Publications by authors named "Alicja Zalewski"

Background: Current guidelines recommend resection with primary anastomosis with diverting loop ileostomy over Hartmann's procedure if deemed safe for acute diverticulitis. The primary objective of the current study was to compare the utilization of these strategies and describe nationwide ostomy closure patterns and readmission outcomes within 1 year of discharge.

Methods: This was a retrospective, population-based, cohort study of United States Hospitals reporting to the Nationwide Readmissions Database from January 2011 to December 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the effects of submucosal tunnel (SMT) dissection on the success of per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for treating esophageal dysmotility, specifically looking at changes in luminal diameter and distensibility index (DI).
  • Researchers analyzed data from 66 POEM patients and found that SMT dissection alone led to significant changes in luminal diameter and DI, accounting for 38% and 30% of the total changes seen with complete POEM, respectively.
  • The results indicate that while SMT dissection impacts esophageal dimensions, the full benefits of POEM come from additional factors, suggesting that the submucosa could be targeted for improved treatments in achal
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Strategies to augment immunity to self/neoantigens expressed by cancers are urgently needed to expand the proportion of patients benefiting from immunotherapy, particularly for GI cancers where only a fraction of patients respond to immunotherapies. However, current vaccine strategies are limited by poor immunogenicity, pre-existing vector-specific immunity, and vaccine-induced vector-specific immunity. Here, we examined a prime-boost strategy using a chimeric adenoviral vector (Ad5.

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Colorectal cancer continues to represent a significant burden on public health as the second highest cause of cancer mortality, when men and women are combined, in the US. About 50% of patients either present with late-stage metastatic disease, or develop metastatic recurrences, and ultimately die. In turn, this mortality largely reflects cancer stem cells, tumor-initiating cells that are responsible for cancer progression, drug resistance, recurrence and metastasis.

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Most sporadic colorectal cancer reflects acquired mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli () tumor suppressor gene, while germline heterozygosity for mutant produces the autosomal dominant disorder Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) with a predisposition to colorectal cancer. In these syndromes, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) silences the remaining normal allele of , through an unknown mechanism, as the initiating step in transformation. Guanylyl cyclase C receptor (GUCY2C) and its hormones, uroguanylin and guanylin, have emerged as a key signaling axis opposing mutations driving intestinal tumorigenesis.

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