Achalasia-Specific Quality of Life After Pneumatic Dilation or Laparoscopic Heller Myotomy With Partial Fundoplication: A Multicenter, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objectives: Achalasia is a chronic, progressive, and incurable esophageal motility disease. There is clinical uncertainty about which treatment should be recommended as first-line therapy. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of pneumatic dilation compared with laparoscopic Heller myotomy with partial fundoplication in improving achalasia-specific quality of life.

Whole genome sequencing as a diagnostic test: challenges and opportunities.

Background: Extraordinary technological advances and decreases in the cost of DNA sequencing have made the possibility of whole genome sequencing (WGS) as a highly accessible clinical test for numerous indications feasible. There have been many recent, successful applications of WGS in establishing the etiology of complex diseases and guiding therapeutic decision-making in neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases and in various aspects of reproductive health. However, there are major, but not insurmountable, obstacles to the increased clinical implementation of WGS, such as hidden costs, issues surrounding sequencing and analysis, quality assurance and standardization protocols, ethical dilemmas, and difficulties with interpretation of the results.

False biomarker discovery due to reactivity of a commercial ELISA for CUZD1 with cancer antigen CA125.

Background: By using proteomics and bioinformatics, we have previously identified a group of highly pancreas-specific proteins as candidate pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) biomarkers. With the use of commercially available ELISAs, the performance of some of these candidates was initially evaluated in a relatively small serum cohort (n = 100 samples). This phase revealed that CUB and zona pellucida-like domains protein 1 (CUZD1) may represent a new, promising PDAC biomarker.

Laminin, gamma 2 (LAMC2): a promising new putative pancreatic cancer biomarker identified by proteomic analysis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues.

In pancreatic cancer, the incidence and mortality curves coincide. One major reason for this high mortality rate in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients is the dearth of effective diagnostic, prognostic, and disease-monitoring biomarkers. Unfortunately, existing tumor markers, as well as current imaging modalities, are not sufficiently sensitive and/or specific for early-stage diagnosis.

Bioinformatic identification of proteins with tissue-specific expression for biomarker discovery.

Background: There is an important need for the identification of novel serological biomarkers for the early detection of cancer. Current biomarkers suffer from a lack of tissue specificity, rendering them vulnerable to non-disease-specific increases. The present study details a strategy to rapidly identify tissue-specific proteins using bioinformatics.