treatment while those diagnosed …

E5501: Phase Ii Study Of Topotecan Sequenced With Etoposide/Cisplatin, And Irinotecan/Cisplatin Sequenced With Etoposide For Extensive-Stage Small-Cell Lung Cancer., Taofeek K. Owonikoko, Joseph Aisner, Xin Victoria Wang, Suzanne E. Dahlberg, Eric H. Rubin, Suresh S. Ramalingam, Murugesan Gounder, Paul Gregory Rausch, Rita S. Axelrod, Md, Joan H. Schiller

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Sequence-dependent improved efficacy of topoisomerase I followed by topoisomerase 2 inhibitors was assessed in a randomized phase II study in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

METHODS: Patients with previously untreated extensive-stage SCLC with measurable disease, ECOG performance status of 0-3 and stable brain metastases were eligible. Arm A consisted of topotecan (0.75 mg/m(2)) on days 1, 2 and 3, etoposide (70 mg/m(2)) and cisplatin (20 mg/m(2)) (PET) on days 8, 9 and 10 in a 3-week cycle. Arm B consisted of irinotecan (50 mg/m(2)) and cisplatin (20 mg/m(2)) on days 1 and 8 followed by etoposide (85 mg/m(2) PO …