The Role of Axillary Lymph Node Dissection versus Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection in Breast Cancer Patients with Clinical N2b-N3c Disease Who Receive Adjuvant Radiotherapy.

Background: For breast cancer with advanced regional lymph node involvement, axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) remains the standard of care for staging and treating the axilla despite the presence of undissected lymph nodes. The benefit of ALND in this setting is unknown.

Objectives: We sought to describe national patterns of care of axillary surgery and its association with overall survival (OS) among women with cN2b-N3c breast cancer who receive adjuvant radiotherapy.

The Development of an Infrastructure to Facilitate the Use of Whole Genome Sequencing for Population Health.

The clinical use of genomic analysis has expanded rapidly resulting in an increased availability and utility of genomic information in clinical care. We have developed an infrastructure utilizing informatics tools and clinical processes to facilitate the use of whole genome sequencing data for population health management across the healthcare system. Our resulting framework scaled well to multiple clinical domains in both pediatric and adult care, although there were domain specific challenges that arose.

Body Mass Index and Mammographic Density in a Multiracial and Multiethnic Population-Based Study.

Background: Mammographic density (MD) is strongly associated with breast cancer risk. We examined whether body mass index (BMI) partially explains racial and ethnic variation in MD.

Methods: We used multivariable Poisson regression to estimate associations between BMI and binary MD [Breast Imaging Reporting and Database System (BI-RADS) A&B versus BI-RADS C&D] among 160,804 women in the Utah mammography cohort.

Bevacizumab: current updates in treatment.

Purpose Of Review: Drugs targeting angiogenesis are rapidly being incorporated into cancer treatment regimens. Bevacizumab was the first antiangiogenesis agent to gain approval by the Food and Drug Administration and is now approved for use in five tumor types. This brief review highlights important recent advances in our understanding of bevacizumab and the patient populations in whom it may be most beneficial.

Efficacy and safety of tunneled pleural catheters in adults with malignant pleural effusions: a systematic review.

Background: Malignant pleural effusions (MPE) are a frequent cause of dyspnea and discomfort at the end of cancer patients' lives. The tunneled indwelling pleural catheter (TIPC) was approved by the FDA in 1997 and has been investigated as a treatment for MPE.

Objective: To systematically review published data on the efficacy and safety of the TIPC for treatment of MPE.

K-RasG12D expression induces hyperproliferation and aberrant signaling in primary hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

Defining how cancer-associated mutations perturb signaling networks in stem/progenitor populations that are integral to tumor formation and maintenance is a fundamental problem with biologic and clinical implications. Point mutations in RAS genes contribute to many cancers, including myeloid malignancies. We investigated the effects of an oncogenic Kras(G12D) allele on phosphorylated signaling molecules in primary c-kit(+) lin(-/low) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.