Publications by authors named "H M Smilowitz"

Background: Worse survival persists for African-Americans (AA) with breast cancer compared to other race/ethnic groups despite recent improvements for all. Unstudied in outcomes disparities to date is soluble LAG-3 (sLAG-3), cleaved from the LAG-3 immune checkpoint receptor which is a proposed target for deactivation in emerging immunotherapies due to its prominent immunosuppressive function in the tumoral microenvironment. A prior study has found that lower sLAG-3 baseline level was associated with poor outcomes.

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Radiation therapy (RT) treats approximately half of all cancers and most brain cancers. RT is variably effective at inducing a dormant tumor state i.e.

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Purpose: The current study was designed to calculate the dose enhancement factor (DEF) of iodine (I), gold (Au), bismuth (Bi), gadolinium (Gd), and hafnium (Hf) nanoparticles (NP)s by Monte Carlo (MC) modeling of an electronic brachytherapy source in resection cavities of breast tumors.

Methods And Materials: The GEANT4 MC code was used for simulation of a phantom containing a water-filled balloon and a Xoft source (50 kVp) to irradiate the margins of a resected breast tumor. NPs with a diameter of 20 nm and concentrations from 1 to 5% w/w were simulated in a tumor margin with 5 mm thickness as well as a hypothetical breast model consisting of spherical island-like residual tumor-remnants.

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Effective and durable treatment of glioblastoma is an urgent unmet medical need. In this article, we summarize a novel approach of a physical method that enhances the effectiveness of radiotherapy. High atomic number nanoparticles that target brain tumors are intravenously administered.

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