Mobilizing cross-disciplinary teams to advance translational research using design thinking methods.

Funding agencies are increasingly seeking team-based approaches to tackling complex research questions, but there is a need to mobilize translational teams and create shared visions and strategic action plans long before specific funding opportunities are considered or even released. This is particularly evident for teams who want to pursue large-scale grants, where cross-disciplinary synergy is often required. In response, we created Research Jams, which are engaging yet structured brainstorming sessions that bring together groups for the first time to collectively generate novel research ideas, critically map the future of initiatives, prioritize opportunities and next steps, and build community.

Multiethnic PDX models predict a possible immune signature associated with TNBC of African ancestry.

Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype most prevalent among women of Western Sub-Saharan African ancestry. It accounts for 15-25% of African American (AA) breast cancers (BC) and up to 80% of Ghanaian breast cancers, thus contributing to outcome disparities in BC for black women. The aggressive biology of TNBC has been shown to be regulated partially by breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) which mediate tumor recurrence and metastasis and are more abundant in African breast tumors.

African Clinicians' Prioritization of Needs in International Breast Cancer Partnerships.

This study analyzes a survey conducted at a gathering of clinicians who specialize in breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa to better understand what they need from international collaborators.

Androgen Receptor and ALDH1 Expression Among Internationally Diverse Patient Populations.

Purpose: Population-based incidence rates of breast cancers that are negative for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/ neu (triple-negative breast cancer [TNBC]) are higher among African American (AA) compared with white American (WA) women, and TNBC prevalence is elevated among selected populations of African patients. The extent to which TNBC risk is related to East African versus West African ancestry, and whether these associations extend to expression of other biomarkers, is uncertain.

Methods: We used immunohistochemistry to evaluate estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/ neu, androgen receptor and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) expression among WA (n = 153), AA (n = 76), Ethiopian (Eth)/East African (n = 90), and Ghanaian (Gh)/West African (n = 286) patients with breast cancer through an institutional review board-approved international research program.

Breast Cancer and African Ancestry: Lessons Learned at the 10-Year Anniversary of the Ghana-Michigan Research Partnership and International Breast Registry.

Women with African ancestry in western, sub-Saharan Africa and in the United States represent a population subset facing an increased risk of being diagnosed with biologically aggressive phenotypes of breast cancer that are negative for the estrogen receptor, the progesterone receptor, and the / marker. These tumors are commonly referred to as triple-negative breast cancer. Disparities in breast cancer incidence and outcome related to racial or ethnic identity motivated the establishment of the International Breast Registry, on the basis of partnerships between the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan.

Comparative Analysis of Breast Cancer Phenotypes in African American, White American, and West Versus East African patients: Correlation Between African Ancestry and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Introduction: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is more common among African American (AA) and western sub-Saharan African breast cancer (BC) patients compared with White/Caucasian Americans (WA) and Europeans. Little is known about TNBC in east Africa.

Methods: Invasive BC diagnosed 1998-2014 were evaluated: WA and AA patients from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan; Ghanaian/west Africans from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana; and Ethiopian/east Africans from the St.

Factors associated with receipt of breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy in a diverse population-based sample.

Purpose: Disparities in receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy may contribute to higher breast cancer fatality rates among black and Hispanic women compared with non-Hispanic whites. We investigated factors associated with receipt of chemotherapy in a diverse population-based sample.

Patients And Methods: Women diagnosed with breast cancer between August 2005 and May 2007 (N = 3,252) and reported to the Detroit, Michigan, or Los Angeles County Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry were recruited to complete a survey.

Patterns and correlates of postmastectomy breast reconstruction by U.S. Plastic surgeons: results from a national survey.

Background: : Concern exists that plastic surgeons have lost interest in postmastectomy breast reconstruction, which has helped enable the oncoplastic movement by general surgery. The authors evaluated patterns and correlates of postmastectomy breast reconstruction among U.S.

Receipt of delayed breast reconstruction after mastectomy: do women revisit the decision?

Background: Postmastectomy breast reconstruction is an important component of breast cancer care, but few receive it at the time of the mastectomy. Virtually nothing is known about receipt of reconstruction after initial cancer therapy and why treatment might be delayed.

Materials And Methods: A 5-year follow-up survey was mailed to a population-based cohort of mastectomy-treated breast cancer patients who were initially surveyed at time of diagnosis in 2002 and reported to the Los Angeles and Detroit SEER registries (N = 645, response rate 60%).

Plastic surgeons' satisfaction with work-life balance: results from a national survey.

Background: Plastic surgery demographics are transforming, with a greater proportion of women and younger physicians who desire balance between their career and personal lives compared with previous generations. The authors' purpose was to describe the patterns and correlates of satisfaction with work-life balance among U.S.

Survey research.

Survey research is a unique methodology that can provide insight into individuals' perspectives and experiences and can be collected on a large population-based sample. Specifically, in plastic surgery, survey research can provide patients and providers with accurate and reproducible information to assist with medical decision-making. When using survey methods in research, researchers should develop a conceptual model that explains the relationships of the independent and dependent variables.

Satisfaction with career choice among U.S. plastic surgeons: results from a national survey.

Background: The authors' purpose was to describe patterns and correlates of satisfaction with career choice among U.S. plastic surgeons.

Decision involvement and receipt of mastectomy among racially and ethnically diverse breast cancer patients.

