Publications by authors named "Joseph Kelley"

Objective: Social determinants of health (SDOH) impact cancer outcomes. The CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) integrates scores for four neighborhood-based SDOH domains (socioeconomic status, household characteristics, minority status, and housing type/transportation) to assess neighborhood social vulnerability (NSV). While NSV has been associated with overall cancer mortality and lung, breast, colon, and endometrial cancer-specific mortality, the relationship between NSV as defined by the SVI and ovarian cancer outcomes remains unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • Elevated allostatic load (AL), which reflects cumulative physiological stress, is linked to increased mortality in various cancer patients, but its connection to ovarian cancer mortality was previously unknown.
  • This study analyzed data from 201 ovarian cancer patients to examine the relationship between high allostatic load and overall survival, using a robust statistical model to assess outcomes.
  • Results indicated that high allostatic load significantly correlated with increased mortality risk in ovarian cancer patients, suggesting it could be a useful marker for identifying those in need of additional socioenvironmental support during treatment.
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Objective: To examine the association between (GWG) and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods: We compared GWG between 670 incident EOC cases and 1,551 community controls from a population-based, case-control study conducted in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York from 2003 to 2008. Multivariable unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) associated with GWG adjusting for potential confounders.

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Background: Accumulating evidence suggests a relationship between endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer. Independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer have identified 16 and 27 risk regions, respectively, four of which overlap between the two cancers. We aimed to identify joint endometrial and ovarian cancer risk loci by performing a meta-analysis of GWAS summary statistics from these two cancers.

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Uterine carcinosarcoma is a rare and aggressive tumor with poor outcomes. Cancer antigen 125 is routinely used to track the disease course of ovarian cancer and has been suggested as a biomarker in other aggressive forms of uterine cancer. We sought to characterize cancer antigen 125 as a potential biomarker of disease status in uterine carcinosarcoma.

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Objective: To examine clinico-pathological characteristics and outcomes of uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) in women aged ≥80 years.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a previous multicenter retrospective study examining 906 women with stage I-IV UCS who underwent primary hysterectomy. Patient demographics, treatment types, tumor characteristics, and survival were examined across aged ≥80 (n = 82 [9.

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Purpose: Many patients with endometrial cancer cannot undergo surgery and instead receive definitive radiation therapy (RT). We investigate the correlation between MRI response to RT and clinical outcomes.

Methods And Materials: Women with inoperable, clinical Stage I endometrial cancer were treated with definitive brachytherapy (BT) with/without pelvic RT (PRT).

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Purpose: The role of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy in locally advanced type II endometrial cancer is controversial. We thus aimed to present our experience with the hypothesis that neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy is associated with similarly high rates of downstaging and locoregional control for type II endometrial cancer and type I endometrial cancer.

Methods And Materials: Thirty-four patients with type II endometrial cancer with clinical evidence of cervical ± parametrium involvement treated with neoadjuvant external beam radiation therapy (45-50.

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Objective: Previous studies suggest that breastfeeding reduces epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk. However, the effects of age, timing and episode details on the EOC-breastfeeding relationship have not been examined. The objective of this study was to examine the association between breastfeeding factors and epithelial ovarian cancer.

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Purpose: Recent Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie-European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology guidelines recommend that the dose to 90% (D90) of the high-risk clinical target volume (HRCTV) in cervical cancer be at least 85 Gy, with higher doses for poor response to radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: A retrospective review of brachytherapy delivered at a single institution was evaluated for dosimetry and outcomes. Significance of tumor parameters on local control was evaluated with Kaplan-Meier and univariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis.

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Objective: To examine significance of sarcoma dominance (SD) patterns in uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS).

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of multicenter retrospective study examining women with stages I-IV UCS who underwent primary surgery. SD was defined as >50% of sarcoma component in uterine tumor.

