Publications by authors named "Alex Kim"

Objectives: Health-Significant Quality of Life Measure (Health-SigQOLM) provides a generic and dynamic assessment of Health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study aims to assess the HRQOL among healthy and non-healthy participants with varying chronic diseases.

Results: Comparisons between healthy and non-healthy participants revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.

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Purpose: Despite the disproportionate impact of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on Hispanic patients, reported outcomes are limited, particularly among subpopulations. Our study aimed to evaluate outcomes in access to care and survival among racial and ethnic Hispanic subpopulations.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was utilized to identify patients diagnosed with HCC between 2004 and 2020.

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Background: Although resection is generally necessary for curative-intent treatment of most solid organ cancers, surgery is occasionally aborted due to intraoperative findings. Following aborted cancer surgery, patients have unique care needs that specialized palliative care (PC) providers may be best equipped to manage. We hypothesized that early ambulatory PC referral following aborted cancer surgery would be feasible and acceptable.

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Introduction: In aggregate, Asian patients have a higher incidence and mortality from gastric cancer (GC) than Non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients. However, there is a lack of data regarding outcomes among Asian-American subpopulations with GC.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was used to identify patients with GC between 2004 and 2020.

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Recent studies have identified a unique subtype of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) termed antigen-presenting CAFs (apCAFs), which remain the least understood CAF subtype. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the origin and function apCAFs, we construct a fibroblast molecular atlas across 14 types of solid tumors. Our integration study unexpectedly reveals two distinct apCAF lineages present in most cancer types: one associated with mesothelial-like cells and the other with fibrocytes.

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The science of drug discovery involves multiparameter optimization of molecular structures through iterative design-make-test cycles. For medicinal chemistry library synthesis, traditional workflows involve the isolation of each individual compound, gravimetric quantitation, and preparation of a standard concentration solution for biological assays. In this work, we explore ways to expedite this process by testing unpurified library mixtures using a combination of mass spectrometry-based assays for affinity selection and microsomal metabolic stability.

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This study aims to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between healthcare providers without chronic diseases and participants with chronic diseases presenting with one of the four different primary diagnoses on the health-related quality of life with six domains (HRQ-6D) scale. This is a cross-sectional study to compare the HRQOL between healthcare providers without chronic diseases and participants with chronic diseases. Data collection was performed from May 2022 to May 2023.

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Background And Objectives: Hepatic artery infusion pump (HAIP) therapy is an available option at highly specialized centers to treat unresectable liver tumors (e.g., colorectal liver metastases [CRLM]).

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Background: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a multimodal therapeutic option for the management of peritoneal metastases (PM). Treatment outcomes for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) PM undergoing CRS+HIPEC with microsatellite instability (MSI) remain unknown. We examined the patient characteristics and outcomes in patients with MSI CRC after CRS+HIPEC.

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Nearly seventy percent of diagnostic lab test errors occur due to variability in preanalytical factors. These are the parameters involved with all aspects of tissue processing, starting from the time tissue is collected from the patient in the operating room, until it is received and tested in the laboratory. While there are several protocols for transporting fixed tissue, organs, and liquid biopsies, such protocols are lacking for transport and handling of live solid tumor tissue specimens.

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Objective: The "Health" element is one of the elements in Significant Quality of Life Measure (SigQOLM) that measures quality of life and well-being of people. This study aims to evaluate the Health element (Health-SigQOLM) as a generic and dynamic scale to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with a broader spectrum of coverage. This study used a secondary data that developed SigQOLM.

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Allostatic load (AL) is a biological measure of cumulative exposure to socioenvironmental stressors (e.g., poverty).

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Objective: Epileptic Encephalopathy / Developmental Epileptic Encephalopathy with spike-and-wave activation during sleep (EE/DEE-SWAS) is a self-limiting childhood epilepsy syndrome but may cause permanent neurocognitive impairment. Surgical interventions have been controversial in the treatment of EE/DEE-SWAS. This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy of various surgical procedures on the outcomes of EE/DEE-SWAS.

