Developing Geographic Areas for Cancer Reporting Using Automated Zone Design.

The reporting and analysis of population-based cancer statistics in the United States has traditionally been done for counties. However, counties are not ideal for analysis of cancer rates, due to wide variation in population size, with larger counties having considerable sociodemographic variation within their borders and sparsely populated counties having less reliable estimates of cancer rates that are often suppressed due to confidentiality concerns. There is a need and an opportunity to utilize zone design procedures in the context of cancer surveillance to generate coherent, statistically stable geographic units that are more optimal for cancer reporting and analysis than counties.

Survival outcomes for cancer types with the highest death rates for adolescents and young adults, 1975-2016.

Background: Five-year relative survival for adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer diagnosed at the ages of 15 to 39 years is 85%. Survival rates vary considerably according to the cancer type. The purpose of this study was to analyze long-term survival trends for cancer types with the highest mortality among AYAs to determine where the greatest burden is and to identify areas for future research.

Intergenerational Transmission of Traumatic Stress and Resilience Among Cambodian Immigrant Families Along Coastal Alabama: Family Narratives.

Intergenerational transmission of psychological trauma is an ongoing global public health concern. Cambodia experienced ∼4 years of genocide, causing about 2 million deaths. Many survivors fled and resettled in the United States where they continued to face the psychological and relational consequences of forced displacement, with limited access to mental health treatment.

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, part I: National cancer statistics.

Background: The American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries collaborate to provide annual updates on cancer occurrence and trends in the United States.

Methods: Data on new cancer diagnoses during 2001 through 2016 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded and National Cancer Institute-funded population-based cancer registry programs and compiled by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. Data on cancer deaths during 2001 through 2017 were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics' National Vital Statistics System.

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, part II: Progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives for 4 common cancers.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries collaborate to provide annual updates on cancer occurrence and trends in the United States and to address a special topic of interest. Part I of this report focuses on national cancer statistics, and part 2 characterizes progress in achieving select Healthy People 2020 cancer objectives.

Methods: For this report, the authors selected objectives-including death rates, cancer screening, and major risk factors-related to 4 common cancers (lung, colorectal, female breast, and prostate).

Narratives of Generativity and Resilience among LGBT Older Adults: Leaving Positive Legacies despite Social Stigma and Collective Trauma.

The aim of many adults in middle to old age is to be generative. Generativity is the concern older adults direct toward the wellbeing of future generations. Being generative results in positive well-being during later life and is especially important to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) older adults who have experienced lifelong discrimination.

Depressive Symptoms Among Aging Hispanic Americans: Longitudinal Effects of Positive Spousal Support and Previous Depressive Symptoms.

We aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of spousal support on aging Hispanic Americans' depressive symptoms using population-based data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using hierarchical multiple regressions, we investigated whether baseline positive spousal support and previous depressive symptoms were significant predictors of depressive symptoms 8 years later in a sample of 264 aging Hispanic Americans. We discovered that previous depressive symptoms, baseline chronic conditions, and positive spousal support were all significant predictors of long-term depressive symptoms.

Riociguat use in sickle cell related chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: A case series.

Adults with sickle cell disease can develop pulmonary hypertension from a multitude of etiologies. Classified as WHO Group 5, there are no therapies approved for the treatment of sickle cell disease-pulmonary hypertension. Thromboembolic disease is prevalent in sickle cell disease and can lead to pulmonary hypertension.

Sex after divorce: older adult women's reflections.

People who divorce experience a number of negative impacts, and yet divorce also offers opportunities for growth and transformation. This qualitative study of older adult women offers the possibility that divorce may be sexually empowering, especially for women, based on in-depth interviewing of women who had gone through one or more divorces. Detailed examples of the experiences of fourteen women with divorce and sexual expression are offered, focusing on in which situations divorce might be empowering and how it could contribute to sexual exploration and satisfaction.

Early estimates of cancer incidence for 2015: Expanding to include estimates for white and black races.

Background: The National Cancer Institute's cancer incidence estimates through 2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries' November 2017 submission are released in April 2018.

Methods: Early estimates (February 2017) of cancer incidence rates and trends from the SEER 18 registries for diagnoses in 2000 through 2015 were evaluated with a revised delay-adjustment model, which was used to adjust for the undercount of cases in the early release. For the first time, early estimates were produced for race (whites and blacks) along with estimates for new sites: the oral cavity and pharynx, leukemia, and myeloma.

A Practitioner's Guide to End-of-Life Intimacy: Suggestions for Conceptualization and Intervention in Palliative Care.

Sexuality and intimacy, including contact, tenderness, and love, are important at every life stage. Intimate expression is especially vital at the end of life, when relationships with loved ones are time limited. Unfortunately, care providers often ignore the potential need for sexual expression, especially at the end of life.

Pathways to pleasure: Older adult women's reflections on being sexual beings.

Older adult women make up a growing part of the population, and yet literature on the sexual activity over their life spans is lacking. This qualitative interview study explored the experience of 16 women aged 57-91 to better understand sexual pleasure over a lifetime. The participants described having to challenge cultural rules to create a supportive environment for sexual expression.

Recent Spatiotemporal Patterns of US Lung Cancer by Histologic Type.