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Article Synopsis
  • Thymidylate synthase (TYMS) is important for DNA synthesis and is regulated by an antisense mRNA called ENOSF1, which affects tumor growth if disrupted.
  • A study investigated the genetic variant rs495139 for its potential link to mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC), using data from over 15,000 ovarian cancer patients, including 665 with MOC, but found no significant association in the independent sample.
  • Meta-analysis hinted at a weak connection between rs495139 and MOC risk, especially noting a positive correlation with ENOSF1 expression in normal gastrointestinal tissues, while its impact on tumors is uncertain.
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Purpose: Vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) is a relatively rare malignancy. Human papillomavirus has been implicated as a causative factor for a subset of these patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether p16-positivity (a human papillomavirus surrogate) predicts for better response rates in women who undergo surgery followed by adjuvant radiation therapy (RT).

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Purpose: To propose a categorization model of uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) based on tumor cell types (carcinoma and sarcoma) and sarcoma dominance.

Methods: This secondary analysis of a prior multicenter retrospective study examined 889 cases of UCS with available histologic evaluation. Based on survival outcome, cases were clustered into three groups: low-grade carcinoma with nondominant homologous sarcoma [type A, n = 96 (10.

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Aim: To explore inflammatory biomarkers secreted by adipose stem cells (ASCs) in omental, retroperitoneal and subcutaneous adipose tissues of women with endometrial cancer.

Patients & Methods: ASCs were collected from 22 women, aged 35-83 years, undergoing hysterectomy for endometrial cancer. Angiopoietin-2, EGF, IL-8, leptin, VEGFA, VEGFC and VEFGD levels in the ASC-conditioned media were analyzed by Luminex.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the significance of lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) with a sarcomatous component on the tumor characteristics and clinical outcomes of women with uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prior multicenter retrospective study that examined women with stage I-IV UCS who underwent primary hysterectomy. Archived histopathology slides were reviewed and LVSI was scored as follows: LVSI with a carcinomatous component alone (LVSI-carcinoma; n = 375, 76.

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Purpose: Brachytherapy is integral to vaginal cancer treatment and is typically delivered using an intracavitary single-channel vaginal cylinder (SCVC) or an interstitial brachytherapy (ISBT) applicator. Multi-channel vaginal cylinder (MCVC) applicators allow for improved organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing compared to SCVC while maintaining target coverage. We present clinical outcomes of patients treated with image-based high dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy using a MCVC.

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Background: Observational studies suggest greater height is associated with increased ovarian cancer risk, but cannot exclude bias and/or confounding as explanations for this. Mendelian randomisation (MR) can provide evidence which may be less prone to bias.

Methods: We pooled data from 39 Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium studies (16,395 cases; 23,003 controls).

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Super-utilizers account for many emergency department visits (EDV) and hospitalizations. Among Medicare/Medicaid patients, 5% to 10% account for >50% of spending. Little is known about super-utilization in gynecologic oncology.

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Purpose: Vaginal brachytherapy (VBT) alone has been shown to be a viable adjuvant treatment strategy for most patients with Stage I endometrioid endometrial cancer. We sought to examine our institutional data following practice pattern changes resulting from the publications of GOG-99 and PORTEC-2.

Methods And Materials: We retrospectively analyzed women who underwent adjuvant VBT after surgical staging for Stage 1 endometrioid endometrial cancer at our institution from 2007 to 2014.

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Objectives: Uterine carcinosarcomas are an aggressive and rare form of endometrial cancer. Omentectomy is not part of routine staging, but biopsy is often done because omental disease is a known poor prognostic indicator. We sought to define the role of routine omental sampling during surgical staging.

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Objective: To identify risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and to examine the association of VTE and survival in women with uterine carcinosarcoma.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study examined 906 women who underwent primary surgical treatment for stage I-IV uterine carcinosarcoma. Time-dependent analyses were performed for cumulative incidence of VTE after surgery on multivariate models.

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Introduction: In 2012, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) introduced a hysterectomy clinical pathway to reduce the number of total abdominal hysterectomies performed for benign gynecological indications. This study focused on exploring physician and patient factors impacting the utilization of hysterectomy clinical pathways.

Methods: An online survey with 24 questions was implemented to explore physicians' attitudes and perceived barriers toward implementing the pathway.

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