Publications by authors named "Haruka Itakura"

Article Synopsis
  • Antimicrobial exposure during treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is linked to gut microbiome changes and lower lymphocyte counts, which may result in worse patient outcomes.
  • A study analyzed data from 772 women with stage I-III TNBC and found that 85% had used antimicrobials, and each additional prescription correlated with decreased survival rates.
  • These findings suggest that past antimicrobial use negatively affects TNBC survival independently of disease severity and emphasizes the need for careful antimicrobial prescribing in cancer treatment.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the variability in treatment and monitoring options for women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) using real-world claims data from health insurance records between 2007 and 2014.
  • It identifies 6,180 women with estrogen receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative MBC and analyzes their treatment choices, monitoring practices, and factors influencing care decisions.
  • Findings reveal significant differences in treatment methods and monitoring based on geographic regions and other nonclinical factors, underscoring that local practices and resources significantly impact patient care in MBC.
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Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and highly lethal primary malignant brain tumor in adults. There is a dire need for easily accessible, noninvasive biomarkers that can delineate underlying molecular activities and predict response to therapy. To this end, we sought to identify subtypes of GBM, differentiated solely by quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features, that could be used for better management of GBM patients.

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Background: Circulating concentrations of proteins associated with coagulation and fibrinolysis may differ between individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) who develop an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) rather than stable exertional angina.

Methods: We compared plasma concentrations of fibrinogen, d-dimer, tissue-type plasminogen activator, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) between patients whose first clinical manifestation of CAD was an AMI (n = 198) rather than stable exertional angina (n = 199). We also compared plasma concentrations of these proteins between patients with symptomatic CAD (either AMI or stable angina; n = 397) and healthy, control subjects (n = 197) to confirm the sensitivity of these assays to detect epidemiologic associations.

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Background: Genetic polymorphisms may affect the balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis and thereby affect individual vulnerability to acute myocardial infarction (MI) among patients with underlying coronary atherosclerosis.

Methods: We enrolled 1375 patients with an initial clinical presentation of coronary disease. We genotyped 49 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 9 coagulation system genes and compared patients who had an initial acute MI with patients who presented with stable exertional angina.

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Purpose Of Review: Until recently, the paucity of characterization of the epidemiology of venous thromboembolism among non-Caucasians has contributed to the misconception that race or ethnicity does not modify disease presentation. This review will describe the previously poorly documented magnitude of venous thromboembolism disease burden among four racial cohorts, by defining disease incidence and associated morbidity/mortality from available literature data.

Recent Findings: Emerging data suggest that African-Americans possess the highest burden of venous thromboembolism, and Asians the lowest, compared with the Caucasian population.

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Although its cell of origin is still controversial, the blastic NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma clearly represents a distinct type of hematopoietic neoplasm that is particularly clinically aggressive when it occurs in elderly patients as a disseminated, multi-organ disease. Consistently effective treatments have not been developed for this malignancy. The present report describes two elderly patients with widespread blastic NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma involving the skin, bone marrow, peripheral blood, lymph nodes, and viscera.

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