Publications by authors named "James Yao"

Introduction: Galectin-3 plays critical roles in the adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of tumor cells. Recent data have suggested that galectin-3 plays a role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, its prognostic value has not been validated. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical and prognostic value of galectin-3 in patients with HCC.

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  • Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can help doctors detect and treat liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without having to do surgery or other invasive tests.!
  • A study looked at ctDNA from 44 HCC patients to see if it could predict how long they would live and how well they would respond to a treatment called nivolumab.!
  • The results showed that certain mutations in ctDNA were linked to shorter or longer survival times, suggesting ctDNA testing could help doctors make better treatment decisions for HCC patients in the future.!
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  • The study aimed to improve the classification of gastric neuroendocrine tumors (GNETs) and assess their outcomes, as some tumors didn't fit into the existing subtypes.
  • Out of 246 patients examined from 1995 to 2021, the majority had type 1 GNETs, with type 3 GNETs showing higher chances of metastatic disease at diagnosis.
  • The findings suggest that PPI-associated tumors may be a unique subtype with moderate survival rates, emphasizing the need to consider various factors when evaluating prognosis.
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Background: The prognosis for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is poor. Secondary brain metastasis (Br-M) occurs in less than 1% of patients. Clinical characteristics and molecular alterations have not been characterized in this rare patients' subset.

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Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplements have exhibited inconsistent effects on cancer risk, and their potential efficacy as cancer preventive agents has been increasingly questioned, especially in recent large randomized clinical trials. The role of host factors that govern EPA and DHA metabolism in relation to their impact on carcinogenesis remains understudied. Resolvins, the products of EPA and DHA oxidative metabolism, demonstrate intriguing antitumorigenic effects through mechanisms such as promoting macrophage phagocytosis of cell debris and inhibiting the production of proinflammatory chemokines and cytokines by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which are crucial for cancer progression.

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Efforts to improve the prognosis for patients with locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma have focused on neoadjuvant approaches to increase the pathological complete response (pathCR) rate, improve surgical resection, and prolong event-free and overall survival (OS). Building on the recent evidence that PD-1 inhibition plus chemotherapy improves the OS of patients with metastatic GEJ adenocarcinoma, we evaluated whether the application of this strategy in the neoadjuvant setting would improve the pathological response. This single-center phase I/II trial evaluated the safety, toxicity, and efficacy of neoadjuvant atezolizumab with oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil (modified FOLFOX) followed by esophagectomy followed by atezolizumab.

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Introduction: In this study, we explored the potential of plasma growth hormone (GH) as a prognostic biomarker in patients with advanced HCC treated with durvalumab plus tremelimumab (D+T).

Methods: In this study, we included 16 patients with advanced HCC who received D+T at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2022 and 2023 and had plasma GH measurements recorded before treatment. Plasma GH levels were measured from prospectively collected blood samples and were correlated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

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We observed that some patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NET) who received peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with Lutetium-177 (177Lu) DOTATATE developed rapid disease progression with biopsy-proven histologic transformation to neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC), an outcome that has not been previously described. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective review of all patients with well-differentiated G1-G2 NET who received at least one cycle of PRRT with (177Lu) DOTATATE at our center from January 2019 to December 2020. Among 152 patients, we identified 7 patients whose NET transformed to NEC.

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Background: Accurate prognostic stratification of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is vital for clinical trial enrollment and treatment allocation. Multiple scoring systems have been created to predict patient survival, but no standardized scoring systems account for radiologic tumor features. We sought to create a generalizable scoring system for HCC which incorporates standardized radiologic tumor features and more accurately predicts overall survival (OS) than established systems.

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Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARδ) promotes inflammation and carcinogenesis in many organs, but the underlying mechanisms remains elusive. In stomachs, PPARδ significantly increases chemokine Ccl20 expression in gastric epithelial cells while inducing gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC). CCR6 is the sole receptor of CCL20.