Background: After a period of increasing rates, lung cancer incidence is declining in the US for men and women. We investigated lung cancer rate patterns by gender, geographic location, and histologic subtype, and for total lung cancer (TLC), for the entire study period, and for 2000-2011 from 17 surveillance, epidemiology, and end results areas.

Methods: For each gender-histologic type combination, time trend plots and maps of age-adjusted rates are presented.

Conflict and Care: Israeli Healthcare Providers and Syrian Patients and Caregivers in Israel.

Israel has provided immediate healthcare to Syrian children, civilians and fighters since early 2013 despite being in an official state of war with Syria since 1973. We present qualitative findings from a larger mixed-methods phenomenological study to understand how the geopolitical and social history of Israel and Syria influences healthcare providers and Syrian patient caregivers in northern Israel. Theories of humanization and cognitive dissonance guided this study and frame the beliefs and experiences of healthcare providers who treated wounded Syrians in Israeli hospitals.

Early estimates of SEER cancer incidence, 2014.

Background: Cancer incidence rates and trends for cases diagnosed through 2014 using data reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program in February 2016 and a validation of rates and trends for cases diagnosed through 2013 and submitted in February 2015 using the November 2015 submission are reported. New cancer sites include the pancreas, kidney and renal pelvis, corpus and uterus, and childhood cancer sites for ages birth to 19 years inclusive.

Methods: A new reporting delay model is presented for these estimates for more consistent results with the model used for the usual November SEER submissions, adjusting for the large case undercount in the February submission.

Assessing disparities in colorectal cancer mortality by socioeconomic status using new tools: health disparities calculator and socioeconomic quintiles.

Purpose: Colorectal cancer mortality rates dropped by half in the past three decades, but these gains were accompanied by striking differences in colorectal cancer mortality by socioeconomic status (SES). Our research objective is to examine disparities in colorectal cancer mortality by SES, using a scientifically rigorous and reproducible approach with publicly available online tools, HD*Calc and NCI SES Quintiles.

Methods: All reported colorectal cancer deaths in the United States from 1980 to 2010 were categorized into NCI SES quintiles and assessed at the county level.

Cancer Incidence and Survival Trends by Subtype Using Data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program, 1992-2013.

Cancers are heterogeneous, comprising distinct tumor subtypes. Therefore, presenting the burden of cancer in the population and trends over time by these tumor subtypes is important to identify patterns and differences in the occurrence of these subtypes, especially to generalize findings to the U.S.

Using Gini coefficient to determining optimal cluster reporting sizes for spatial scan statistics.

Background: Spatial and space-time scan statistics are widely used in disease surveillance to identify geographical areas of elevated disease risk and for the early detection of disease outbreaks. With a scan statistic, a scanning window of variable location and size moves across the map to evaluate thousands of overlapping windows as potential clusters, adjusting for the multiple testing. Almost always, the method will find many very similar overlapping clusters, and it is not useful to report all of them.

Preliminary estimates of SEER cancer incidence for 2013.

Background: This article presents a first look at rates and trends for cases in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program diagnosed through 2013 using the February 2015 submission, and a validation of rates and trends from the February 2014 submission using the subsequent November 2014 submission. To the authors' knowledge, this is the second time SEER has published trends based on the early February submission. Three new cancer sites were added: cervix, thyroid, and liver/ intrahepatic bile duct.

Next steps for adolescent and young adult oncology workshop: An update on progress and recommendations for the future.

Each year, 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between ages 15 and 39 years in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. In 2006, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Progress Review Group (PRG) examined the state of science associated with cancer among AYAs. To assess the impact of the PRG and examine the current state of AYA oncology research, the NCI, with support from the LIVESTRONG Foundation, sponsored a workshop entitled "Next Steps in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology" on September 16 and 17, 2013, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Incidence and incidence trends of the most frequent cancers in adolescent and young adult Americans, including "nonmalignant/noninvasive" tumors.

Background: Incidence rates and trends of cancers in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) ages 15 to 39 years were reexamined a decade after the US National Cancer Institute AYA Oncology Progress Review Group was established.

Methods: Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program through 2011 were used to ascertain incidence trends since the year 2000 of the 40 most frequent cancers in AYAs, including tumors with nonmalignant/noninvasive behavior.

Results: Seven cancers in AYAs exhibited an overall increase in incidence; in 4, the annual percent change (APC) exceeded 3 (kidney, thyroid, uterus [corpus], and prostate cancer); whereas, in 3, the APC was between 0.

Geographic disparities in late stage breast cancer incidence: results from eight states in the United States.

Background: Late stage of cancer at diagnosis is an important predictor of cancer mortality. In many areas worldwide, cancer registry systems, available data and mapping technologies can provide information about late stage cancer by geographical regions, offering valuable opportunities to identify areas where further investigation and interventions are needed. The current study examined geographical variation in late stage breast cancer incidence across eight states in the United States with the objective to identify areas that might benefit from targeted interventions.

Patient Survey on Satisfaction and Impact of 123I-Ioflupane Dopamine Transporter Imaging.

Patients were surveyed to assess the impact of dopamine transporter imaging on diagnostic confidence, change in treatment plan, effect on medication compliance, and subjective well-being. Surveys were sent to 140 patients who completed dopamine transporter imaging an average of 18 months prior. Sixty-five surveys from patients (46%) were returned.