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Background: In healthcare, "speaking up" refers to when healthcare workers raise concerns regarding patient safety through questions, sharing information, or expressing their opinion to prevent harmful incidents and ensure patient safety. Conversely, withholding voice is an act of not raising concerns, which could be beneficial in certain situations. Factors associated with speaking up and withholding voices are not fully understood, especially in strong authoritarian societies, such as Malaysia.

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This case report follows a 66-year-old female who originally presented with malignant melanoma in the left knee and recurrence in the left inguinal region. This prompted a whole body FDG PET/CT scan which showed incidental focal hypermetabolism in the uterus. The diagnosis of endometrial cancer was confirmed at biopsy, and the patient was treated with total abdominal hysterectomy.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study evaluated the effectiveness of pegsitacianine, a fluorescent imaging agent, in detecting residual disease after cytoreductive surgery (CRS) in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis, which could enhance long-term survival chances.
  • - In a phase II trial, 50 patients received pegsitacianine before surgery, and after CRS, 50% of evaluable patients showed residual disease during examination under near-infrared light.
  • - Pegsitacianine was found to be well tolerated, with no serious side effects reported, and helped improve the detection of occult residual disease, indicating its potential utility in surgical procedures.
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Background: The addition of radiation therapy (RT) to surgery in retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) remains controversial. We examined practice patterns in the use of RT for patients with RPS over time in a large, national cohort.

Methods: Patients in the National Cancer Database (2004-2017) who underwent resection of RPS were included.

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Background: Allostatic load (AL) is a biological measure of cumulative exposure to socioenvironmental stressors (e.g., poverty).

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Background: Based on the NCCN Guidelines for Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS), treatment of extremity STS (ESTS) includes radiation therapy (RT) and surgical resection for tumors that are high-grade and >5 cm. ​​The aim of this study was to describe the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), concordance with NCCN Guidelines recommendations, and outcomes in patients with ESTS.

Methods: Patients with ESTS diagnosed from 2006 through 2018 were identified in SEER registries.

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Nearly seventy percent of diagnostic lab test errors occur due to variability in preanalytical factors. These are the parameters involved with all aspects of tissue processing, starting from the time tissue is collected from the patient in the operating room, until it is received and tested in the laboratory. While there are several protocols for transporting fixed tissue, organs, and liquid biopsies, such protocols are lacking for transport and handling of live solid tumor tissue specimens.

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Purpose: Effective cancer care coordination (CCC) is an integral component of health care delivery and critical to achieving optimal oncologic outcomes. Neoadjuvant therapy (NT), the delivery of multimodality therapy prior to surgery, is inherently complex and multidisciplinary, but CCC during NT is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to characterize patient perceptions of CCC during NT using a mixed methods approach.

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Background: Multivisceral resection of retroperitoneal liposarcoma (LPS) is associated with increased morbidity and may not confer a survival benefit compared with tumor-only (TO) resection. We compared both approaches using a novel statistical method called the "win ratio" (WR).

Methods: Patients who underwent resection of LPS from 2004 to 2015 were identified from the National Cancer Database.

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The ETS transcription factor ERG is a master regulator of endothelial gene specificity and highly enriched in the capillary, vein, and arterial endothelial cells. ERG expression is critical for endothelial barrier function, permeability, and vascular inflammation. A dysfunctional vascular endothelial ERG has been shown to impair lung capillary homeostasis, contributing to pulmonary fibrosis as previously observed in IPF lungs.

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Patients who undergo resection for non-invasive IPMN are at risk for long-term recurrence. Further evidence is needed to identify evidence-based surveillance strategies based on the risk of recurrence. We performed a systematic review of the current literature regarding recurrence patterns following resection of non-invasive IPMN to summarize evidence-based recommendations for surveillance.

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