Publications by authors named "AM Evens"

Purpose: To examine how household income and county income inequality are linked to financial hardship among cancer survivors.

Methods: Cancer survivors (n = 864) identified through the New Jersey State Cancer Registry were surveyed from August 2018 to January 2022. Local area income inequality was reflected by the Gini index a measure of income inequality at the county level.

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: Warburg's metabolic paradox illustrates that malignant cells require both glucose and oxygen to survive, even after converting glucose into lactate. It remains unclear whether sparing glucose from oxidation intersects with TCA cycle continuity and if this confers any metabolic advantage in proliferating cancers. This study seeks to understand the mechanistic basis of Warburg's paradox and its overall implications for lymphomagenesis.

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The Hodgkin lymphoma International Study for Individual Care (HoLISTIC) Consortium's A-HIPI model, developed in 2022 for advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), predicts survival within 5 years amongst newly diagnosed patients. This study validates its performance in the Brazilian Hodgkin lymphoma registry. By 2022, the Brazilian HL registry included 1357 cHL patients, with a median 5-year follow-up.

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Article Synopsis
  • Brentuximab vedotin has been shown to improve outcomes in treating advanced classic Hodgkin's lymphoma, but it also causes more toxic side effects in adults, while many pediatric patients still need radiation therapy and face challenges with relapse.
  • A phase 3 trial involving patients aged 12 and older tested two treatment combinations: brentuximab vedotin with standard chemotherapy (BV+AVD) versus nivolumab with standard chemotherapy (N+AVD), aiming to assess progression-free survival.
  • Results indicated that N+AVD significantly enhances progression-free survival compared to BV+AVD, with a 2-year survival rate of 92% for N+AVD versus 83% for BV
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Objectives: Taking an active role in managing post-treatment care has emerged as a key aspect of promoting a successful transition into survivorship and is associated with better patient outcomes. In this study, we focus on two key aspects of active self-management, activation and preparedness. Activation was defined as understanding one's role in the care process and having the knowledge, skill, and confidence to take on a role in managing self-care.

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  • There is limited knowledge about the risk of central nervous system (CNS) involvement in high-grade B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (HGBL NOS), prompting a study that assessed baseline CNS involvement, recurrence rates, and management strategies in patients treated from 2016 to 2021.
  • In the study of 160 adults, 7% exhibited baseline CNS involvement, which was linked to MYC rearrangement and certain sites of involvement, but did not significantly impact overall survival outcomes compared to those without CNS involvement.
  • The risk of CNS recurrence within three years was found to be 11%, with patients showing initial CNS involvement facing a much higher risk (48.5%), while various other factors such as blood involvement and
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Follicular lymphoma (FL) exhibits considerable variability in biological features and clinical trajectories across patients. To dissect the diversity of FL, we utilized a Bernoulli mixture model to identify genetic subtypes in 713 pre-treatment tumor tissue samples. Our analysis revealed the existence of five subtypes with unique genetic profiles that correlated with clinicopathological characteristics.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) affects about 20%-25% of patients aged 60 and older, who historically have poorer survival outcomes due to age-related health issues and treatment toxicities.
  • - A recent clinical trial compared two treatment regimens: brentuximab vedotin (BV-AVD) and nivolumab (N-AVD), finding that N-AVD improved progression-free survival (PFS) significantly in older patients (93% vs. 64% after 1 year).
  • - N-AVD was also better tolerated among older patients, showing fewer side effects and less treatment-related complications, indicating it may become the standard care for fit older patients with advanced-stage cHL.*
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Background: Older patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) often have comorbid cardiovascular disease; however, the impact of pre-existing heart failure (HF) on the management and outcomes of HL is unknown.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of pre-existing HF in older patients with HL and its impact on treatment and outcomes.

Methods: Linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and Medicare data from 1999 to 2016 were used to identify patients 65 years and older with newly diagnosed HL.

