Translational Medical Research Commons^™

Conference Proceedings: Aurora Scientific Day 2020

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Abstracts published in this supplement were among those presented at the 46th annual Aurora Scientific Day research symposium, held virtually on May 20, 2020. The symposium provides a forum for describing research studies conducted by faculty, fellows, residents, and allied health professionals affiliated with Wisconsin-based Aurora Health Care, a part of the Advocate Aurora Health health system, which publishes the Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews.

Action Items For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Deanna J. Attai

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

This special issue introduction provides a brief history of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and focuses on patient populations often omitted from annual marketing campaigns. The importance of research is emphasized as a means to improve the outcomes of people with metastatic breast cancer and male breast cancer as well as to address health care inequities related to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Sexual Dysfunction After Rectal Cancer Treatment, Sarah M. Popek

Clinical and Translational Science Center Scholarly Output

Introduction: Treatment for rectal cancer results in sexual dysfunction. Sexual function is a component of the HR-QOL (health related quality of life) measures. The incidence of sexual dysfunction following treatment for rectal cancer and its impact on the HR-QOL is not well delineated, particularly on women.

Objectives: To prospectively assess the degree of sexual dysfunction that occurs after treatment for Stage I-III rectal cancer and the corresponding short term (<3 months) and long term (<2 years) effect on the Quality of Life measure for oncology (QOL-30).

Methods: Validated questionnaires will be administered to assess sexual function and quality of life. The International Index of Erectile Dysfunction will be administered to male patients and …

Impact Of In-House Specialty Pharmacy On Access To Novel Androgen Axis Inhibitors In Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer, Anna Driscoll, Nathan Handley, Md, Mba, Adam Binder, Siobhan Henry, W. Kevin Kelly, Do

Phase 1

Introduction: Novel androgen axis inhibitors are standard of care treatments in advanced prostate cancer. The billed amounts for these medications are often very high, which may create significant financial toxicity for patients and lead to delays in treatment. Our institution implemented an in-house specialty pharmacy in 2014, that provides these medications and evaluates copay assistance options for all patients. We evaluated the program’s impact on out of pocket cost (OOP) and turnaround time (TAT).

Methods: We reviewed available internal specialty pharmacy records to identify prescriptions for abiraterone or enzalutamide filled between 1/1/17 and 12/31/18. Payments were stratified by primary payment …

Manipulation Of Genome Integrity Signaling Axes Contributing To Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness, Frank Duan, Veronica Rodriguez-Bravo, Phd

Phase 1

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the leading causes of death in men, and despite current treatment options patients can develop aggressive disease that spreads to other parts of the body. Little research has focused to date on the effect of centrosome biology in the pathogenesis of PC.

Methods: Two metastatic PC cell lines, DU145 and 22Rv1, as well as highly aggressive derivatives generated in Dr. Rodriguez-Bravo lab (docetaxel-resistant; (DR) variants) were compared through various experiments to determine differences in centrosome proteins expression and functionality. All cells (DU145 /DR and 22Rv1 /DR) underwent electroporations with siRNAs to knockout …

Determining The Role Of Surgery In Diagnosis And Treatment Of Primary Cns Lymphoma, Tyler Fox, Michael Baldassari, Lohit Velagapudi, Karim Hafazalla, Christopher J. Farrell, Md, James J. Evans, Md, David W. Andrews, Md, Kevin Judy, Md, Donald Ye, Md

Phase 1

Introduction: Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare entity typically treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. The role of surgery is controversial, and biopsy may be non-definitive or injurious. We review our series of stereotactic and excisional biopsy as well as surgical debulking of PCNSL to quantify overall risk and benefits.

Methods: Patients with biopsy-confirmed intracranial PCNSL were identified from a large singlecenter academic institution between 2012-2018. Preoperative factors and perioperative outcomes were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: A total of 61 cases of PCNSL were identified. Most patients presented with confusion (23.0%), weakness/paralysis (19.7%), and gait disturbance …

Protocol For Ground Glass Opacity, Elissa Goldman

Phase 1

Rationale: Pure ground glass opacities (GGO), identified incidentally or on lung cancer screening, may indicate pre-invasive subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma. These neoplasms typically demonstrate indolent patterns of growth, and Fleischner Society guidelines recommend up to five years of serial imaging. Our aim was to determine the frequency of diagnosed lung adenocarcinoma arising from GGO detected beyond 5 years of CT surveillance.

Methods: We reviewed all pathologic diagnoses of lung adenocarcinoma (n=442) between 2016 and 2018 of a tertiary academic hospital and National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center to identify all cancers that arose from ground glass opacities detected on CT scan. …

Early Perioperative Fluid Benchmarking To Predict Pancreaticoduodenectomy (Pd) Outcomes, David Moskal, Carrie D. Walsh, Sofia Duque, Charles Yeo, Md, Facs, Harish Lavu, Md, Facs

Phase 1

Introduction: PD is a complex operation associated with a marked systemic inflammatory response and significant fluid shifts. Establishing a benchmark for ideal perioperative fluid management is critical to optimising PD patient recovery.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated perioperative fluid data for patients undergoing PD. We compared an optimal benchmark group who were discharged home by postoperative day five (≤5day) to a group of patients with an in hospital recovery greater than ten days (≥10day).