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  • The study investigates the role of circulating interleukins (ILs) in HCC, focusing on their impact on tumor-associated inflammation and patient survival.
  • Data was collected from 767 HCC patients over a median follow-up period of 67.4 months, finding a median overall survival of 14.2 months.
  • Higher levels of certain ILs (IL-1-R1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, IL-16, IL-18) were linked to worse survival outcomes, suggesting these ILs could serve as prognostic biomarkers and treatment targets.
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  • The study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of fruquintinib, an oral drug targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, in patients with advanced colorectal cancer who had not responded to existing treatments.
  • Conducted as a phase 3 clinical trial (FRESCO-2) across 14 countries, the research involved 691 patients randomly assigned to receive either fruquintinib or a placebo in addition to supportive care.
  • The primary goal was to measure overall survival, and the study is currently ongoing with results being analyzed following the occurrence of 480 patient deaths.
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Improving technology has promised to improved health care delivery and the lives of patients. The realized benefits of technology, however, are delayed or less than anticipated. Three recent technology initiatives are reviewed: the Clinical Trials Rapid Activation Consortium (CTRAC), minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE), and electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes.

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Background: Carcinoid heart disease (CnHD) is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with neuroendocrine tumors and carcinoid syndrome. Although valve replacement surgery appears to decrease all-cause mortality in patients with advanced CnHD, few studies have investigated the outcomes of patients after valve replacement.

Methods: We conducted a multi-institution retrospective registry of patients who received both tricuspid and pulmonic bioprosthetic valve (TV/PV) replacements for advanced CnHD from November 2005 to March 2021.

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Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has limited systemic therapy options when discovered at an advanced stage. Thus, there is a need for accessible and minimally invasive biomarkers of response to guide the selection of patients for treatment. This study investigated the biomarker value of plasma growth hormone (GH) level as a potential biomarker to predict outcome in unresectable HCC patients treated with current standard therapy, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atezo/Bev).

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  • Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a severe liver cancer often diagnosed at an advanced stage, limiting treatment options and necessitating effective systemic therapies.
  • Research indicates that growth hormone receptor (GHR) signaling contributes to HCC progression, and elevated growth hormone levels correlate with more aggressive disease and poorer outcomes in nearly half of HCC patients.
  • The study demonstrates that inhibiting GHR with pegvisomant shows promise as a new treatment for HCC, enhancing the effects of existing therapies like sorafenib and providing potential benefits for patients with drug-resistant cancer.
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Purpose: Patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) have few treatment options that yield objective responses. Retrospective and small prospective studies suggest that capecitabine and temozolomide are associated with high response rates (RRs) and long progression-free survival (PFS).

Patients And Methods: E2211 was a multicenter, randomized, phase II trial comparing temozolomide versus capecitabine/temozolomide in patients with advanced low-grade or intermediate-grade pancreatic NETs.

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Background: We estimated trends in total and out-of-pocket (OOP) costs around the first year of diagnosis for privately insured nonelderly adult cancer patients.

Methods: We constructed incident cohorts of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2016 using claims data from the Health Care Cost Institute. We identified cancer-related surgery, intravenous (IV) systemic therapy, and radiation and calculated associated total and OOP costs (in 2020 US dollars).

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Introduction: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) are heterogeneous malignancies that can arise at almost any anatomical site and are classified as biologically distinct well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NET) and poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NEC). Current systemic therapies for advanced disease, including targeted therapies, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, are associated with limited duration of response. New therapeutic targets are needed.

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Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) is a precursor of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which commonly occurs in the general populations with aging. Although most PanIN lesions (PanINs) harbor oncogenic KRAS mutations that initiate pancreatic tumorigenesis; PanINs rarely progress to PDAC. Critical factors that promote this progression, especially targetable ones, remain poorly defined.

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Importance: Therapies for patients with advanced well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) have expanded but remain inadequate, with patients dying of disease despite recent advances in NET therapy. While patients with other cancers have seen long-term disease control and tumor regression with the application of immunotherapies, initial prospective studies of single-agent programmed cell death 1 inhibitors in NET have been disappointing.

Objective: To evaluate the response rate following treatment with the combination of the vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor bevacizumab with the programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 inhibitor atezolizumab in patients with advanced NETs.

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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARD) is a nuclear receptor known to play an essential role in regulation of cell metabolism, cell proliferation, inflammation, and tumorigenesis in normal and cancer cells. Recently, we found that a newly generated villin-PPARD mouse model, in which PPARD is overexpressed in villin-positive gastric progenitor cells, demonstrated spontaneous development of large, invasive gastric tumors as the mice aged. However, the role of PPARD in regulation of downstream metabolism in normal gastric and tumor cells is elusive.

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