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We explored patient front-line treatment preferences in newly diagnosed stage III/IV classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). The CONNECT patient survey, administered online from 30 December 2020 to 1 March 2021, examined preferences overall and by age at diagnosis in 182 adult patients diagnosed with stage III/IV cHL within the past 10 years in the United States. At diagnosis, patients' median age was 36 years; 66% of patients were younger (aged 16-41 years) and 34% older (aged 42-85 years).

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The global incidence of cancer is increasing, including its incidence in women of reproductive age. Still, physicians encounter this situation rarely, which could lead to substandard care. This research sought to explore opportunities to improve future care for pregnant women with cancer, by describing the outcomes of a survey distributed to physicians all over the world focusing on clinical experience with pregnant women with cancer, the organization of care and current gaps in knowledge.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Although short-term outcomes are similar across treatment approaches, the long-term risks can vary significantly, leading to the exploration of novel therapeutics both before and after autologous stem cell transplants.
  • * The HoLISTIC Consortium was formed in 2018 to develop clinical decision models using data science and individual patient data to guide treatment decisions, including the use of simulation modeling to estimate risks of late effects from treatments.
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MYC-aberrant non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is associated with poor outcomes with conventional chemotherapy. Ixazomib is an orally bioavailable proteasome inhibitor that targets drivers of MYC expression and has demonstrated preclinical activity in aggressive MYC-aberrant NHL. We conducted a phase 1/2 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of DA-EPOCH-R with adjunctive ixazomib in aggressive MYC-aberrant NHL.

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For over two decades, Rituximab and CHOP combination treatment (rCHOP) has remained the standard treatment approach for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Despite numerous clinical trials exploring treatment alternatives, few options have shown any promise at further improving patient survival and recovery rates. A wave of new therapeutic approaches have recently been in development with the rise of immunotherapy for cancer, however, the cost of clinical trials is prohibitive of testing all promising approaches.

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There has been a renewed effort globally in the study of older Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients, generating a multitude of new data. For prognostication, advancing age, comorbidities, altered functional status, Hispanic ethnicity, and lack of dose intensity (especially without anthracycline) portend inferior survival. Geriatric assessments (GA), including activities of daily living (ADL) and comorbidities, should be objectively measured in all patients.

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Purpose: As part of the CONNECT study, we evaluated the caregiver role in treatment decision-making when caring for patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) in the USA.

Methods: The CONNECT caregiver survey was administered online December 2020-March 2021 to self-identified adult caregivers of cHL patients recruited from patient referrals and online panels. The caregiver's role in treatment decision-making, health-related quality of life (HRQoL, PROMIS-Global), and work impacts (WPAI:CG) were assessed.

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In the pre-novel agent era, the median postprogression overall survival (PPS) of patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) who progress after autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) was 2 to 3 years. Recently, checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) and brentuximab vedotin (BV) have improved the depth and durability of response in this population. Here, we report the estimate of PPS in patients with relapsed cHL after ASCT in the era of CPI and BV.

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To understand US physicians' frontline (1L) treatment preferences/decision-making for stage III/IV classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). Medical oncologists and/or hematologists (≥2 years' practice experience) who treat adults with stage III/IV cHL were surveyed online (October-November 2020). Participants (n = 301) most commonly considered trial efficacy/safety data and national guidelines when selecting 1L cHL treatments.

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In the pivotal study ECHELON-1, brentuximab vedotin (BV), doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A + AVD) demonstrated superior efficacy compared with bleomycin + AVD for the treatment of advanced-stage classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). However, there are minimal available data regarding the frequency of dose reductions or omission of BV during curative therapy and the potential impact on patient outcomes. In a real-world analysis, we retrospectively reviewed the characteristics and outcomes of 179 patients with stage III or IV cHL treated with frontline A + AVD from January 2010 to April 2022.

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Background: Although there is extensive literature on correlates of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among cancer survivors, there has been less attention paid to the role of socioeconomic disadvantage and survivorship care transition experiences in HRQoL. There are few large cohort studies that include a comprehensive set of correlates to obtain a full picture of what is associated with survivors' HRQ0L. This cohort study of recent cancer survivors in New Jersey aimed to explore the association between social determinants of health, health history, health behaviors, survivorship care experiences, and psychosocial factors in HRQoL.

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