The genomic landscape of TP53 and p53 annotated high grade ovarian serous carcinomas from a defined founder population associated with patient outcome.

High-grade ovarian serous carcinomas (HGSC) are characterized by TP53 mutations and non-random patterns of chromosomal anomalies, where the nature of the TP53 mutation may correlate with clinical outcome. However, the frequency of common somatic genomic events occurring in HGSCs from demographically defined populations has not been explored. Whole genome SNP array, and TP53 mutation, gene and protein expression analyses were assessed in 87 confirmed HGSC samples with clinical correlates from French Canadians, a population exhibiting strong founder effects, and results were compared with independent reports describing similar analyses from unselected populations.

Multiple environmental stressors elicit complex interactive effects in the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis).

Evaluation of multiple-stressor effects stemming from habitat degradation, climate change, and exposure to chemical contaminants is crucial for addressing challenges to ecological and environmental health. To assess the effects of multiple stressors in an understudied taxon, the western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) was used to characterize the individual and combined effects of food limitation, exposure to the munitions constituent 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), and Plasmodium mexicanum (lizard malaria) infection. Three experimental assays were conducted including: Experiment I--TNT × Food Limitation, Experiment II--Food Limitation × Malaria Infection, and Experiment III--TNT × Malaria Infection.

Derivation and characterization of matched cell lines from primary and recurrent serous ovarian cancer.

Background: Cell line models have proven to be effective tools to investigate a variety of ovarian cancer features. Due to the limited number of cell lines, particularly of the serous subtype, the heterogeneity of the disease, and the lack of cell lines that model disease progression, there is a need to further develop cell line resources available for research. This study describes nine cell lines derived from three ovarian cancer cases that were established at initial diagnosis and at subsequent relapse after chemotherapy.

"One Can Learn From Other People's Experiences": Latino adults' preferences for peer-based diabetes interventions.

Purpose: To assess Latino adults' preferences for peer-based diabetes self-management interventions and the acceptability of the church setting for these interventions.

Methods: The authors partnered with 2 predominantly Mexican American churches in Chicago and conducted 6 focus groups with 37 adults who had diabetes or had a family member with diabetes. They assessed participant preferences regarding group education and telephone-based one-to-one peer diabetes self-management interventions.

LRP1B deletion in high-grade serous ovarian cancers is associated with acquired chemotherapy resistance to liposomal doxorubicin.

High-grade serous cancer (HGSC), the most common subtype of ovarian cancer, often becomes resistant to chemotherapy, leading to poor patient outcomes. Intratumoral heterogeneity occurs in nearly all solid cancers, including ovarian cancer, contributing to the development of resistance mechanisms. In this study, we examined the spatial and temporal genomic variation in HGSC using high-resolution single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays.

Cancerous ovarian stem cells: obscure targets for therapy but relevant to chemoresistance.

Chemotherapy with platinum and taxanes is the first line of treatment for all epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients after debulking surgery. Even though the treatment is initially effective in 80% of patients, recurrent cancer is inevitable in the vast majority of cases. Emerging evidence suggests that some tumor cells can survive chemotherapy by activating the self-renewal pathways resulting in tumor progression and clinical recurrence.

Surgeons' opinions on lymphadenectomy in melanoma patients with positive sentinel nodes: a worldwide web-based survey.

Purpose: A worldwide web-based survey was conducted among melanoma surgeons to investigate opinions about completion lymph node dissection (CLND) in patients with positive sentinel nodes (SN).

Methods: A questionnaire was designed following input from a group of melanoma surgeons. Cognitive interviews and pilot testing were performed.

Evaluation of incomplete sentinel node biopsy procedures and sentinel node positivity rates as surgical quality-assurance parameters in melanoma patients.

Background: There is little literature describing quality assurance (QA) validation of an individual surgeon's ability to perform sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in melanoma patients. This study aims to evaluate incomplete SNB rates and SNB positivity rates as potential QA parameters.

