Publications by authors named "Park Joseph J"
A curious case of endogenous Ramularia endophthalmitis presenting as acute angle closure.
Retin Cases Brief Rep
February 2025
Purpose: To report on an interesting case of fungal endogenous endophthalmitis in a patient that was referred in for acute angle closure. A unique presentation with a novel pathogen, Ramularia, identified on vitreous sampling.
Methods: Case report.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigated the relationship between Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB) and Microsatellite Instability (MSI) status in patients with urothelial carcinoma (UC) receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), focusing on overall survival (OS).
- - Results showed that patients with a higher TMB (≥10 mut/Mb) generally experienced longer median OS compared to those with lower TMB, although these differences weren't always statistically significant.
- - Notably, patients treated with maintenance avelumab had a significantly better OS when TMB was high (61 months vs. 17 months for low TMB), indicating potential benefits of ICI based on TMB and MSI status, warranting further investigation.
Article Synopsis
- The study assessed the effectiveness of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) and platinum chemotherapy in men with prostate cancer (PC) and specific genetic mutations related to DNA repair.
- It utilized data from the PROMISE consortium to compare outcomes between three groups based on their mutation profiles: one with direct BRCA complex interactions and two without.
- Results showed that patients with BRCA mutations had significantly better responses to PARPi, including higher PSA response rates and longer progression-free survival, compared to those without direct BRCA interactions.
Article Synopsis
- The study looked at how often men with advanced prostate cancer get tested with a special method called next-generation sequencing (NGS) to find helpful information about their disease.
- They analyzed data from 1,597 patients and found that only 9% had more than one NGS test, often discovering new useful information on the second test.
- The results suggest that doing these tests more than once could help doctors make better treatment choices for men with advanced prostate cancer.
Clinical implications of AR alterations in advanced prostate cancer: a multi-institutional collaboration.
Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis
February 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how alterations in the androgen receptor (AR) gene affect the treatment outcomes for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) receiving androgen receptor-targeting agents (ARTA).
- Researchers analyzed data from the PROMISE database, looking at patients' genomic testing results in relation to their ARTA treatment timing and clinical outcomes.
- Findings indicate that AR amplifications correlate with a longer time to disease progression, highlighting the need for more in-depth studies to better understand these genomic alterations' impact on treatment responses.
Purpose: HOXB13 is an androgen receptor (AR) coregulator specifically expressed in cells of prostatic lineage. We sought to associate circulating tumor cell (CTC) HOXB13 expression with outcomes in men with mCRPC treated with abiraterone or enzalutamide.
Experimental Design: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the multicenter prospective PROPHECY trial of mCRPC men (NCT02269982, n = 118) treated with abiraterone/enzalutamide.
Importance: Black men have higher incidence and mortality from prostate cancer. Whether precision oncology disparities affect Black men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is unknown.
Objective: To compare precision medicine data and outcomes between Black and White men with mCRPC.
Background: Early progression on first-line (1L) platinum-based therapy or between therapy lines may be a surrogate of more aggressive disease and poor outcomes in advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC), but its prognostic role regarding immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) response and survival is unclear. We hypothesized that shorter time until start of second-line (2L) ICI would be associated with worse outcomes in aUC.
Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective multi-institution cohort study in patients with aUC treated with 1L platinum-based chemotherapy, who received 2L ICI.
Background: Sites of metastasis have prognostic significance in advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC), but more information is needed regarding outcomes based on metastatic sites in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). We hypothesized that presence of liver/bone metastases would be associated with worse outcomes with ICI.
Methods: We identified a retrospective cohort of patients with aUC across 26 institutions, collecting demographics, clinicopathological, treatment, and outcomes information.
Article Synopsis
- Most JAK2-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) have mutations in calreticulin (CALR), which produce unique neoantigens that could be useful for cancer vaccines, but CALR-specific T cells are surprisingly rare in these patients.
- Research found that patients with CALR MPN lack MHC-I alleles that effectively present CALR neoepitopes, possibly preventing immune responses that could have led to earlier tumor rejection.
