Quality of Cancer Recurrence Data in the National Cancer Database: A Reappraisal of Reporting Readiness.

Background: This study evaluated the quality of cancer recurrence data in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to determine if missingness and reporting consistency have improved enough to support national research.

Methods: This multi-methods study included NCDB analyses and a cancer registry staff survey. Trends in recurrence data missingness from 2004 to 2021 and multivariable analyses of factors associated with missingness from 2017 to 2021 were evaluated for 4,568,927 patients with non-metastatic cancer.

Trends in Specialty Training and National Institutes of Health Funding Among Surgeon-Scientists.

Purpose: To determine if dual-degree training [ie, completion of a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded MD/PhD program], among other professional development and demographic variables, predicted academic productivity (eg, K-to-R conversion, number of publications, etc.) among early-career surgeon-scientists.

Methods: We analyzed publicly available data from the National MD/PhD Program Outcomes Study and the Association of American Medical Colleges Graduate Medical Education Track database to identify trends in the number and proportion of MD/PhD graduates pursuing surgical specialties.

American College of Surgeons Cancer Program Annual Report from 2021 Participant User File.

The National Cancer Database (NCDB) collects data from approximately 1,500 Commission on Cancer (CoC) facilities and represent 73.7% of newly diagnosed cancers nationwide. The American College of Surgeons Cancer Program developed it first annual report from the NCDB 2021 participant user file reporting new observations and recent trends of cancer diagnoses, patient demographics, and treatments as well as an in-depth report on treatment and outcomes in breast, pancreas, and colon cancers.

American College of Surgeons survival calculator for biliary tract cancers: using machine learning to individualize predictions.

Background: Although cancer prognosis is most commonly estimated by tumor stage, survival is multifactorial. Our objective was to develop an American College of Surgeons "Biliary Tract Cancer Survival Calculator" prototype using machine learning to generate personalized survival estimates based on patient, tumor, and treatment factors.

Methods: The National Cancer Database was used to identify all patients with biliary tract malignancies between 2010 and 2017 including intrahepatic bile duct, extrahepatic bile duct, and gallbladder cancers.

Association of commission on cancer accreditation with receipt of guideline-concordant care and survival among patients with colon cancer.

Background: Guideline-concordant care (GCC) is associated with improved survival for patients with cancer; however, variations in receipt of GCC remain a concern. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of Commission on Cancer (CoC) hospital accreditation status with receipt of GCC and survival among patients with colon cancer.

Methods: This retrospective observational study identified patients diagnosed with stage I-IV colon cancer from 2018 to 2020 from the National Program of Cancer Registries and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program Database.

Social Vulnerability and Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Care among Patients with Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Cancer outcome disparities have been reported in highly vulnerable communities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of social vulnerability with receipt of guideline-concordant care (GCC) and mortality risk for patients with colorectal cancer.

Study Design: This retrospective observational study identified patients with stage I to III colon or stage II to III rectal cancer between 2018 and 2020 from the National Program of Cancer Registries Database.

Hospital Accreditation Status and Treatment Differences Among Black Patients With Colon Cancer.

Importance: Hospital-level factors, such as hospital type or volume, have been demonstrated to play a role in treatment disparities for Black patients with cancer. However, data evaluating the association of hospital accreditation status with differences in treatment among Black patients with cancer are lacking.

Objective: To evaluate the association of Commission on Cancer (CoC) hospital accreditation status with receipt of guideline-concordant care and mortality among non-Hispanic Black patients with colon cancer.

An MITF- and mTOR-dependent FLCN pathway suppresses TFE3-driven metastasis in melanoma.

Cancer cells have remarkable plasticity allowing them to acquire many biological states. Melanoma cells have the ability to switch from a proliferative melanocytic state to an invasive mesenchymal state and back again resulting in intratumoral heterogeneity. While microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) promotes the melanocytic phenotype, it is unclear what transcription factors drive the mesenchymal phenotype, and what mechanisms regulate the switch from the proliferative state to the mesenchymal state.

For the Love of the Game: Calculating the Premium Associated With Academic Surgical Practice.

Objective: We sought to determine the premium associated with a career in academic surgery, as measured by compensation normalized to the work relative value unit (wRVU).

Background: An academic surgical career embodying innovation and mentorship offers intrinsic rewards but is not well monetized. We know compensation for academic surgeons is less than their nonacademic counterparts, but the value of clinical effort, as normalized to the wRVU, between academic and nonacademic surgeons has not been well characterized.

Active Gα Mutants Accelerate Breast Tumor Metastasis via the c-Src Pathway.

Constitutively active mutations in the Gα and Gα subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins have been found in various human cancers, including breast cancer, but their precise roles in tumor formation, progression, and metastasis remain poorly understood. This study focused on GαR243H and GαR179C mutants in breast cancer. These mutants alone were insufficient to initiate mammary tumor formation in mice.

ATA risk stratification in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma has low positive predictive value when identifying recurrence.

Background: Rising incidence of papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (PTMC) has raised concerns for overdiagnosis. Utility of the American Thyroid Association Risk Stratification System (ATA-RSS) 2015 in predicting risk of disease recurrence in patients with PTMC was assessed.

Methods: Electronic health records of patients who underwent total thyroidectomy were queried.

Epidemiology and survival outcomes of colorectal mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms and neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Background: Mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms are a rare subtype of neuroendocrine neoplasm consisting of ≥30% each of neuroendocrine and non-neuroendocrine differentiation. Neuroendocrine carcinomas are poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumors. The epidemiology and prognosis of colorectal mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms and neuroendocrine carcinomas are not clearly defined in the literature.