Methods: An institutional database identified 2,874 patients with primary melanoma who had SNB performed when there was lymphoscintigraphy drainage to a single lymphatic field.

Integrating diabetes self-management interventions for mexican-americans into the catholic church setting.

Churches provide an innovative and underutilized setting for diabetes self-management programs for Latinos. This study sought to formulate a conceptual framework for designing church-based programs that are tailored to the needs of the Latino community and that utilize church strengths and resources. To inform this model, we conducted six focus groups with mostly Mexican-American Catholic adults with diabetes and their family members (N = 37) and found that participants were interested in church-based diabetes programs that emphasized information sharing, skills building, and social networking.

Relative sensitivities of Japanese quail to foreign red blood cell challenges for immunotoxicity testing.

Given evidence that the immune system is sensitive to environmental contaminants, evaluating immunocompetence in toxicology studies is increasingly important. By incorporating a test of humoral response into controlled reproductive and developmental studies, more comprehensive results can be gathered to assess the potential for disease. The foreign red blood cells (RBC) challenge is a minimally invasive method for evaluating humoral responses to a foreign antigen.

Comparison of the repeated dose toxicity of isomers of dinitrotoluene.

Dinitrotoluene (DNT) is a nitroaromatic explosive used in propellant mixtures and in the production of plastics. Isomers of DNT were administered daily via oral gavage to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 14 days to determine the subacute toxicity of individual isomers of DNT. The 3,5-DNT isomer was the most toxic isomer, inducing weight loss and mortality within 3 days.

Prognostic value of elevated preoperative serum CA125 in ovarian tumors of low malignant potential: a multinational collaborative study (ANZGOG0801).

Objective: Previous studies on prognostic factors in ovarian tumors of low malignant potential (LMP) were too small for robust conclusions. We examined the prognostic impact of preoperative serum CA125 ≥ 50 U/ml levels in patients diagnosed with ovarian LMP tumors in a large multinational cohort.

Methods: This retrospective study included 940 patients with ovarian LMP tumors diagnosed between 1985 and 2008 at six gynecologic cancer centers.

Clinical and pathologic factors associated with distant metastasis and survival in patients with thin primary cutaneous melanoma.

Background: Approximately 3-5% of patients with thin (≤ 1 mm) cutaneous melanomas develop distant metastases. We sought to identify clinical and pathologic factors associated with distant metastasis and survival in a large number of patients with thin melanoma treated at a single institution.

Methods: We identified patients with a single invasive melanoma ≤ 1 mm in thickness diagnosed between January 1983 and December 2003 who developed distant metastasis (cases), and matched patients with no recorded recurrence during follow-up (control subjects).

Endometrial cancer.

Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynaecological malignancy in the Western world. The standard management of endometrial carcinoma is total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with or without pelvic and para-aortic lymph-node dissection. Increasingly, endometrial cancer is being diagnosed in younger women in whom preserving fertility may be an important consideration when deciding optimal management.

Patient-centered medical home characteristics and staff morale in safety net clinics.

Background: We sought to determine whether perceived patient-centered medical home (PCMH) characteristics are associated with staff morale, job satisfaction, and burnout in safety net clinics.

Methods: Self-administered survey among 391 providers and 382 clinical staff across 65 safety net clinics in 5 states in 2010. The following 5 subscales measured respondents' perceptions of PCMH characteristics on a scale of 0 to 100 (0 indicates worst and 100 indicates best): access to care and communication with patients, communication with other providers, tracking data, care management, and quality improvement.

Early lessons from an initiative on Chicago's South Side to reduce disparities in diabetes care and outcomes.

Interventions to improve health outcomes among patients with diabetes, especially racial or ethnic minorities, must address the multiple factors that make this disease so pernicious. We describe an intervention on the South Side of Chicago-a largely low-income, African American community-that integrates the strengths of health systems, patients, and communities to reduce disparities in diabetes care and outcomes. We report preliminary findings, such as improved diabetes care and diabetes control, and we discuss lessons learned to date.