Background: Few studies have evaluated the association between patient decision involvement and surgery received among racially and ethnically diverse patients or patients' attitudes about surgery and the role of family and friends in surgical treatment choices.

Methods: Women diagnosed with nonmetastatic breast cancer from June 2005 through February 2007 and reported to the Los Angeles or Detroit Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries were mailed a survey after diagnosis (N = 3133). Latina and African American women were oversampled.

Latinas and breast cancer outcomes: population-based sampling, ethnic identity, and acculturation assessment.

Purpose: Latinas and African-Americans with breast cancer, especially those of lower socioeconomic status and acculturation, have been underrepresented in studies assessing treatment satisfaction, decision-making, and quality of life. A study was designed to recruit a large and representative sample of these subgroups.

Materials And Methods: Incident cases were selected by rapid case ascertainment (RCA) in the Los Angeles Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Registry from 2005 to 2006, with oversampling of Latinas and African-Americans.

Factors associated with patient involvement in surgical treatment decision making for breast cancer.

Objective: To evaluate factors associated with women's reported level of involvement in breast cancer surgical treatment decision making, and the factors associated with the match between actual and preferred involvement in this decision.

Methods: Survey data from breast cancer patients in Detroit and Los Angeles was merged with surgeon data for an analytic dataset of 1101 patients and 277 surgeons. Decisional involvement and the match between actual and preferred amount of involvement were analyzed as three-level dependent variables using multinomial logistic regression controlling for clustering within surgeons.

The influence of race, ethnicity, and individual socioeconomic factors on breast cancer stage at diagnosis.

Objectives: Previous research has generally found that racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer stage at diagnosis attenuate when measures of socioeconomic status are included in the analysis, although most previous research measured socioeconomic status at the contextual level. This study investigated the relation between race/ethnicity, individual socioeconomic status, and breast cancer stage at diagnosis.

Methods: Women with stage 0 to III breast cancer were identified from population-based data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results tumor registries in the Detroit and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.

An informed decision? Breast cancer patients and their knowledge about treatment.

Objective: Although involving women in breast cancer treatment decisions is advocated, there is little understanding of whether women have the information they need to make informed decisions. The objective of the current study was to evaluate women's knowledge of survival and recurrence rates for mastectomy and breast conserving surgery (BCS) and the factors associated with this knowledge.

Methods: We used a population-based sample of women diagnosed with breast cancer in metropolitan Los Angeles and Detroit between December 2001 and January 2003.

Correlates of breast reconstruction: results from a population-based study.

Background: Immediate or early postmastectomy breast reconstruction is performed infrequently. To the authors' knowledge, little is known regarding surgeon or patient perspectives on reconstruction treatment decisions. The purpose of the current study was to identify patient attitudes and preferences associated with breast reconstruction, and whether these differed by race.

Surgeon perspectives about local therapy for breast carcinoma.

Background: Geographic variations in the use of mastectomy and the use of radiation therapy (RT) after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) have motivated concerns that surgeons are not uniformly adhering to treatment standards.

Methods: The authors surveyed attending surgeons of a population-based sample of patients with breast carcinoma diagnosed in Detroit and Los Angeles from December 2001 to January 2003 (n = 365; response rate, 80.0%).

Population-based study of the relationship of treatment and sociodemographics on quality of life for early stage breast cancer.

Objective: To examine the relationship between cancer stage, surgical treatment and chemotherapy on quality of life (QOL) after breast cancer and determine if sociodemographic characteristics modify the observed relationships.

Methods: A population-based sample of women with Stages 0-II breast cancer in the United States (N = 1357) completed surveys including the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), and the Breast Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ BR-23). Regression models calculated mean QOL scores across primary surgical treatment and chemotherapy.

Patient involvement in surgery treatment decisions for breast cancer.

Purpose: High rates of mastectomy and marked regional variations have motivated lingering concerns about overtreatment and failure to involve women in treatment decisions. We examined the relationship between patient involvement in decision making and type of surgical treatment for women with breast cancer.

Methods: All women with ductal carcinoma-in-situ and a 20% random sample of women with invasive breast cancer aged 79 years and younger who were diagnosed in 2002 and reported to the Detroit and Los Angeles Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries were identified and surveyed shortly after receipt of surgical treatment (response rate, 77.

Satisfaction with surgery outcomes and the decision process in a population-based sample of women with breast cancer.

Objective: To better understand medical decision making in the context of "preference sensitive care," we investigated factors associated with breast cancer patients' satisfaction with the type of surgery received and with the decision process.

Data Sources/data Collection: For a population-based sample of recently diagnosed breast cancer patients in the Detroit and Los Angeles metropolitan areas (N=1,633), demographic and clinical data were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results tumor registry, and self-reported psychosocial and satisfaction data were obtained through a mailed survey (78.4 percent response rate).

Patterns and correlates of local therapy for women with ductal carcinoma-in-situ.

Purpose: Concerns have been raised about the quality of treatment for women with ductal carcinoma-in-situ (DCIS) because persistent high rates of mastectomy suggest overtreatment, whereas lower than expected rates of radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) suggest undertreatment.

Patients And Methods: All women with DCIS diagnosed in 2002 and who reported to the Detroit and Los Angeles Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries were identified and surveyed shortly after receipt of surgery (response rate, 79.7%; n = 817).