Results: Seventy-six patients who underwent PD between June 2015 and November 2016 were evaluated. The ≤5day group had a significantly lower intraoperative fluid administration …

Surgical Resection Of Convexity Meningiomas: A Single Center Retrospective Analysis, Haley Wendt, Michael Baldassari, Donald Ye, Kevin Judy

Phase 1

Introduction: Dural convexity meningiomas (CMs) are the most common primary intracranial tumors. Although surgical resection carries relatively low risk, it is necessary to quantify perioperative risks from a large patient cohort and identify factors contributing to short-term and long-term outcomes.

Methods: Patients who underwent craniotomy for resection of CMs between January 2012-December 2018 at a single large academic center were reviewed for pre-operative demographics, radiographic characteristics, and post-operative outcomes.

Results: 122 cases of CMs were identified. Common presenting symptoms included headache (39.3%), seizure (27.0%) and weakness/paralysis (18%). CMs were located over frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes in 57.4%, …

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated With Microwave Ablation Prior To Liver Transplantation, Nicole Wagner, Amanda Smolock, Michael Markovitz, Varun Danda, Christopher Neely, Warren Maley, Jesse Civan, Colette Shaw

Phase 1

Introduction: Ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that limits local liver tumor progression and prolongs patients’ transplantation eligibility. Microwave ablation (MWA) utilizes higher temperatures than the standard of care, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which increases efficiency. Meta-analyses compared MWA with RFA for the treatment of HCC and showed similar efficacy and safety between these modalities. However, limited pathologic data exists determining whether explanted tumors remained viable after MWA.

Methods: Our database was reviewed retrospectively for patients with HCC who underwent MWA prior to liver transplantation between 2013 and 2019. Patient demographics, etiology of disease, tumor size, procedure details, bilirubin, MELD, …

Conjunctival Melanoma: Features Based On The Fitzpatrick Skin Type (Fst) In 540 Patients At A Single Ocular Oncology Center, Sunihidi Ramesh, Antonio Yaghy, Lauren A. Dalvin, Sara E. Lally, Jerry A. Shields, Carol L. Shields

Phase 1

Background: The Fitzpatrick skin type (FST) is a classification system for skin pigmentation that has been used to stratify risk for cutaneous melanoma; however, it has not yet been explored in the context of conjunctival melanoma. Herein, we examine FST and its association with the clinical features of conjunctival melanoma.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 540 medical records of patients with pathologic diagnosis of conjunctival melanoma. The patients were categorized according to the FST classification based on their external facial photographs at presentation. This includes: Type I (white skin color), Type II (fair skin color), Type III (average …

The Presence Of Gc-C In Extracellular Vesicles Secreted By Colorectal Cancer Cells, Alexandre Martinez, Adam E. Snook

Phase 1

Background: Guanylyl Cyclase C (GC-C) is a membrane-bound protein found on intestinal epithelial cells involved in the activation of CFTR. This protein has previously been involved in the development of colorectal cancer.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are bilayered vesicles of varying size (30 to 1,000 + nm in diameter) that believed to be secreted by all cells in the human body. In the past decade, EVs have garnered attention due to their impact in the field of oncology, where they have been shown to potentially serve as biomarkers for various cancers.

In this study, we looked at the EVs secreted …

Statistics Of Tumor Micro-Environment, Brenton Maisel, Inna Chervoneva

Phase 1

Introduction: Immune cells play a prominent role in keeping tumors suppressed, but how the distribution of these immune cells within a tumor’s microenvironment remains poorly understood. The long-term goal of this project is to study how statistical spatial distributions of different immune cells is associated with clinical outcome. The first objective is developing an algorithm for identifying different types of immune cells.

Methods: The data motivating this project includes spatial localization information (x-y coordinates) and expression levels of immune cell CD markers quantified by immunofluorescence immunohistochemistry (IF-IHC) in ~1,500 cases of invasive breast cancer. Using expression levels of CD markers …

The Role Of Rassf5 On Cell Growth And Hippo Signaling In Rhabdomyosarcoma, Megan Garver, Lee Helman, Md, Katrina Slemmons, Phd

Phase 1

Introduction: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood. Dysregulation of the Hippo pathway, a signaling cascade that regulates many biological processes, is associated with many human cancers. The goal of my project was to delete RASSF5, a regulator of the Hippo pathway, in RMS cells utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 and then to evaluate how the absence of RASSF5 affects RMS cell growth and Hippo signaling, with and without DNMTi Tx.

Methods: A lipofectamine transfection was performed in two different RMS cell lines, Rh30 & RD, in which two different CRIPSR/Cas9 vectors with RASSF5 guide RNA were introduced. …

Ethnic Differences In Germline Genetic Testing For Breast Cancer, Kathryn Dent, Rebecca J. Jaslow, Md

Phase 1

Introduction: Ethnic variations in uptake of genetic testing and differences in findings of germline mutations within ethnic groups, are not well understood. The goal of this research is to assess for any such differences or similarities within a genetic counseling and testing program at an urban Cancer Center.

Methods: This is a non-comparative, descriptive epidemiology study assessing individuals with a diagnosis of breast cancer undergoing genetic counseling at the TJUH Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia between 2014 and 2019. Data were compiled onto Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCAP) and analyzed statistically.

Results: Patients with Breast Cancer (n=1075) were included …