Publications by authors named "Ana Tergas"
Objective: Living in a food desert is a known negative health risk, with recent literature finding an associated higher mortality in patients with cancers. Gynecologic cancers have not specifically been studied. We aimed to describe patients with gynecologic cancers who live in a food desert and determine if there is an association between living in a food desert and gynecologic cancer mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Brachytherapy is a critical component of the standard-of-care curative radiotherapy regimen for women with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). However, existing literature suggests that many patients will not receive the brachytherapy boost. We used machine learning (ML) and explainable artificial intelligence to characterize this disparity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Failure to deliver guideline-concordant treatment may contribute to disparities among Hispanic/Latinx cervical cancer patients. This study investigated the association between survival rates in Hispanic/Latinx subpopulations and the provision of guideline-concordant care.
Methods: We analyzed patients with primary cervical cancer from 2004 to 2019 (National Cancer Database).
Purpose: Therapeutic alliances (TAs) between oncologists and patients are bonds characterized by mutual caring, trust, and respect. We here relate oncologist characteristics and behaviors to TA among Latino and non-Latino patients with advanced cancer.
Methods: Participants included non-Latino oncologists (n = 41) and their Latino (n = 67) and non-Latino White (n = 90) patients with advanced cancer who participated in Coping with Cancer III, a multisite, US-based prospective cohort study of Latino/non-Latino disparities in end-of-life cancer care, conducted 2015-2019.
Background: Hispanic/Latinx people have the second highest cervical cancer incidence rates in the U.S. However, there is a lack of disaggregated data on clinical outcomes for this diverse and populous group, which is critical to direct resources and funding where they are most needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Predicting in vivo response to antineoplastics remains an elusive challenge. We performed a first-of-kind evaluation of two transcriptome-based precision cancer medicine methodologies to predict tumor sensitivity to a comprehensive repertoire of clinically relevant oncology drugs, whose mechanism of action we experimentally assessed in cognate cell lines. We enrolled patients with histologically distinct, poor-prognosis malignancies who had progressed on multiple therapies, and developed low-passage, patient-derived xenograft models that were used to validate 35 patient-specific drug predictions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: To contribute to the reduction and elimination of cancer-related local and global health disparities, interventions must be culturally adapted to reach diverse cultural groups and demonstrate success in improving clinical and psychosocial outcomes. We provide step-by-step information on the conceptual and methodological challenges involved in culturally adapting interventions and provide guidelines, suggestions, tools, and concrete steps for implementing the process.
Methods: This article provides information, guidelines, suggestions, tools, and concrete steps, based on three rigorous models of cultural adaptations, for implementing this process, followed with examples from the field, to illustrate the conceptual and methodological challenges involved in culturally adapting interventions.
Introduction: Bereavement and grief are social phenomena influenced by a multitude of cultural factors. Prior studies of bereavement adjustment have primarily focused on bereaved survivors who identify racially as white; knowledge of the experience of grief and bereavement among racial/ethnic and other minority groups, particularly among Latino/a groups, in the United States is limited.
Objective: The purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature documenting the bereavement experiences of the Latino/a community, evaluate the strength of the current evidence, and provide recommendations to guide future research.
Background: Cancer patients often prefer to die at home, a location associated with better quality of death (QoD). Several studies demonstrate disparities in end-of-life care among immigrant populations in the United States. This study aimed to evaluate how immigrant status affects location and quality of death among patients with advanced cancer in the United States.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Preclinical evidence and early clinical trials have demonstrated the activity of SPL-108, a targeted agent that inhibits CD44 mediated induction of multidrug resistance specifically to paclitaxel and platinum agents. We conducted a phase I, open label, dose escalation study of the safety and tolerability of the combination of SPL-108 with weekly paclitaxel in patients with platinum resistant CD44+ ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer.
Methods: Patients with platinum resistant histologically proven epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancers and measurable disease according to RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours) version 1.
