Publications by authors named "Erin Connolly-Strong"

Purpose: Cancer poses a significant global health challenge, demanding precise genomic testing for individualized treatment strategies. Targeted-panel sequencing (TPS) has improved personalized oncology but often lacks comprehensive coverage of crucial cancer alterations. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) addresses this gap, offering extensive genomic testing.

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Article Synopsis
  • Genomic alterations in tumors significantly influence cancer progression and treatment response, with whole-genome sequencing (WGS) emerging as a viable alternative to traditional targeted panel sequencing (TPS) due to advancements in cost and technology.
  • A study involving 120 cancer patients evaluated the clinical utility of WGS and found that 79% received genomic reports quickly, with 72% of these reports offering clinically relevant information.
  • The insights gained from WGS helped in selecting tailored treatments and clinical trials based on identifying specific mutations, potentially enhancing precision oncology and suggesting routine integration of WGS in cancer management.
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Evaluation of the test performance of the Target enhanced whole-genome sequencing (TE-WGS) assay for comprehensive oncology genomic profiling. The analytical validation of the assay included sensitivity and specificity for single nucleotide variants (SNVs), insertions/deletions (indels), and structural variants (SVs), revealing a revealed a sensitivity of 99.8% for SNVs and 99.

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Introduction: Breast cancer exhibits vast genomic diversity, leading to varied clinical manifestations. Integrating molecular subtyping with in-depth genomic profiling is pivotal for informed treatment choices and prognostic insights. Whole-genome clinical analysis provides a holistic view of genome-wide variations, capturing structural changes and affirming tumor suppressor gene loss of heterozygosity.

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Background: A blood-based molecular signature response classifier (MSRC) predicts non-response to tumor necrosis factor-ɑ inhibitors (TNFi) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Research Design And Methods: This is an interim analysis of data collected in the Study to Accelerate Information of Molecular Signatures (AIMS) in RA from patients who received the MSRC test between September 2020 and November 2021. Absolute changes in clinical disease activity index (CDAI) scores from baseline were evaluated at 12 weeks (n = 470) and 24 weeks (n = 274).

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Background: The molecular signature response classifier (MSRC) is a blood-based precision medicine test that predicts nonresponders to tumor necrosis factor-ɑ inhibitors (TNFi) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) so that patients with a molecular signature of non-response to TNFi can be directed to a treatment with an alternative mechanism of action.

Research Design And Methods: This study evaluated decision choice and treatment outcomes resulting from MSRC-informed treatment selection within a real-world cohort.

Results: Therapy selection by providers was informed by MSRC results for 73.

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Patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be treated with a range of targeted therapies following inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs such as methotrexate. Whereas clinical practice guidelines provide no formal recommendations for initial targeted therapies, the tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor (TNFi) class is the prevalent first-line selection based on clinician experience, its safety profile, and/or formulary requirements, while also being the costliest. Most patients do not achieve adequate clinical response with a first-line TNFi, however.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study developed a molecular signature response classifier (MSRC) to predict which rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients might not respond well to TNF-α inhibitor therapy.
  • The MSRC was validated using blood samples from different patient groups, showing its ability to identify inadequate responses at 3 and 6 months.
  • Results indicated that the MSRC effectively predicted non-response in up to 45% of treatment-naïve patients, demonstrating high predictive performance with odds ratios suggesting significant differences in treatment outcomes.
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The Addressing Lupus Pillars for Health Advancement (ALPHA) Project is a global consensus effort to identify, prioritise and address top barriers in lupus impacting diagnosis, care, treatment and research. To conduct this process, the ALPHA Project convened a multistakeholder Global Advisory Committee (GAC) of lupus experts and collected input from global audiences, including patients. In phase I, the ALPHA Project used expert interviews and a global survey of lupus experts to identify and categorise barriers into three overarching pillars: drug development, clinical care and access to care.

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Purpose: To understand the influence of the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-related flares on patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: An online survey included individuals with self-reported physician's diagnosis of SLE or lupus nephritis (LN). Lupus impact tracker (LIT) assessed lupus symptoms and HRQoL, SLE-Family questionnaire measured family role functioning, and Healthy Days Core Module (HDCM) measured overall mental and physical health.

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Objective: To describe the characteristics, treatment patterns, health care resource utilization (HCRU), and cost of care for members of a large United States (US) health insurance plan with lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted using a health insurance plan database to identify adult members with a diagnosis of LN. Medical and pharmacy claims were used to describe demographics, comorbidities, HCRU, and cost patterns over a 12-month follow-up period for each patient, between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016.

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Objective: SLE is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterised by the excessive production of autoantibodies, immune complexes and proinflammatory cytokines. Repository corticotropin injection (RCI) is a naturally sourced complex mixture of adrenocorticotropic hormone analogues and other pituitary peptides. RCI is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use during an exacerbation or as maintenance therapy in select cases of SLE.

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Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess efficacy and safety of repository corticotropin injection (RCI) in subjects with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite treatment with a corticosteroid and one or two disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Methods: All subjects received open-label RCI (80 U) twice weekly for 12 weeks (part 1); only those with low disease activity [LDA; i.e.

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Background: Lupus flares significantly contribute to health resource utilization and hospitalizations. Identification of flare activity may be hindered since validated assessment scales are rarely used in clinical practice and flare severity may fall below clinician-assessed thresholds. Therefore, patient-reported outcomes of lupus flare frequency are important assessment tools for lupus management.

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Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease resulting in loss of self-tolerance with multiple organs, such as the kidney, skin, joints, and the central nervous system (CNS), being targeted. Numerous immunosuppressant therapies are currently being used for the treatment of SLE, but their clinical utility is somewhat variable because of the clinical heterogeneity. Melanocortins are a family of peptides derived from the common precursor protein pro-opiomelanocortin.

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