Patterns of Cancer-Related Healthcare Access across Pennsylvania: Analysis of Novel Census Tract-Level Indicators of Persistent Poverty.

Background: Persistent poverty census tracts have had ≥20% of the population living below the federal poverty line for 30+ years. We assessed the relationship between persistent poverty and cancer-related healthcare access across census tracts in Pennsylvania.

Methods: We gathered publicly available census tract-level data on persistent poverty, rurality, and sociodemographic variables, as well as potential access to healthcare (i.

Exercise training improves serum biomarkers of liver fibroinflammation in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Background And Aims: Exercise training is recommended for all patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and may reverse liver fibrosis. Whether exercise training improves liver fibrosis without body weight loss remains controversial. We further investigated this relationship using serum biomarkers of liver fibroinflammation in a post hoc analysis of an exercise trial where patients did not lose significant body weight.

LionVu: A Data-Driven Geographical Web-GIS Tool for Community Health and Decision-Making in a Catchment Area.

In 2018, the Penn State Cancer Institute developed LionVu, a web mapping tool to educate and inform community health professionals about the cancer burden in Pennsylvania and its catchment area of 28 counties in central Pennsylvania. LionVu, redesigned in 2023, uses several open-source JavaScript libraries (i.e.

Ambient air exposures to arsenic and cadmium and overall and prostate cancer-specific survival among prostate cancer cases in Pennsylvania, 2004 to 2014.

Background: Exposures to arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) have been associated with higher prostate cancer (PC) mortality; however, these associations have been inconsistent. The authors investigated whether higher ambient air concentrations of As and Cd are associated with lower overall and PC-specific survival among PC cases in Pennsylvania.

Methods: Incident PC cases of patients, aged 40 years or older, with a clinical diagnosis and nonmetastatic disease were identified in the 2004 to 2014 Pennsylvania Cancer Registry.

A decline in functional status while awaiting liver transplantation is predictive of increased post-transplantation mortality.

Background: Functional status (FS) is dynamic and changes over time. We examined how changes in FS while awaiting liver transplantation influence post-transplant outcomes.

Methods: Data on adult liver transplants performed in the United States during the MELD era were obtained through September 2020.

Vitamin D and family history of hypertension in relation to hypertension status among college students.

Hypertension and vitamin D concentrations have heritable components, although these factors remain uninvestigated in young adults. The objective of this study was to investigate hypertension risk among young adults with respect to family history of hypertension, adjusting for vitamin D status. Resting blood pressure (BP) was measured in 398 individuals aged 18-35 and classified according to the 2017 American Heart Association criteria.

LionVu 2.0 Usability Assessment for Pennsylvania, United States.

The Penn State Cancer Initiative implemented LionVu 1.0 (Penn State University, United States) in 2017 as a web-based mapping tool to educate and inform public health professionals about the cancer burden in Pennsylvania and 28 counties in central Pennsylvania, locally known as the catchment area. The purpose of its improvement, LionVu 2.

Prostate Cancer Incidence and Aggressiveness in Appalachia versus Non-Appalachia Populations in Pennsylvania by Urban-Rural Regions, 2004-2014.

Background: Few studies have examined prostate cancer incidence and aggressiveness in urban-rural Appalachian populations. We examined these rates in urban-rural Appalachia and non-Appalachia Pennsylvania (PA), and the association between these areas and more aggressive prostate cancer at diagnosis.

Methods: Men, ages ≥ 40 years with a primary prostate cancer diagnosis, were identified from the 2004-2014 Pennsylvania Cancer Registry.