Publications by authors named "Grace Lu Yao"
Article Synopsis
- Racial disparities in prostate cancer care were studied, revealing improved MRI utilization for detection over time, particularly from 3.8% in 2012 to 32.6% in 2019 among nearly 91,000 patients.
- The gap in MRI use between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White patients narrowed significantly, though rural residents remained less likely to receive the procedure.
- The study suggests focusing public health interventions on geographical disparities, as income and education also influence MRI usage, and emphasizes the need for further research into the causes of these inequities.
Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common non-cutaneous tumor among American men. Androgen receptor signaling inhibitors such as abiraterone and enzalutamide have been approved for similar disease states among patients with advanced PCa. Existing data suggest using steroids is associated with an increased risk of infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Evidence is limited on whether fibroblast growth factor receptor gene alterations (FGFRalt) impact clinical outcomes in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). This study evaluated progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with mUC based on FGFRalt status in the first-line setting (1L).
Patients And Methods: Data on mUC patients were retrieved via convenience sampling of oncologists/urologists surveyed between August and September 2020 who treated at least 1 FGFRalt patient between July 2017 and June 2019.
Background: Identification of emerging molecular biomarkers on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represents an attractive feature of liquid biopsy that facilitates precision and tailored medicine in the management of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Prostein is an androgen-regulated transmembrane protein with high prostate specificity. Prostein-positive circulating tumor cell (CTC) was recently suggested to have diagnostic potential; however, no study has been conducted to evaluate its prognostic value in mCRPC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAndrogen deprivation therapy is the cornerstone of prostate cancer therapy. Recent studies have revealed an association between androgen deprivation therapy and cardiovascular adverse effects such as myocardial infarction and stroke. This review summarizes the available research on the cardiovascular risk of men using androgen deprivation therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArsenic is a crucial environmental metalloid whose high toxicity levels negatively impact human health. It poses significant health concerns to millions of people in developed and developing countries such as the USA, Canada, Bangladesh, India, China, and Mexico by enhancing sensitivity to various types of diseases, including cancers. However, how arsenic causes changes in gene expression that results in heinous conditions remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Personalized genomic classifiers have transformed the management of prostate cancer (PCa) by identifying the most aggressive subsets of PCa. Nevertheless, the performance of genomic classifiers to risk classify African American men is thus far lacking in a prospective setting.
Methods: This is a prospective study of the Decipher genomic classifier for National Comprehensive Cancer Network low- and intermediate-risk PCa.
Introduction: Abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide are commonly employed in prostate cancer therapy in an interchangeable manner. These drugs are highly efficacious in androgen antagonism to improve patient outcomes, but they also carry noteworthy risk of adverse effects. Common toxicities vary amongst the two drugs and may have differential interactions with patient co-morbidities, but these patterns are unclear as co-morbidities typically serve as exclusion criteria in clinical trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbiraterone acetate (AA) and enzalutamide (ENZ) are commonly used for metastatic prostate cancer. It is unclear how their outcomes and toxicities vary with patient-specific factors because clinical trials typically exclude patients with significant comorbidities. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap and facilitate informed treatment decision making.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have changed the treatment landscape for multiple cancer types. Sex plays an important role in both the development of cancer as well as the functioning of the immune system. Though a difference in response to immune therapy is emerging between men and women it is unclear how this difference affects cancer outcomes and what the potential underlying mechanisms are for those effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is substantial variability in prostate cancer (PCa) mortality rates across Caucasian American (CA), African American (AA), Asian, and Hispanic men; however, these estimates are unable to disentangle race or ethnicity from confounding factors. The current study explores survival differences in long-term PCa outcomes between self-reported AA and CA men, and examines clinicopathologic features across self-reported CA, AA, Asian, and Hispanic men.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized the Center for Prostate Disease Research (CPDR) Multi-center National Database from 1990 to 2017.
Background: Previous research exploring the role of race on prostate cancer (PCa) outcomes has demonstrated greater rates of disease progression and poorer overall survival for African American (AA) compared to Caucasian American (CA) men. The current study examines self-reported race as a predictor of long-term PCa outcomes in patients with low and favorable-intermediate risk disease treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT).
Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined patients who were consented to enrollment in the Center for Prostate Disease Research Multicenter National Database between January 01, 1990 and December 31, 2017.
Background: Prostate cancer is an important cause of death worldwide. The number of years of life lost (YLL) due to prostate cancer is a metric of the toll of prostate cancer and using projections of demographic changes, can be used to measure future burden.
