A student-community partnership to enhance cancer research training.

Background: Despite the importance of community involvement in research, little formal training in community outreach and engagement (COE) is offered to cancer research trainees. A collaboration between the Office of COE and the Office of Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC) at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson led to the COE-CRTEC Trainee Working Group, a unique program in which trainees in cancer research each created a novel COE initiative.

Methods: Four cancer research trainees were selected to serve as COE Program Liaisons (CPLs), each aligned with one of the four cancer center research programs.

The association of the Affordable Care Act with nutrient consumption in adults in the United States.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as the ACA, was legislation passed in the United States in 2010 to expand access to health insurance coverage for millions of Americans with a key emphasis on preventive care. Nutrition plays a critical role in overall wellness, disease prevention and resilience to chronic illness but prior to the ACA many Americans did not have adequate health insurance coverage to ensure proper nutrition. With passage of the ACA, more individuals received access to nutritional counseling through their primary care physicians as well as prescription vitamins and supplements free of charge.

A scoping review protocol to elucidate outcomes following abiraterone versus enzalutamide for prostate cancer.

Introduction: Abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide are commonly employed in prostate cancer therapy in an interchangeable manner. These drugs are highly efficacious in androgen antagonism to improve patient outcomes, but they also carry noteworthy risk of adverse effects. Common toxicities vary amongst the two drugs and may have differential interactions with patient co-morbidities, but these patterns are unclear as co-morbidities typically serve as exclusion criteria in clinical trials.

Outcomes Following Abiraterone versus Enzalutamide for Prostate Cancer: A Scoping Review.

Abiraterone acetate (AA) and enzalutamide (ENZ) are commonly used for metastatic prostate cancer. It is unclear how their outcomes and toxicities vary with patient-specific factors because clinical trials typically exclude patients with significant comorbidities. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap and facilitate informed treatment decision making.

Understanding the role of sex on outcomes for the cancer patient undergoing treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have changed the treatment landscape for multiple cancer types. Sex plays an important role in both the development of cancer as well as the functioning of the immune system. Though a difference in response to immune therapy is emerging between men and women it is unclear how this difference affects cancer outcomes and what the potential underlying mechanisms are for those effects.

Effect of musculature on mortality, a retrospective cohort study.

Background: While often life-saving, treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) can be debilitating resulting in unplanned hospitalization. Hospitalizations in cancer patients may disrupt treatment and result in poor outcomes. Pre-treatment muscle quality and quantity ascertained through diagnostic imaging may help identify patients at high risk of poor outcomes early.

Cross-sectional analysis of myosteatosis and physical function in pretreatment head and neck cancer patients.

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) and its treatment are associated with muscle weakness and considerable long-term comorbidity. The goal of this study was to determine whether skeletal muscle density (SMD) as quantified from pretreatment computed tomography (CT) scans will correlate with measures of function and strength prior to treatment in physical function in HNC patients.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 90 HNC patients.

Cost-Effectiveness of Nutrient Supplementation in Cancer Survivors.

Cancer patients are at risk for malnutrition; the aim of this study was to provide a cost-effectiveness analysis of dietary supplementation in cancer survivors. We estimated prevalence of supplementation, hospitalization rates, quality of life (QOL), cost of care and mortality among cancer survivors. We built a decision analytic model to simulate life-long costs of health care and supplementation and QOL among cancer survivors with and without supplementation.

A Retrospective Cohort Study of Myosteatosis and Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

Unlabelled: Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment-related morbidity can be detrimental to quality of life (QOL). Myosteatosis is associated with poor QOL in multiple cancers. If predictive of poor QOL trajectories, myosteatosis would be a tool for clinicians to determine which patients may require additional support during treatment.

Low-level exposure to lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium, and blood pressure among 8-17-year-old participants of the 2009-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Dysregulation of systolic, diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), and pulse pressure (PP) in children may predict elevated blood pressure (BP) in adulthood. Toxicant exposure is widely studied as a risk factor for high BP in adults, but not in children. We assessed the joint associations between lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) exposure and SBP, DBP, and PP among 8-17 year-old participants (n = 1642) of the 2009-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Trends in fall-related mortality and fall risk increasing drugs among older individuals in the United States,1999-2017.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated increasing mortality due to falls among older adults. The objective of this study was to determine whether there was an increase in fall risk increasing drug prescribing and if this is concurrent with an increase in fall-related mortality in persons 65 years and older in the United States.

Methods: The study is a serial cross-sectional analysis utilizing data from both the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and the medical expenditure panel survey (MEPS) for years 1999-2017.

Potentially Inappropriate Medications Are Associated with Increased Healthcare Utilization and Costs.

Background/objectives: To examine the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) prescribing and its association with healthcare utilization and related expenditures utilizing nationally representative data from the United States.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: The 2011-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).

General Health Care Utilization Among Nonelderly Cancer Survivors Before and After Affordable Care Act Implementation: Early Results.

Purpose: The number of nonelderly cancer survivors is expected to grow and so are their health care costs. Many cancer survivors worry about medical bills. This study examined the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the rate of insurance, average annual health care expenditure, and patient care experience among cancer survivors and investigated the patient characteristics that were associated with highly rated care experiences before and after ACA implementation.

Antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in the United States outpatient setting.

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) are common in the outpatient setting. Although they are predominantly viral, antibiotics are often prescribed for the treatment of ARIs.

Methods: Using the U.