Trajectory of Healthcare Contact Days for Veterans With Advanced Gastrointestinal Malignancy.

How and where patients with advanced cancer facing limited survival spend their time is critical. Healthcare contact days (days with healthcare contact outside the home) offer a patient-centered and practical measure of how much of a person's life is consumed by healthcare. We retrospectively analyzed contact days among decedent veterans with stage IV gastrointestinal cancer at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Healthcare System from 2010 to 2021.

Novel Cell and Immune Engagers in Optimizing Tumor- Specific Immunity Post-Autologous Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma.

Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an important component of treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). The post-ASCT setting offers a unique opportunity to increase myeloma specific immunity through enhancement of T and NK cell responses. The vast array of therapeutics being developed for MM, including cell-based therapies, dendritic vaccines, bispecific antibodies, and IL-15 agonists, provide the opportunity to increase tumor-specific immunity.

Castleman disease: A single-center case series.

Background: Castleman disease (CD) is a rare lymphocytic disorder. Unicentric CD (UCD) has an excellent long-term prognosis after surgical excision; however, multicentric CD (MCD) has a severe clinical course with poor outcomes.

Study Design: We analyzed the clinical presentation of 28 patients treated at a single institution from 1995 to 2017.

Interleukin-17-induced neutrophil extracellular traps mediate resistance to checkpoint blockade in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a lethal malignancy with an immunosuppressive microenvironment that is resistant to most therapies. IL17 is involved in pancreatic tumorigenesis, but its role in invasive PDAC is undetermined. We hypothesized that IL17 triggers and sustains PDAC immunosuppression.

Microbial dysbiosis and polyamine metabolism as predictive markers for early detection of pancreatic cancer.

The lack of tools for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is directly correlated with the abysmal survival rates in patients. In addition to several potential detection tools under active investigation, we tested the gut microbiome and its metabolic complement as one of the earliest detection tools that could be useful in patients at high risk for PDAC. We used a combination of 16s rRNA pyrosequencing and whole-genome sequencing of gut fecal microbiota in a genetically engineered PDAC murine model (KRASG12DTP53R172HPdxCre or KPC).

Use of platelet and erythroid growth factors during induction chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in a Jehovah's Witness.

We present a 21-year-old woman diagnosed with Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-like CD20 positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). She was a Jehovah's Witness (JW) and declined all blood product transfusion support. She was initiated on the CALGB 10403 chemotherapy protocol for her ALL.

Durable complete remission with combination chemotherapy and bortezomib in HIV-associated plasmablastic lymphoma.

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) classically seen in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, but can also be seen in other immunocompromised states such as transplant recipients, autoimmune diseases and the elderly. PBL is generally associated with a poor prognosis despite chemotherapy. There is evidence supporting the use of bortezomib in combination with standard chemotherapy to achieve durable responses in patients with PBL.

Inhibition of hypoxic response decreases stemness and reduces tumorigenic signaling due to impaired assembly of HIF1 transcription complex in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic tumors are renowned for their extremely hypoxic centers, resulting in upregulation of a number of hypoxia mediated signaling pathways including cell proliferation, metabolism and cell survival. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that Minnelide, a water-soluble pro-drug of triptolide (anti-cancer compound), decreases viability of cancer cells in vitro as well as in vivo. However, its mechanism of action remain elusive.

Race- and Sex-Based Disparities in the Therapy and Outcomes of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anus.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) is one of the few cancers with an increasing incidence in the United States. We aimed to characterize race- and sex-based disparities in receipt of therapy and overall survival (OS) of SCCA using the SEER database. Cases of locoregional SCCA (T2-T4 any N M0) diagnosed between 2000 and 2012 in the SEER database were included.

Biological agents in gastrointestinal cancers: adverse effects and their management.

Biological therapy comprises agents that by virtue of their unique mechanisms of action, are able to specifically incite a response against or target malignant cells. They differ from conventional chemotherapy with regard to mechanisms of action, indications and side effect profile. Biologic agents have revolutionized therapy for a number of malignancies.

Obesity is Independently Associated With Increased Risk of Hepatocellular Cancer-related Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Excess body weight is associated with increased risk of developing hepatocellular cancer (HCC), but its effect on HCC-related mortality remains unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between premorbid obesity and HCC-related mortality.

Materials And Methods: Through a systematic literature search-up to March 2016, we identified 9 observational studies (1,599,453 individuals, 5705 HCC-related deaths) reporting the association between premorbid body mass index (BMI), and HCC-related mortality.

Inhibition of Sp1 prevents ER homeostasis and causes cell death by lysosomal membrane permeabilization in pancreatic cancer.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress initiates an important mechanism for cell adaptation and survival, named the unfolded protein response (UPR). Severe or chronic/prolonged UPR can breach the threshold for survival and lead to cell death. There is a fundamental gap in knowledge on the molecular mechanism of how chronic ER stress is stimulated and leads to cell death in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Primary effusion lymphoma: current concepts and management.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize the current epidemiology, management, and outcomes of primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and highlight possible future research efforts.

Recent Findings: Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone-based chemotherapy regimens alone or in combination with immunomodulatory agents (e.g.

Downregulation of Sp1 by Minnelide leads to decrease in HSP70 and decrease in tumor burden of gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer related mortality worldwide with poor survival rates. Even though a number of chemotherapeutic compounds have been used against this disease, stomach cancer has not been particularly sensitive to these drugs. In this study we have evaluated the effect of triptolide, a naturally derived diterpene triepoxide and its water soluble pro-drug Minnelide on several gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines both as monotherapy and in combination with CPT-11.

Minnelide Inhibits Androgen Dependent, Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Growth by Decreasing Expression of Androgen Receptor Full Length and Splice Variants.

Background: With almost 30,000 deaths per year, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in men. Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) has been the corner stone of prostate cancer treatment for decades. However, despite an initial response of prostate cancer to ADT, this eventually fails and the tumors recur, resulting in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC).

Postoperative sepsis prediction in patients undergoing major cancer surgery.

Background: Cancer patients are at increased risk for postoperative sepsis. However, studies addressing the issue are lacking. We sought to identify preoperative and intraoperative predictors of 30-d sepsis after major cancer surgery (MCS) and derive a postoperative sepsis risk stratification tool.

Premorbid body mass index and mortality in patients with lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between premorbid obesity, measured using body mass index (BMI) and lung cancer-related mortality, through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Materials And Methods: Observational studies reporting statistical measures of association between premorbid BMI categories and lung cancer-related mortality were included in our study. We estimated hazard ratios (aHR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), comparing lung cancer-related mortality across BMI categories.

Microenvironment mediated alterations to metabolic pathways confer increased chemo-resistance in CD133+ tumor initiating cells.

Chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer has been attributed to tumor-initiating cells (TICs), a minor sub-population of tumor cells. However, the mechanism of chemo-resistance in these cells is still unclear.In the current study, immunohistochemical analysis of LSL-KrasG12D; LSL-Trp53R172H;PdxCre (KPC) murine tumors indicated that hypoxic regions developed through tumor progression.