Methods: Prostate cancer mortality data by country and world region was retrieved from the Global Cancer Observatory and the World Health Organization mortality data set, and life expectancy was from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) harness the immune system and are the therapy of choice for multiple cancers. Although immunosuppressive agents such as steroids are also used in many cancers, it is unknown how their timing affects treatment outcomes. Thus, we investigated the relationship between the timing of steroid exposure preceding ICI administration and subsequent treatment outcomes in melanoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Emerging evidence suggests that a subset of Black men with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) low-risk prostate cancer (PCa) may harbor high volume and genomically aggressive disease. However, limited, and ambiguous research exist to evaluate the risk of extreme Gleason reclassification in Black men with low-risk PCa.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 45,674 low-risk PCa patients who underwent prostatectomy and were not on active surveillance, from National Cancer Database (NCDB).
Article Synopsis
- - Cancer therapies, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), can cause side effects like cancer-related fatigue (CRF), affecting up to 25% of patients.
- - A recent scoping review found limited studies on the benefits of physical activity during ICI therapy, with only one human study and three pre-clinical studies meeting the criteria.
- - While current evidence suggests physical activity may help reduce CRF and related toxicities, more research is needed to better guide patients and healthcare providers on effective exercise interventions during ICI treatment.
Article Synopsis
- The study analyzes trends in cancer incidence for lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers, as well as all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer), among adults aged 50 and older from 1998 to 2012 across 113 global cancer registries.
- It identifies significant increases in cancer rates, particularly in older age groups, with notable findings such as a 3% yearly increase in Ecuador for those aged 75+, and varying trends in prostate and breast cancer incidences based on age and sex.
- The research emphasizes the need for cancer care systems to adapt to the specific needs of the aging population as cancer rates rise, highlighting the urgency for international health responses.
Importance: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized melanoma treatment and are now standard of care. Although sex is associated with immune function and immune-related diseases, the interaction between sex and ICIs is understudied.
Objective: To examine whether cancer immunotherapy effectiveness varies between female and male patients with advanced melanoma treated with either nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination therapy or anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy (namely, pembrolizumab or nivolumab).
Background: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been associated with survival in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, no study has examined the prognostic value of NLR and PLR in the context of CTCs.
Methods: Baseline CTCs from mCRPC patients were enumerated using the CellSearch System.
Polypharmacy poses a significant public health problem that disproportionately affects older adults (≥65 years) since this population represents the largest consumers of medications. Clinicians caring for older adults with cancer must rely on evidence to understand polypharmacy and its implications, not only to communicate with patients and other healthcare providers, but also because of the significant interplay between polypharmacy, cancer, cancer-related treatment, and clinical outcomes. Interest in polypharmacy is rising because of its prevalence, the origins and facilitating factors behind it, and the direct and indirect clinical outcomes associated with it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLiquid biopsy-based biomarkers have advantages in monitoring the dynamics of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a bone-predominant metastatic disease. Previous studies have demonstrated associations between circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and clinical outcomes of mCRPC patients, but little is known about the prognostic value of CTC-clusters. In 227 longitudinally collected blood samples from 64 mCRPC patients, CTCs and CTC-clusters were enumerated using the CellSearch platform.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Germline testing (GT) is a central feature of prostate cancer (PCA) treatment, management, and hereditary cancer assessment. Critical needs include optimized multigene testing strategies that incorporate evolving genetic data, consistency in GT indications and management, and alternate genetic evaluation models that address the rising demand for genetic services.
Methods: A multidisciplinary consensus conference that included experts, stakeholders, and national organization leaders was convened in response to current practice challenges and to develop a genetic implementation framework.
Objectives: Polypharmacy (≥5 concurrent medications) is common among older patients with cancer (48%-80%) and associated with increased frailty, morbidity, and mortality. This study examined the relationship between polypharmacy and inpatient hospitalization among older adults with cancer treated with intravenous (IV) chemotherapy.
Materials And Methods: The main data source was the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked files.
Background: Pre-clinical studies suggest that metformin and statins may delay prostate cancer (PCa) metastases; however, data in humans are limited. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first human study aimed to quantify the individual and joint effects of statin and metformin use among patients with high-risk PCa.
Methods: This population-based retrospective cohort study identified patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database.
Background: Elderly patients (≥65yr) with advanced prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) conditions are often excluded from clinical trials of abiraterone acetate (AA) or enzalutamide (ENZ). Consequently, little is known about the effects of these medications on these vulnerable patients.
Objective: To assess the short-term outcomes of AA and ENZ in patients with pre-existing CVDs.