Publications by authors named "Richelle N DeBlasio"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examined how oncologists were involved in a nurse-led palliative care intervention for patients with advanced cancer, emphasizing the importance of communication within the care team.
  • Out of 336 patients, a significant majority (88%) had at least one visit where their oncologist was informed about their care plan, showing that the oncologists were generally aware of the intervention.
  • Despite the awareness, oncologists were rarely engaged in the intervention process, suggesting that future palliative care models should focus on improving communication and collaboration among healthcare providers.
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Ample evidence indicates that the gut microbiome is a tumor-extrinsic factor associated with antitumor response to anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) therapy, but inconsistencies exist between published microbial signatures associated with clinical outcomes. To resolve this, we evaluated a new melanoma cohort, along with four published datasets. Time-to-event analysis showed that baseline microbiota composition was optimally associated with clinical outcome at approximately 1 year after initiation of treatment.

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Background: Racial/ethnic minorities face known disparities in likelihood of kidney transplantation. These disparities may be exacerbated when coupled with ongoing substance use, a factor also reducing likelihood of transplantation. We examined whether race/ethnicity in combination with ongoing substance use predicted incidence of transplantation.

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Anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy provides long-term clinical benefits to patients with advanced melanoma. The composition of the gut microbiota correlates with anti-PD-1 efficacy in preclinical models and cancer patients. To investigate whether resistance to anti-PD-1 can be overcome by changing the gut microbiota, this clinical trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of responder-derived fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) together with anti-PD-1 in patients with PD-1-refractory melanoma.

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