Substantially modified ratios of effector to regulatory T cells during chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients return to pre-treatment levels at completion: implications for immunotherapy.

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancy. Despite improved detection and treatment options, relapse rates remain high. Combining immunotherapy with the current standard treatments may provide an improved prognosis, however, little is known about how standard chemotherapy affects immune potential (particularly T cells) over time, and hence, when to optimally combine it with immunotherapy (e.

Plasma copper and zinc concentration in individuals with autism correlate with selected symptom severity.

Aim: To assess plasma zinc and copper concentration in individuals with autism and correlate these levels with symptom severity.

Subjects And Methods: Plasma from 102 autistic individuals, and 18 neurotypical controls, were tested for plasma zinc and copper using inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Copper and zinc levels and Cu/Zn were analyzed for possible correlation with severity of 19 symptoms.

Assessment of the in vivo genotoxicity of isomers of dinitrotoluene using the alkaline Comet and peripheral blood micronucleus assays.

Dinitrotoluene (DNT) is a nitroaromatic explosive that exists as six isomers; two major isomers (2,4- and 2,6-DNT) and four minor isomers (2,3-, 2,5-, 3,4-, and 3,5-DNT). DNT has been found in soil, surface water, and groundwater near ammunition production plants. The major isomers of DNT are classified as "likely to cause cancer in humans.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with thin primary cutaneous melanoma.

Objectives: To determine the rate and clinicopathologic factors predictive of sentinel lymph node (SLN) positivity, regional lymph node recurrence, and survival in a large series of patients with thin primary cutaneous melanoma who underwent SLN biopsy (SLNB).

Methods: Patients with thin (≤1 mm) melanomas who underwent SLNB between 1992 and 2009 at Melanoma Institute Australia were identified from the Melanoma Institute Australia database. The association of clinicopathologic features with SLN status, lymph node recurrence, and survival was analyzed.

Development of a safety net medical home scale for clinics.

Background: Existing tools to measure patient-centered medical home (PCMH) adoption are not designed for research evaluation in safety-net clinics.

Objective: Develop a scale to measure PCMH adoption in safety-net clinics.

Research Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Distinct and non-redundant roles of microglia and myeloid subsets in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.

Mononuclear phagocytes are important modulators of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the specific functions of resident microglia, bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells, and perivascular macrophages have not been resolved. To elucidate the spatiotemporal roles of mononuclear phagocytes during disease, we targeted myeloid cell subsets from different compartments and examined disease pathogenesis in three different mouse models of AD (APP(swe/PS1), APP(swe), and APP23 mice). We identified chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2)-expressing myeloid cells as the population that was preferentially recruited to β-amyloid (Aβ) deposits.

Reach-out: a family-based diabetes prevention program for African American youth.

Objective: To pilot test and assess the feasibility of a culturally grounded approach to adolescent overweight and diabetes prevention.

Study Design: Reach-Out, a family-based nutrition and exercise program for overweight African American youth aged 9 to 12 years and their families, is led by lay health leaders and conducted in a community setting on Chicago's south side (Illinois). Age-appropriate interactive sessions focus on skills building, problem solving, and setting goals during 14 weekly sessions, with monthly meetings thereafter.

Cisplatin treatment of primary and metastatic epithelial ovarian carcinomas generates residual cells with mesenchymal stem cell-like profile.

Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cells (CSC) have been associated with resistance to chemotherapy. Eighty percent of ovarian cancer patients initially respond to platinum-based combination therapy but most return with recurrence and ultimate demise. To better understand such chemoresistance we have assessed the potential role of EMT in tumor cells collected from advanced-stage ovarian cancer patients and the ovarian cancer cell line OVCA 433 in response to cisplatin in vitro.