Association between Accelerated Biological Aging, Diet, and Gut Microbiome.

Factors driving accelerated biological age (BA), an important predictor of chronic diseases, remain poorly understood. This study focuses on the impact of diet and gut microbiome on accelerated BA. Accelerated Klemera-Doubal biological age (KDM-BA) was estimated as the difference between KDM-BA and chronological age.

Remote Field Application of Digital Technology for Hearing Assessments in a Cohort of Pediatric Germ Cell Tumor Survivors.

Background: Childhood cancer survivors treated with platinum-based chemotherapy are at risk of treatment-induced hearing loss. Accurate evaluation of hearing thresholds has historically been limited to clinical audiometry, which is logistically challenging and expensive to include in epidemiologic studies. We evaluated the feasibility of using a remote, tablet-based hearing assessment in a cohort of pediatric germ cell tumor survivors treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.

Adolescent and Young Adult Germ Cell Tumors: Epidemiology, Genomics, Treatment, and Survivorship.

Innovations in the care of adolescent and young adult (AYA) germ cell tumors (GCTs) are needed for one of the most common AYA cancers for which treatment has not significantly changed for several decades. Testicular GCTs (TGCTs) are the most common cancers in 15- to 39-year-old men, and ovarian GCTs (OvGCTs) are the leading gynecologic malignancies in women younger than 25 years. Excellent outcomes, even in widely metastatic disease using cisplatin-based chemotherapy, can be achieved since Einhorn and Donohue's landmark 1977 study in TGCT.

Children's Oncology Group's 2023 blueprint for research: Germ cell tumors.

Extracranial germ cell tumors (GCT) are a biologically diverse group of tumors occurring in children, adolescents, and young adults. The majority of patients have excellent outcomes, but treatment-related toxicities impact their quality of survivorship. A subset of patients succumbs to the disease.

Children's Oncology Group's 2023 blueprint for research: Epidemiology.

The Children's Oncology Group (COG) Epidemiology Committee has a primary focus on better understanding the etiologies of childhood cancers. Over the past 10 years, the committee has leveraged the Childhood Cancer Research Network, and now more recently Project:EveryChild (PEC), to conduct epidemiologic assessments of various childhood cancers, including osteosarcoma, neuroblastoma, germ cell tumors, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and Langerhans cell histiocytosis. More recent studies have utilized questionnaire data collected as part of PEC to focus on specific characteristics and/or features, including the presence of congenital disorders and the availability of stored cord blood.

Associations between birth defects and childhood and adolescent germ cell tumors according to sex, histologic subtype, and site.

Background: Studies have reported increased rates of birth defects among children with germ cell tumors (GCTs). However, few studies have evaluated associations by sex, type of defect, or tumor characteristics.

Methods: Birth defect-GCT associations were evaluated among pediatric patients (N = 552) with GCTs enrolled in the Germ Cell Tumor Epidemiology Study and population-based controls (N = 6380) without cancer from the Genetic Overlap Between Anomalies and Cancer in Kids Study.

Integrated genomic analysis reveals aberrations in WNT signaling in germ cell tumors of childhood and adolescence.

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are neoplasms of the testis, ovary and extragonadal sites that occur in infants, children, adolescents and adults. Post-pubertal (type II) malignant GCTs may present as seminoma, non-seminoma or mixed histologies. In contrast, pre-pubertal (type I) GCTs are limited to (benign) teratoma and (malignant) yolk sac tumor (YST).

Dysregulation of astrocytic Ca signaling and gliotransmitter release in mouse models of α-synucleinopathies.

α-Synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies (LB) and Lewy neurites (LN) appearing in the postmortem brain of Parkinson's disease (PD) and other α-synucleinopathies. While most studies of α-synucleinopathies have focused on neuronal and synaptic alterations as well as dysfunctions of the astrocytic homeostatic roles, whether the bidirectional astrocyte-neuronal communication is affected in these diseases remains unknown. We have investigated whether the astrocyte Ca excitability and the glutamatergic gliotransmission underlying astrocyte-neuronal signaling are altered in several transgenic mouse models related to α-synucleinopathies, i.

Growth Hormone Deficiency in Childhood Intracranial Germ Cell Tumor Survivors.

Background And Aims: Intracranial germ cell tumor (iGCT) survivors have multiple risk factors for growth hormone (GH) deficiency, a commonly reported late effect in childhood cancer survivors. The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of GH deficiency among childhood iGCT survivors.

Methods: Participants were previously enrolled in the Germ Cell Tumor Epidemiology Study (GaMETES), a case parent triad study conducted using the Children's Oncology Group registry protocols, including 216 cases with iGCTs.

Predicted leukocyte telomere length and risk of germ cell tumours.

Background: Genetically predicted leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been evaluated in several studies of childhood and adult cancer. We test whether genetically predicted longer LTL is associated with germ cell tumours (GCT) in children and adults.

Methods: Paediatric GCT samples were obtained from a Children's Oncology Group study and state biobank programs in California and Michigan (N = 1413 cases, 1220 biological parents and 1022 unrelated controls).

Patterns of Special Education Eligibility and Age of First Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Identification Among US Children with ASD.

The study examined timing of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) identification in education versus health settings for 8-year-old children with ASD identified through records-based surveillance. The study also examined type of ASD symptoms noted within special education evaluations. Results indicated that children with records from only education sources had a median time to identification of ASD over a year later than children with records from health sources.

Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 4 Years - Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2018.

Problem/condition: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Period Covered: 2018.

Description Of System: The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network is an active surveillance program that estimates ASD prevalence and monitors timing of ASD identification among children aged 4 and 8 years.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years - Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2018.

Problem/condition: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Period Covered: 2018.

Description Of System: The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network conducts active surveillance of ASD.

Cancer Informatics for Cancer Centers: Scientific Drivers for Informatics, Data Science, and Care in Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer.

Cancer Informatics for Cancer Centers (CI4CC) is a grassroots, nonprofit 501c3 organization intended to provide a focused national forum for engagement of senior cancer informatics leaders, primarily aimed at academic cancer centers anywhere in the world but with a special emphasis on the 70 National Cancer Institute-funded cancer centers. This consortium has regularly held topic-focused biannual face-to-face symposiums. These meetings are a place to review cancer informatics and data science priorities and initiatives, providing a forum for discussion of the strategic and pragmatic issues that we faced at our respective institutions and cancer centers.

Racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic survival disparities in adolescents and young adults with primary central nervous system tumors.

Background: Disparities in survival by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and geography in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors have not been well studied.

Procedure: A retrospective cohort study utilizing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was conducted for AYA patients diagnosed with primary CNS tumors. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) were calculated using a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model to evaluate the association between race/ethnicity, SES, rurality, and hazard of death.

Large Aerodigestive Tract Foreign Body Extraction Complicated by End-Stage Dementia.

A foreign body in the upper aerodigestive tract can be life-threatening. It is especially challenging for surgeons and anesthesiologists working in a limited shared workspace. A case is presented of an 83-year-old woman with end-stage dementia afflicted with oral fixation as defined as overeating or putting objects in the mouth other than food.

The association between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and myelodysplastic syndromes in the Adults in Minnesota with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (AIMMS) Study.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of blood disorders. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are associated with a chemopreventive effect in some cancers. We evaluated associations between NSAID use and MDS in a population-based case-control study.

Risk factors for de novo and therapy-related myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Purpose: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are classified as de novo and therapy-related (tMDS). We evaluated associations between MDS risk factors separately for de novo and tMDS.

Methods: The study population included 346 de novo MDS cases, 37 tMDS cases and 682 population controls frequency matched by age and sex.