Publications by authors named "Harold Y Lau"
Purpose: To validate the association between body composition and mortality in men treated with radiation for localized prostate cancer (PCa). Secondarily, to integrate body composition as a factor to classify patients by risk of all-cause mortality.
Materials And Methods: Participants of NRG/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9406 and NRG/RTOG 0126 with archived computed tomography were included.
Purpose: External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) dose escalation has been tested in multiple prospective trials. However, the impact on patient reported outcomes (PROs) associated with higher doses of EBRT remain poorly understood. We sought to assess the differences in PROs between men treated with a dose of 70.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To provide evidence-based recommendations for practicing physicians and other healthcare providers on the management of salivary gland malignancy.
Methods: ASCO convened an Expert Panel of medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, neuroradiology, pathology, and patient advocacy experts to conduct a literature search, which included systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and prospective and retrospective comparative observational studies published from 2000 through 2020. Outcomes of interest included survival, diagnostic accuracy, disease recurrence, and quality of life.
Article Synopsis
- The shift in cancer care now emphasizes not just survival but also the quality of life for survivors, including managing physical and emotional changes after treatment.
- A 5-year study has been initiated to assess the impact of a community-based exercise program for cancer survivors, testing its effectiveness and implementation across various locations in Alberta, Canada.
- The study aims to involve 2,500 adult survivors and will track their progress in achieving exercise goals, using the RE-AIM framework to evaluate outcomes at multiple follow-up points.
Article Synopsis
- Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a type of slow-growing cancer found in salivary glands, often linked to specific gene changes.
- A study tested a new technology called NanoString to see if it could find these gene changes in old tissue samples, which are usually harder to analyze.
- The results showed that NanoString was effective in detecting the gene changes in many samples, confirming it as a reliable method for studying this type of cancer.
Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers have been associated with different demographic profiles and disease characteristics than HPV-unrelated cancers in head and neck patients, but distress and other symptoms have not been compared. The aim of this study was to assess whether distress levels, fatigue, pain, anxiety, depression, and common psychological and practical problems differ between head and neck cancer patients with HPV-related vs. HPV-unrelated carcinomas (using oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) and non-OPC cancers as surrogates for HPV status).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We aim to characterize the workup received by and identify any delays to diagnosis or treatment in patients referred to a tertiary cancer centre with the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma in neck node(s) and no identifiable primary (SCCNIP).
Methods: Over 1 year, 68 patients were initially referred to the Head and Neck clinic with a label of "primary unknown". After extensive workup, 29 of the 68 patients were found to have pathologically confirmed SCCNIP.
Background: Patients with head and neck cancer experience loss of weight and muscle mass, decreased functioning, malnutrition, depression, and declines in quality of life during and after treatment. The purpose of this exploratory randomized study was to determine the optimal timing for the initiation of a lifestyle and progressive resistance exercise training intervention (during or after radiation therapy), as determined by intervention adherence and by comparing between-group outcomes across 24 weeks.
Methods: Sixty patients with head and neck cancer were randomized to engage in a 12-week lifestyle intervention and progressive resistance-training program either during radiation treatment or immediately after completion.
Background: In advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), biomarkers may help predict survival.
Methods: Tumoral expression of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), thymidylate synthetase (THMS), and ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1 (RRM1), was correlated with survival in patients with nonmetastatic NPC using quantitative fluorescence immunohistochemistry with automated quantitative digital image analysis.
Results: Of the 146 patients included, 58 patients (40%) received concurrent chemoradiation therapy; the remainder was treated with radiation.
Purpose: Aberrant expression of proteins involved in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition have been described in various cancers. In this retrospective study, we sought to evaluate E-cadherin, β-catenin and vimentin protein expression in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal (NPC) patients treated with curative intent, examine their relationship with each other, and with clinical outcome measures.
Methods: Pre-treatment formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsies of 140 patients treated between January 2000 and December 2007 were assembled into a tissue microarray (TMA).
Introduction: Recent epidemiologic studies have suggested that the incidence of noncervical cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) is increasing. We assessed temporal, age-specific and sex-specific changes in the incidence of HPV-associated cancers in a population-based study.
Methods: We used the Alberta Cancer Registry, a registry of all cancers diagnosed in the province of Alberta, Canada, to identify patients with cancers of the oropharynx, cervix, vulva, vagina, anus and penis (cancers associated with HPV) between Jan.
Purpose: We sought to evaluate the prognostic/predictive value of ERCC1 and XPF in patients with nonmetastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with curative intent.
Methods And Materials: ERCC1 and XPF protein expression was evaluated by immunofluorescence combined with automated quantitative analysis (AQUA) using the FL297 and 3F2 antibodies, respectively. ERCC1 and XPF protein expression levels were correlated with clinical outcomes.
Every year, approximately 25,000 patients are diagnosed with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) in the USA. The 5-year survival rate for OCSCC is approximately 40%. Intratumoral hypoxia confers poor prognosis and treatment failure but direct tumor oxygen measurement is challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Previous studies examining excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) have not compared methods of ERCC1 testing nor been stratified by human papillomavirus (HPV) status.
Methods: ERCC1 protein expression, mRNA, and genotype were retrospectively evaluated from pretreatment biopsies in 55 patients with SCCHN treated with chemoradiation.
Results: In all, 50% of patients had high ERCC1 protein expression, 28.
Background: Metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with an unknown primary is an uncommon but important problem. PET/CT, as an adjunct to diagnosis, is potentially useful but has never been studied in a prospective, single-blinded clinical trial.
Methods: In all, 20 subjects with cervical metastases from an unknown head and neck primary were enrolled in a prospective clinical trial.
Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN) has emerged as a distinct clinical entity. The expression of p16 protein can be used as a surrogate for HPV status.
Methods: p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC) was assessed in archival paraffin-embedded material for 55 patients with locally advanced SCCHN treated with a uniform regimen of cisplatin and radiation.