Contrasting roles of different mismatch repair proteins in basal-like breast cancer.

The mismatch repair (MMR) pathway is known as a tumor suppressive pathway and genes involved in MMR are commonly mutated in hereditary colorectal or other cancer types. However, the function of MMR genes/proteins in breast cancer progression and metastasis are largely unknown. We found that MSH2, but not MLH1, is highly enriched in basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) and that its protein expression is inversely correlated with overall survival time (OS).

Active Gαi/o mutants accelerate breast tumor metastasis via the c-Src pathway.

Constitutively active mutations in the Gα and Gα subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins have been identified in several human cancers including breast cancer, but their functional significance in tumorigenesis and metastasis has not been well characterized. In this study, we show that expression of the constitutively active GαR243H and GαR179C mutants alone was insufficient to induce mammary tumor formation in mice. However, in transgenic mouse models of breast cancer induced by Neu expression or PTEN loss, we found that the GαR179C mutant enhanced spontaneous lung metastasis while having no effect on primary tumor initiation and growth.

Analysis of the Understanding and Worry about Lymphedema of Patients with Breast Cancer.

Background: Lymphedema is a potential lifelong sequela of breast cancer treatment. We sought to: (1) evaluate the worry and knowledge of patients about lymphedema, (2) quantify patients reporting lymphedema education and screening, and (3) determine willingness to participate in lymphedema screening and prevention programs.

Patients And Methods: A survey evaluating lymphedema-related knowledge and worry was sent to patients treated for stage 0-III breast cancer.

Blocking Gi/o-Coupled Signaling Eradicates Cancer Stem Cells and Sensitizes Breast Tumors to HER2-Targeted Therapies to Inhibit Tumor Relapse.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation of cells within tumors that are resistant to anti-tumor therapies, making them a likely origin of tumor relapse after treatment. In many cancers including breast cancer, CSC function is regulated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), making GPCR signaling an attractive target for new therapies designed to eradicate CSCs. Yet, CSCs overexpress multiple GPCRs that are redundant in maintaining CSC function, so it is unclear how to target all the various GPCRs to prevent relapse.

The impact of KRAS mutation, microsatellite instability, and tumor laterality on the prognosis of nonmetastatic colon cancer.

Background: KRAS mutations, microsatellite instability, and tumor location have been found to be significant prognostic factors in colorectal cancer. The interaction between these variables and its effect on overall survival in nonmetastatic colon cancer has not been well elucidated.

Methods: The National Cancer Database (2010-2016) was queried for patients with stage I-III colon cancer and known microsatellite instability and KRAS status undergoing curative resection.

Expression of cancer stem cell markers in tall cell variant papillary thyroid cancer identifies a molecular profile predictive of recurrence in classic papillary thyroid cancer.

Background: Tall cell variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma is an aggressive subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma. We examined expression of cancer stem cell markers in tall cell variant compared with other well-differentiated thyroid cancers.

Methods: Expression of cancer stem cell markers was examined in 572 thyroid tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas Thyroid Cancer database and tall cell variant and papillary thyroid carcinoma tumors by immunohistochemistry.

Targeting Gi/o protein-coupled receptor signaling blocks HER2-induced breast cancer development and enhances HER2-targeted therapy.

GPCRs are highly desirable drug targets for human disease. Although GPCR dysfunction drives development and progression of many tumors, including breast cancer (BC), targeting individual GPCRs has limited efficacy as a cancer therapy because numerous GPCRs are activated. Here, we sought a new way of blocking GPCR activation in HER2+ BC by targeting a subgroup of GPCRs that couple to Gi/o proteins (Gi/o-GPCRs).

Risk management recommendations and patient acceptance vary with high-risk breast lesions.

Introduction: Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), atypical ductal and lobular hyperplasia (AH) increase breast cancer risk. We examined risk management recommendations (RMR) and acceptance in AH/LCIS.

Methods: All patients with AH/LCIS on core needle biopsy from 2013 to 2016 at our institution were identified; cancer patients were excluded.

Influence of endocrine multidisciplinary tumor board on patient management and treatment decision making.

Background: Multidisciplinary Tumor Boards (MDT) are used to obtain input regarding cancer management. This study assessed the impact of our institutional Endocrine MDT.

Methods: MDT notes on patients with thyroid cancer treated during 2012-2018 were abstracted retrospectively from the electronic medical record.

AP-2α-Mediated Activation of E2F and EZH2 Drives Melanoma Metastasis.

In melanoma metastasis, the role of the AP-2α transcription factor, which is encoded by , is controversial as some findings have suggested tumor suppressor activity while other studies have shown high expression in node-positive melanoma associated with poor prognosis. Here we demonstrate that AP-2α facilitates melanoma metastasis through transcriptional activation of genes within the E2F pathway including . A BioID screen found that AP-2α interacts with members of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex.

A Pilot Study of Preoperative Vandetanib on Markers of Proliferation and Apoptosis in Breast Cancer.

Introduction: Preclinical data supports antitumor activity of tyrosine kinase inhibitor vandetanib with Ret as the therapeutic target in breast cancer. We investigated the effect of preoperative vandetanib on markers of proliferation and apoptosis in breast cancer.

Methods: Patients with invasive breast cancer were randomly assigned vandetanib 300 mg or placebo PO daily for 2 weeks before operative resection from January 2014 to June 2017.