Publications by authors named "K K Sawczyn"

Study Objective: Education materials detailing fertility preservation options geared towards pediatric oncology patients are inadequately available, particularly materials that are culturally tailored. An English language pediatric fertility preservation brochure was developed in 2011, and given the significance of family building among Hispanics, it is important to transcreate materials for these audiences using learner verification to explore the unique preferences of the population.

Design: Qualitative face-to-face interviews and focus groups.

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Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) accounts for only 1% of all malignant head and neck tumors, and rarely affects children or adolescents. We present a 16-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with ACC at 12 years of age. The primary tumor was located in the left parotid gland.

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Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is currently treated with an intense regimen of chemotherapy yielding cure rates near 85%. However, alterations to treatment strategies using available drugs are unlikely to provide significant improvement in survival or decrease therapy-associated toxicities. Here, we report ectopic expression of the Mer receptor tyrosine kinase in pre-B-cell ALL (B-ALL) cell lines and pediatric patient samples.

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Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine healthy adolescents' perceptions of cancer and fertility. A secondary goal of the study was to test items related to the development of a health-related quality-of-life tool with healthy control subjects to determine whether the participants shared a common understanding of the items and response options and to confirm face and content validity.

Methods: Four focus groups of two age-groups were held with healthy female adolescents: 12-14 years (N = 11) and 15-18 years (N = 14).

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While sparsely reported in the literature, Wilms tumor may differentiate into more mature mesenchymal tissue types, such as skeletal muscle, following chemotherapy. The frequency of this event is unknown. Chemotherapy and radiation may induce cytodifferentiation of Wilms tumor cells or select for the survival of less mitotically active cells.

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