Publications by authors named "Laura M Fernandez"

Article Synopsis
  • Organ preservation through the Watch and Wait (WW) approach in rectal cancer patients shows promise but poses a risk of local regrowth (LR), leading to higher rates of distant metastases (DM) compared to traditional surgery (TME).
  • A study comparing 508 LR patients managed by WW and 893 near-complete pathologic response (nPCR) patients after TME found a significantly higher DM rate in the LR group (22.8% vs. 10.2%).
  • The research concluded that patients with LR have poorer 3-year DM-free survival (75% vs. 87%) and highlight that leaving a primary undetectable tumor can result in worse overall outcomes.
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  • Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common global concern, prompting research into defining methods for characterizing its tissues; this study examines the autofluorescence of colorectal tissues from 73 patients post-surgery.
  • The research utilized an advanced optical imaging system to analyze the autofluorescence characteristics of collagens, NAD(P)H, and flavins, revealing key differences between normal, adenomatous, and cancerous tissues linked to the underlying clinicopathological features.
  • Findings show that changes in autofluorescence signatures, influenced by tumor characteristics and treatment effects, suggest potential for these measurements to improve CRC clinical practices from diagnosis to management and future research directions.
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Cancer patients often undergo rounds of trial-and-error to find the most effective treatment because there is no test in the clinical practice for predicting therapy response. Here, we conduct a clinical study to validate the zebrafish patient-derived xenograft model (zAvatar) as a fast predictive platform for personalized treatment in colorectal cancer. zAvatars are generated with patient tumor cells, treated exactly with the same therapy as their corresponding patient and analyzed at single-cell resolution.

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Objective: To describe the inheritance pattern and clinical variability of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) in a family with two affected siblings.

Materials And Methods: Two sisters diagnosed at birth with bilateral PCG, whose father had bilateral PCG and mother had bilateral microphthalmus, were subjected to a familial genetic study and ophthalmologic follow-up including intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, and collection of biometric and cup-to-disc ratio data.

Results: The inheritance pattern was autosomal recessive in compound heterozygosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the Immunoscore (IS) as a potential biomarker for patients with rectal cancer managed by a watch-and-wait (W&W) strategy, focusing on predicting recurrence after treatment.
  • It involved 249 patients and analyzed the presence of specific immune cells in pre-treatment biopsies, finding that higher IS scores were associated with better 5-year recurrence-free rates.
  • The results indicate that IS is a strong independent predictor of time to recurrence and improves the accuracy of clinical models in assessing patient outcomes.
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  • The study evaluates "textbook oncological outcomes" (TOO), a composite measure of ideal postoperative outcomes from robotic colorectal cancer surgeries.
  • It involved analyzing data from 501 patients over a nine-year period, where 77.4% achieved TOO based on various clinical outcomes.
  • The findings suggest that robotic surgeries overall yield high quality care, but abdominoperineal resection presents a risk factor for not achieving these ideal outcomes.
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Background: A proportion of rectal cancer patients who achieve a clinical complete response may develop local regrowth. Although salvage appears to provide appropriate local control, the risk of distant metastases is less known.

Objective: To compare the risk of distant metastases between patients who achieve a clinical complete response (watch-and-wait strategy) and subsequent local regrowth and patients managed by surgery after chemoradiation.

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Background: Nearly 30% of patients with rectal cancer develop local regrowth after initial clinical complete response managed by watch and wait. These patients might be at higher risk for distant metastases.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate risk factors for distant metastases using time-dependent analyses.

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Neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) followed by surgery represents the standard of care in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Increasing radiotherapy (RT) doses and chemotherapy cycles with 5FU have been associated with increased rates of complete response, however these strategies imply significant toxicity. In the last years, epidemiologic findings have demonstrated that metformin is associated with significantly higher rates of pathological complete response to nCRT.

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The bioavailability impact of serum lipids in compound chocolate products based on structured lipids was studied. Compound chocolate products containing fat with and without structured lipids were digested in vitro under simulated gastrointestinal lipolysis conditions and were studied in vivo in healthy C57BL/6J mice. The in vitro digestion results show that products containing structured lipids, milk compound chocolate filling and white compound coating, significantly reduced the release rate of Free Fatty Acids (FFA) and improved the caloric reduction between 12.

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Purpose: To measure the in vitro flow properties of the PRESERFLO implant for comparison with the theoretical resistance to flow.

Methods: The PRESERFLO was designed to control the flow of aqueous humor according to the Hagen-Poiseuille (HP) equation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to analyze the ultrastructure, and flow measurements were carried out using a gravity-flow setup.

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Spain is a world leader in donation and transplantation. This model has been exported to other countries with favorable results. The objective of this study was to compare the actual donation intention rate with the effective donation figures, and analyze the main reasons why families decline organ donation.

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Aim: The aim of this work was to compare the results of elective minimally invasive surgery between patients with complicated sigmoid diverticulitis and those with uncomplicated disease.

Method: An institutional review board-approved database was searched for all consecutive patients who underwent elective minimally invasive surgery, including laparoscopic, hand-assisted and robotic sigmoidectomy, for diverticulitis between 2010 and 2017; they were classified according to the modified Hinchey classification as having complicated (abscess, fistula, stricture, obstruction, bleeding or previous perforation) versus uncomplicated disease. Data recorded included baseline demographics, indications for surgery, operative details and complications.

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Frequent nightly arousals typical for sleep disorders cause daytime fatigue and present health risks. As such arousals are often short, partial, or occur locally within the brain, reliable characterization in rodent models of sleep disorders and in human patients is challenging. We found that the EEG spectral composition of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) in healthy mice shows an infraslow (~50 s) interval over which microarousals appear preferentially.

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Background: Watch and wait is a novel management strategy in patients with rectal cancer who have a clinical complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Surveillance of these patients is generally intensive, because local regrowth (with the potential for salvage) occurs in 25% of patients, and distant metastases occur in 10% of patients. It is unclear for how long these patients should be followed up.

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The possibility of organ preservation in early rectal cancer has gained popularity during recent years. Patients with early tumor stage and low risk for local recurrence do not usually require neoadjuvant chemoradiation for oncological reasons. However, these patients may be considered for chemoradiation exclusively for the purpose of achieving a complete clinical response and avoid total mesorectal excision.

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Background: Patients with rectal cancer who achieve complete clinical response after neoadjuvant chemoradiation have been managed nonoperatively. Thirty percent of these patients may develop a local regrowth, and salvage resection with radical surgery is usually recommended. However, selected patients could be offered additional organ preservation by local excision.

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