Objective: To evaluate the clinical utility of tertiary cytoreductive surgery (TCS) in recurrent ovarian cancer.
Methods: MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase (Elsevier), ClinicalTrials.gov, Scopus (Elsevier) and Web of Science for studies from inception to 4/09/2021.
Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing is the cornerstone of cervical cancer screening, with outstanding sensitivity but only moderate specificity. We evaluated whether reflex testing for cancer biomarkers improves the sensitivity/specificity balance of screening.
Methods: Cervical samples from women in Cape Town, South Africa, ages 30-65 years, were collected and tested with Xpert HPV and with real-time PCR to detect mRNA for cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A), topoisomerase 2 alpha (TOP2A), and Ki67 (MKi67).
This cross-sectional study uses Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality data to compare incidence of cervical cancer in the lowest–socioeconomic status neighborhoods with that in higher–socioeconomic status neighborhoods of New York City from 2012 through 2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To examine the utilization of minimally invasive adnexal surgery, including ovarian cystectomy and oophorectomy, among women with benign gynecologic diseases and compare the associated morbidity and mortality of minimally invasive and open surgery.
Methods: Women with benign ovarian pathology who underwent an ovarian cystectomy or oophorectomy from 2016 through 2018 in the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample and Nationwide Inpatient Sample databases were included. Patients with a diagnosis of gynecologic malignancy or concurrent hysterectomy were excluded.
Objective: To examine access to high-volume surgeons in comparison with low-volume surgeons who perform hysterectomies within high-volume hospitals and to compare perioperative morbidity and mortality between high-volume and low-volume surgeons within these centers.
Methods: Women who underwent hysterectomy in New York State between 2000 and 2014 at a high-volume (top quartile by volume) hospital were included. Surgeons were classified into quartiles based on average annual hysterectomy volume.
Objective: To examine the effects of intraoperative ovarian capsule rupture on progression-free survival and overall survival in women who are undergoing surgery for early-stage ovarian cancer.
Data Sources: MEDLINE using PubMed, EMBASE (Elsevier), ClinicalTrials.gov, and Scopus (Elsevier) were searched from inception until August 11, 2020.
Importance: Increased use of benzodiazepines has resulted in increasing rates of misuse and adverse effects associated with these drugs. Little is known about the initial exposure and source of benzodiazepines among those who use them persistently.
Objective: To examine the frequency of use and persistent use of benzodiazepines among patients undergoing major and minor surgical procedures.
Background: Fragmentation occurs when a patient receives care at more than one hospital, and the long-term effects in ovarian cancer are unknown. We examined the association between fragmentation of primary debulking surgery (PDS) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) and overall survival (OS).
Methods: The National Cancer Database was used to identify women with stage II-IV epithelial ovarian cancer between 2004 and 2016 who underwent PDS followed by AC.
Importance: While cervical cancer screening with cytologic and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing has reduced mortality from cervical cancer, overuse of these tests is associated with downstream psychological and medical consequences, as well as significant costs. Guidelines now recommend less frequent testing, although adherence to these recommendations is uncertain.
Objective: To determine the frequency of overuse of cervical cancer screening tests.
Objective: To examine the utilization, morbidity, and cost of sentinel lymph node mapping in women undergoing hysterectomy for complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia.
Methods: Women with complex atypical endometrial hyperplasia who underwent hysterectomy from 2012 to 2018 in the Perspective database were examined. Perioperative morbidity, mortality, and cost were examined based on performance of sentinel lymph node mapping, lymph node dissection or no nodal evaluation.
Objective: To explore trends of ovarian conservation (OCN) over time in young women with early stage leiomyosarcoma (LMS) and examine the association between OCN and survival.
Methods: Patients under the age of 50 who were diagnosed with stage I LMS who underwent hysterectomy with and without oophorectomy between 2010 and 2016 were identified in the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Performance of oophorectomy vs.