Publications by authors named "Christopher Woo"

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life-threatening disease where preemptive anticoagulation is recommended by guidelines for patients with intermediate to high pretest risk of PE.

Aims: The primary objective of our study was to describe the use of preemptive anticoagulation from the emergency department (ED) or inpatient wards stratified by risk assessment score.

Methods: We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of consecutive patients undergoing computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for investigation of PE.

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Background: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) are known to impact the functional receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The association between chronic therapy with these medications and infection risk remains unclear.

Objectives: The objective was to determine the association between prior ACEI or ARB therapy and SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with hypertension in the U.

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The tumor-homing ability of monocytes renders them a potential cellular delivery system for alternative cancer therapies, although their migratory ability can be impaired following reagent uptake. Approaches that enhance monocyte tumor homing and promote their migration will improve the clinical value of these cells as cellular carriers. Previous studies have shown that irradiation (IR) can promote macrophage aggregation in hypoxic regions.

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Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) reduces mortality and heart failure hospitalizations in patients with mild heart failure.

Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of adding CRT to an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (CRT-D) compared with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) alone among patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, prolonged intraventricular conduction, and mild heart failure.

Design: Markov decision model.

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Purpose: Wilms' tumor protein (WT1) is overexpressed in most leukemias and many solid tumors and is a promising target for tumor immunotherapy. WT1 peptide-based cancer vaccines have been reported but have limited application due to HLA restriction of the peptides. We sought to vaccinate using adenoviral (Ad) vectors encoding tumor-associated antigens such as WT1 that can stimulate tumor-associated antigen-specific immunity across a broad array of HLA types and multiple class I and class II epitopes.

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The expression of Wilms' tumor protein (WT1)-derived peptides on malignant cell surfaces and recognition of those peptides by cellular and humoral immune responses suggest that WT1 may be a promising potential target antigen in immunotherapeutic trials. With a high frequency of expression in hematopoietic as well as solid tumors, WT1 is a broadly applicable target. Both in vivo mouse model and in vitro human studies have demonstrated the ability of WT1-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes to lyse WT1-expressing malignancies without harming normal tissue.

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Dendritic cells (DCs) play a crucial role in the induction of antigen-specific T-cell responses, and therefore their use for the active immunotherapy of malignancies has been studied with considerable interest. More than a decade has passed since the publication of the first clinical data of DC-based vaccines, and through this and subsequent studies, a number of important developmental insights have been gleaned. These include the ideal source and type of DCs, the discovery of novel antigens and methods of loading DCs, the role of DC maturation, and the most efficient route of immunization.

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As our knowledge of the molecular basis of cancer expands, viral vectors have been increasingly studied as potential antitumour therapeutic agents. With their ability to invade and replicate within target cells, viruses have been utilised as oncolytic agents to directly lyse tumour cells. Viruses can also deliver their genetic payload into infected cells, allowing for the repair of defective tumour suppressor genes, disruption of oncogenic pathways, and production of cytokines that activate the immune system.

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Recent studies have elucidated the functional links between natural killer (NK) cells and, demonstrating the reciprocal activation of these cell types through NK-DC interactions. The subsets of cells and molecular pathways involved in such interactions have been defined, and the possible anatomical sites of these interactions have also been reported. Murine experiments have demonstrated that injection of mature DCs induces rapid recruitment of NK cells to lymph nodes and that these NK cells provide interferon-gamma for Type 1 priming.

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