- The study suggests that using modified CALR heteroclitic peptide vaccines tailored to the MHC-I alleles of patients can effectively stimulate an immune response, indicating their potential as a new therapeutic approach for CALR MPN.
Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) improve overall survival (OS) in patients with locally advanced, unresectable, or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (aUC), but response rates can be modest. We compared outcomes between patients with and without prior intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), who received ICI for aUC, hypothesizing that prior intravesical BCG would be associated with worse outcomes.
Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study across 25 institutions in US and Europe.
Article Synopsis
- The study aims to compare the clinical outcomes of advanced urothelial carcinoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, focusing on those who had prior radical surgery or radiation therapy versus those who did not.
- Researchers analyzed data from 562 patients across multiple institutions, assessing response rates, progression-free survival, and overall survival based on prior treatments.
- Results showed that patients in the second-plus-line treatment group with previous radical surgery had significantly better outcomes compared to those without, but this difference was not observed in the first-line setting.
PROMISE: a real-world clinical-genomic database to address knowledge gaps in prostate cancer.
Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis
September 2022
Purpose: Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous disease with variable clinical outcomes. Despite numerous recent approvals of novel therapies, castration-resistant prostate cancer remains lethal. A "real-world" clinical-genomic database is urgently needed to enhance our characterization of advanced prostate cancer and further enable precision oncology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aimed to compare clinical outcomes between patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in the upper and lower urinary tract receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.
- A retrospective analysis included 746 patients and found that those with upper urinary tract cancer had similar objective response rates, overall survival, and progression-free survival compared to those with lower urinary tract cancer.
- However, patients with mixed-histology upper urinary tract cancer exhibited lower treatment response and shorter progression-free survival compared to their lower tract counterparts, highlighting the need for further research on patient selection for immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy in metastatic sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma: A single institution experience.
Cancer Treat Res Commun
November 2021
Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) were recently approved in advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and could be a promising option for metastatic RCC with sarcomatoid differentiation (sRCC) which otherwise carry a poor prognosis. We sought to compare outcomes between patients who received immunotherapy (IO) including CPIs or high dose interleukin-2 (HD IL2) for metastatic sRCC versus those who did not.
Patients And Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective data analysis of 44 consecutive sRCC patients with any percentage of sarcomatoid differentiation from our institutional RCC database of whom 34 received IO and 10 patients did not.
Background: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an emerging treatment option for unresectable pancreatic cancer, and is postulated to be more effective and less toxic than conventionally fractionated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
Material And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed unresectable stage I-III pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated from 2008 to 2016 at our institution with SBRT (five fractions, 30-33 Gy) or IMRT (25-28 fractions, 45-56 Gy with concurrent chemotherapy). Groups were compared with respect to overall survival (OS), local and distant failure, and toxicity.
The major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) is a large gene family, with over 20 members in mouse. Some MHCIs are well-known for their critical roles in the immune response. Studies in mice which lack stable cell-surface expression of many MHCI proteins suggest that one or more MHCIs also play unexpected, essential roles in the establishment, function, and modification of neuronal synapses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProteins of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) negatively regulate synapse density in the developing vertebrate brain (Glynn et al., 2011; Elmer et al., 2013; Lee et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFT cell homeostasis and survival is dependent on interleukin-7 (IL-7). Immune activation, however, downregulates IL-7 receptor expression on T cells so that T cell survival during activation must be maintained independently of IL-7. The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 shares common signaling pathways with IL-7 and can promote T cell survival in vitro.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis characteristically causes peripheral retinitis with associated vasculitis. It rarely begins in the macula or causes macular necrosis exclusively. We report a case of unilateral macular CMV retinitis in a 65-year-old immunosuppressed patient and document changes in the macula during treatment through optical coherence tomography (OCT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCorticosteroid-induced glaucoma in a child after a scleral reinforcement procedure.
Clin Exp Ophthalmol
October 2002
Corticoteroid-induced glaucoma can result from either topical or systemic corticosteroid use. Compared with adults, the corticosteroid response in children is less well known. The case is reported of a child who developed glaucoma after receiving topical corticosteroids following a scleral reinforcement procedure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF