Baseline sLAG-3 levels in Caucasian and African-American breast cancer patients.

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.

Qualitative Assessment of Perceived Organizational Support for Employed Breast Cancer Survivors.

Objective: A more detailed understanding of unmet organizational support needs and workplace-based best practices for supporting cancer survivors is needed.

Methods: Ninety-four working breast cancer survivors responded to an open-ended survey question regarding the desired types of organizational support that were and were not received during early survivorship. We performed content-analysis of qualitative data.

Lack of attention to sex and gender in periodontitis-related randomized clinical trials: A meta-research study.

Aim: This meta-research study aimed to investigate the level of compliance with the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) Guidelines for the inclusion, analysis, and reporting of sex/gender, in periodontitis-related randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Materials And Methods: Following the inclusion of RCTs related to the treatment of periodontitis published between 2018 and 2019, we applied the SAGER checklist to assess the adherence to sex/gender reporting guidelines. We used non-parametric descriptive statistics and correlation models to test the association of the dependent outcome with other variables.

Demand Ischemia as a Predictor of Mortality in Older Patients With Delirium.

Introduction: The impact of demand ischemia on clinical outcomes in patients with delirium remains largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the effects of demand ischemia in older patients with delirium on in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS) using the largest US inpatient care database, National Inpatient Sample (NIS).

Methods: We obtained data from the year 2010 to 2014 National Inpatient Sample (NIS).

Association of advanced age and cancer history with autoimmune disease in melanoma patients: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are a major toxicity of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Studies have reported that pre-existing autoimmunity increases the risk of irAEs, but it remains unknown which clinical factors are linked to auto-immune disorders in cancer patients. This study aimed to evaluate if the prevalence of autoimmune diseases varied by specific cancer history and advanced age.

The rise of proximal colorectal cancer: a trend analysis of subsite specific primary colorectal cancer in the SEER database.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Given the significant prevalence of CRC, regular preventative screening is required. CRCs in different locations of the colon have variable molecular pathogenesis, gross appearance, and general disease outcomes.

Leisure-Time Physical Activity and General Health Mitigate Effects of Job Demands on Nonrestorative Sleep: CDC National Healthy Worksite Project.

Objective: We sought to determine if leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) modified the adverse relationship between high job demands and nonrestorative sleep (NRS).

Methods: We conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis among workers from the cross-sectional National Healthy Worksite Project (n = 4683) using self-report Likert-Scale data on psychological and physical demands of jobs, LTPA and general health in relation to NRS.

Results: Not engaging in LTPA was associated with NRS for workers with jobs at the lowest or highest levels of the physical demand scale (OR 1.

Perceptions of clinical support for employed breast cancer survivors managing work and health challenges.

Purpose: A substantial portion of breast cancer survivors are active in the workforce, yet factors that allow survivors to balance work with cancer management and to return to work are poorly understood. We examined breast cancer survivors' most valued/desired types of support in early survivorship.

Methods: Seventy-six employed breast cancer survivors answered an open-ended survey question assessing the most valued/desired support to receive from healthcare providers during early survivorship to manage work and health.

Reporting quality and spin in abstracts of randomized clinical trials of periodontal therapy and cardiovascular disease outcomes.

Objective: Poor reporting in randomized clinical trial (RCT) abstracts reduces quality and misinforms readers. Spin, a biased presentation of findings, could frequently mislead clinicians to accept a clinical intervention despite non-significant primary outcome. Therefore, good reporting practices and absence of spin enhances research quality.

Associations between Weight Loss, Food Likes, Dietary Behaviors, and Chemosensory Function in Bariatric Surgery: A Case-Control Analysis in Women.

We tested the hypothesis that successful weight loss post-bariatric surgery would be associated with healthier chemosensory function, food likes, and dietary behaviors than either unsuccessful weight loss or pre-surgery morbid obesity. In a case-control design, pre-surgical women with morbid obesity ( = 49) were compared with those 1-year post-surgery (24 Roux-en-Y Bypass, 24 Sleeve Gastrectomy) and defined by excess or percent weight loss as successful/unsuccessful. For self-reported smell/taste perception, more post-surgery than pre-surgery reported improved/distorted perception, especially if weight loss successful.

Serious adverse events in African-American cancer patients with sickle cell trait and inherited haemoglobinopathies in a SEER-Medicare claims cohort.

African-American (AA) cancer patients have long-experienced worse outcomes compared to non-Hispanic whites (NHW). No studies to date have evaluated the prognostic impact of sickle cell trait (SCT) and other inherited haemoglobinopathies, of which several are disproportionately high in the AA population. In a cohort analysis of treated patients diagnosed with breast or prostate cancer in the linked SEER-Medicare database, the relative risk (RR) for ≥1 serious adverse events (AEs), defined as hospitalisations or emergency department visits, was estimated for 371 AA patients with a haemoglobinopathy (AA+) compared to patients without haemoglobinopathies (17,303 AA-; 144,863 NHW-).

Chronic inflammation and risk of lung cancer in older adults in the health, aging and body composition cohort study.

Objectives: We examined the association between three inflammatory markers (Interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α) and incident lung cancer using baseline, updated, and averaged inflammatory measures in older adults.

Methods: We fitted multivariable Cox models to assess whether circulating levels of inflammation markers were associated with incident lung cancers in the Health Aging, Body and Composition (HealthABC) prospective cohort of 3075 older adults aged 70-79 years at baseline. IL-6 and CRP were measured biennially, whereas TNF-α was measured at baseline.

Associations of dietary fat with risk of early neoplasia in the proximal colon in a population-based case-control study.

Purpose: Excess dietary fat consumption is strongly associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, but less is known about its role in the earliest stages of carcinogenesis, particularly within the proximal colon. In the following case-control study, we evaluated the relationship between the intake of dietary fats and the frequency of early proximal neoplasia [aberrant crypt foci (ACF) or polyps], detectable by high-definition colonoscopy with contrast dye-spray.

Methods: Average-risk screening individuals underwent a high-definition colonoscopy procedure as part of larger ongoing clinical study of precancerous lesions in the proximal colon.

Structural equation modeling of associations among taste-related risk factors, taste functioning, and adiposity.

Objective: Variation in taste perception and exposure to risk factors of taste alterations have been independently linked with elevated adiposity. Using a laboratory database, taste-adiposity associations were modeled and examined for whether taste functioning mediates the association between taste-related risk factors and adiposity.

Methods: Healthy women (n = 407, 35.

Paired comparison of the sensitivity and specificity of multispectral digital skin lesion analysis and reflectance confocal microscopy in the detection of melanoma in vivo: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Several technologies have been developed to aid dermatologists in the detection of melanoma in vivo including dermoscopy, multispectral digital skin lesion analysis (MDSLA), and reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM). To our knowledge, there have been no studies directly comparing MDSLA and RCM.

Objective: We conducted a repeated measures analysis comparing the sensitivity and specificity of MDSLA and RCM in the detection of melanoma (n = 55 lesions from 36 patients).

Competing risks survival of older patients with metastatic cutaneous melanoma: a SEER population-based study.

Mortality from metastatic cutaneous melanoma is substantially heterogeneous as reflected in three distant metastatic (M1) subtypes with metastasis to skin, subcutaneous tissue, or distant lymph nodes (M1a), conferring nearly half the risk of death compared with distant visceral metastasis (M1c). It remains unknown whether older patients experience the survival benefit from the M1a subtype given a higher overall mortality risk. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result data were retrieved from 1878 metastatic melanoma patients, from 2005 to 2009, with follow-up through 2011.

Mortality risk from comorbidities independent of triple-negative breast cancer status: NCI-SEER-based cohort analysis.

Purpose: A comparatively high prevalence of comorbidities among African-American/Blacks (AA/B) has been implicated in disparate survival in breast cancer. There is a scarcity of data, however, if this effect persists when accounting for the adverse triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype which occurs at threefold the rate in AA/B compared to white breast cancer patients.

Methods: We reviewed charts of 214 white and 202 AA/B breast cancer patients in the NCI-SEER Connecticut Tumor Registry who were diagnosed in 2000-2007.

Chronic inflammation and risk of colorectal and other obesity-related cancers: The health, aging and body composition study.

Evidence of the association between chronic inflammation and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) and other obesity-related cancers (OBRC) remains inconsistent, possibly due to a paucity of studies examining repeated measures of inflammation. In the Health ABC prospective study of 2,490 adults aged 70-79 years at baseline, we assessed whether circulating levels of three markers of systemic inflammation, IL-6, CRP and TNF-α, were associated with the risk of CRC and OBRC, a cluster including cancers of pancreas, prostate, breast and endometrium. Inflammatory markers were measured in stored fasting blood samples.

Secular trends, race, and geographic disparity of early-stage breast cancer incidence: 25 years of surveillance in Connecticut.

Objectives: We considered changes in the geographic distribution of early stage breast cancer among White and non-White women while secular trends in lifestyle and health care were under way.

Methods: We aggregated tumor registry and census data by age, race, place of residence, and year of diagnosis to evaluate rate variation across Connecticut census tracts between 1985 and 2009. Global and local cluster detection tests were completed.

Baseline serum C-reactive protein and death from colorectal cancer in the NHANES III cohort.

Several prospective studies suggest that C-reactive protein (CRP), a nonspecific serologic marker of inflammation, might be linked to risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), whereas others have reported null or protective effects. We analyzed data from 7,072 participants (50-85 years) in the U.S.