Publications by authors named "M Lavallee"

Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma is described as immunologically "cold," making it resistant to solo immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) like pembrolizumab, although neoadjuvant use may improve survival based on prior studies.
  • A study involving 25 additional patients analyzed tumor tissue for gene signatures and found that neoadjuvant pembrolizumab led to decreased cancer proliferation genes and increased T-cell activity, indicating a specific response to this treatment.
  • Despite observing these molecular changes, the study did not confirm an overall survival benefit from neoadjuvant pembrolizumab, suggesting that some patients may inherently resist ICI and may need additional therapies for effective treatment.
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Background: Antiplatelet drugs, such as clopidogrel, ticagrelor, prasugrel, and acetylsalicylic acid, may be associated with a risk of adverse events (AEs). Vanessa's Law was enacted to strengthen regulations to protect Canadians from drug-related side effects (with mandatory reporting of serious adverse events [SAEs]).

Objective: To determine whether Vanessa's Law has led to an increase in SAE reporting among antiplatelet users.

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Marginalized groups in Manitoba, Canada, especially females and people who inject drugs, are overrepresented in new HIV diagnoses and disproportionately affected by HIV and structural disadvantages. Informed by syndemic theory, our aim was to understand people living with HIV's (PLHIV) gendered and intersecting barriers and facilitators across the cascade of HIV care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was co-designed and co-led alongside people with lived experience and a research advisory committee.

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Background: An adverse event (AE) is any undesirable medical manifestation in an individual who has received pharmacological treatment. To be considered serious (SAE), it needs to meet minimally one of the severity criteria by Health Canada. The most recent data (2006) suggested that AEs were underreported (<6%) to health authorities.

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Importance: There is increased interest in public reporting of, and linking financial incentives to, the performance of organizations on health equity metrics, but variation across organizations could reflect differences in performance or selection bias.

Objective: To assess whether differences across health plans in sex- and age-adjusted racial disparities are associated with performance or selection bias.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study leveraged a natural experiment, wherein a southern US state randomly assigned much of its Medicaid population to 1 of 5 plans after shifting to managed care in 2012.

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