What role does wealth play in the racial health gap in the United States? Examining differences among African Americans, Latinos, and non-Hispanic Whites.

Wealth resources has received little attention when studying how socioeconomic status shapes health outcomes. In the United States (USA), there is a growing body of evidence acknowledging a widening racial/ethnic wealth gap. However, little is known about wealth's role in shaping health inequity.

Mining nucleic acid "omics" to boost liquid biopsy in cancer.

Treatments for cancer patients are becoming increasingly complex, and there is a growing desire from clinicians and patients for biomarkers that can account for this complexity to support informed decisions about clinical care. To achieve precision medicine, the new generation of biomarkers must reflect the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of cancer biology both between patients and within an individual patient. Mining the different layers of 'omics in a multi-modal way from a minimally invasive, easily repeatable, liquid biopsy has increasing potential in a range of clinical applications, and for improving our understanding of treatment response and resistance.

Cell-free and extrachromosomal DNA profiling of small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is highly aggressive with poor prognosis. Despite a relative prevalence of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in SCLC, liquid biopsies are not currently implemented, unlike non-SCLC where cell-free DNA (cfDNA) mutation profiling in the blood has utility for guiding targeted therapies and assessing minimal residual disease. cfDNA methylation profiling is highly sensitive for SCLC detection and holds promise for disease monitoring and molecular subtyping; cfDNA fragmentation profiling has also demonstrated clinical potential.

Socioeconomic differences and global trends in youth wellbeing and emotional distress in 165 countries and territories.

Social stratifications in youth wellbeing are a concern for social policy. Using data from the Gallup World Poll (2009-2022), we examined time trends and income differences in youth wellbeing and their associations with area-level income and income inequality. Results showed that a growing proportion of youth have experienced emotional distress in recent years, and this trend disproportionately affected youth at lower incomes.

A cfDNA methylation-based tissue-of-origin classifier for cancers of unknown primary.

Cancers of Unknown Primary (CUP) remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to biological heterogeneity and poor responses to standard chemotherapy. Predicting tissue-of-origin (TOO) molecularly could help refine this diagnosis, with tissue acquisition barriers mitigated via liquid biopsies. However, TOO liquid biopsies are unexplored in CUP cohorts.

Treatment Response Biomarkers: Working Toward Personalized Radiotherapy for Lung Cancer.

Owing to major advances in the field of radiation oncology, patients with lung cancer can now receive technically individualized radiotherapy treatments. Nevertheless, in the era of precision oncology, radiotherapy-based treatment selection needs to be improved as many patients do not benefit or are not offered optimum therapies. Cost-effective robust biomarkers can address this knowledge gap and lead to individuals being offered more bespoke treatments leading to improved outcome.

Multi-Maintenance Olaparib Therapy in Relapsed, Germline BRCA1/2-Mutant High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (MOLTO): A Phase II Trial.

Purpose: A single maintenance course of a PARP inhibitor (PARPi) improves progression-free survival (PFS) in germline BRCA1/2-mutant high-grade serous ovarian cancer (gBRCAm-HGSOC). The feasibility of a second maintenance course of PARPi was unknown.

Patients And Methods: Phase II trial with two entry points (EP1, EP2).

Hemangiopericytoma/Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Parietal Bone: A Case Report.

Hemangiopericytoma/solitary fibrous tumor (HPC/STF) is a rare tumor arising from Zimmerman's pericytes and it is characterized by an aggressive malignancy, with a high tendency for local and distant recurrence. The authors report the case of a middle-aged woman with HPC/SFT of the right parietal bone, which is an extremely rare primary location of involvement. The patient presented with a painful deformity of insidious growth at the right parietal region.

How is Consumer Financial Capability Measured?

The research literature on the growing field of consumer financial capability displays a wide diversity of understanding about the meaning and measurement of the concept. While sufficient research literature has been produced for a review of measurement domains and indicators, this work remains undone. The aim of the study is to assess the quantitative peer-reviewed research literature to advance the field toward building an evidence base for financial capability interventions and policies to improve family financial well-being and reduce economic inequality.

Introduction to the Special Issue on "Financial Capability and Asset Building for Family Financial Wellbeing".

The papers in this issue emerged from a 2020 social work academic conference focused on financial capability and asset building (FCAB) research. This introduction provides an overview of the challenging financial and economic realities for U.S.

cfDNA methylome profiling for detection and subtyping of small cell lung cancers.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by morphologic, epigenetic and transcriptomic heterogeneity. Subtypes based upon predominant transcription factor expression have been defined that, in mouse models and cell lines, exhibit potential differential therapeutic vulnerabilities, with epigenetically distinct SCLC subtypes also described. The clinical relevance of these subtypes is unclear, due in part to challenges in obtaining tumor biopsies for reliable profiling.

Circulating tumour DNA - looking beyond the blood.

Over the past decade, various liquid biopsy techniques have emerged as viable alternatives to the analysis of traditional tissue biopsy samples. Such surrogate 'biopsies' offer numerous advantages, including the relative ease of obtaining serial samples and overcoming the issues of interpreting one or more small tissue samples that might not reflect the entire tumour burden. To date, the majority of research in the area of liquid biopsies has focused on blood-based biomarkers, predominantly using plasma-derived circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA).

Circulating Tumour DNA in Melanoma-Clinic Ready?

Purpose Of Review: Liquid biopsies, including circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), can inform a variety of clinical questions. This review examines the potential role of ctDNA as a clinical tool to inform clinical decision-making from early to late stage cutaneous melanoma.

Recent Findings: In pre-clinical studies, ctDNA has been shown to detect minimal residual disease and molecular relapse; predict and monitor response to therapy; and identify key resistance mechanisms.

Expanding Therapeutic Opportunities for Extrapulmonary Neuroendocrine Carcinoma.

Poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (PD-NEC) are rare cancers garnering interest as they become more commonly encountered in the clinic. This is due to improved diagnostic methods and the increasingly observed phenomenon of "NE lineage plasticity," whereby nonneuroendocrine (non-NE) epithelial cancers transition to aggressive NE phenotypes after targeted treatment. Effective treatment options for patients with PD-NEC are challenging for several reasons.

Early Dissemination of Circulating Tumor Cells: Biological and Clinical Insights.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) play a causal role in the development of metastasis, the major cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. In the past decade, the development of powerful cellular and molecular technologies has led to a better understanding of the molecular characteristics and timing of dissemination of CTCs during cancer progression. For instance, genotypic and phenotypic characterization of CTCs, at the single cell level, has shown that CTCs are heterogenous, disseminate early and could represent only a minor subpopulation of the primary tumor responsible for disease relapse.

Income trajectories of families raising a child with a neurodisability.

Purpose: To examine household income trajectories of children with and without neurodisability over a period of 6 years.

Method: We used four cycles of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, a longitudinal study of the development and well-being of Canadian children from birth into adulthood.

Results: While household income increased over time for both groups, families of children with neurodisability had consistently lower household income compared to families of children without neurodisability even after controlling for child and family socio-demographic characteristics.

The biomolecule corona of lipid nanoparticles contains circulating cell-free DNA.

The spontaneous adsorption of biomolecules onto the surface of nanoparticles (NPs) in complex physiological biofluids has been widely investigated over the last decade. Characterisation of the protein composition of the 'biomolecule corona' has dominated research efforts, whereas other classes of biomolecules, such as nucleic acids, have received no interest. Scarce, speculative statements exist in the literature about the presence of nucleic acids in the biomolecule corona, with no previous studies attempting to describe the contribution of genomic content to the blood-derived NP corona.

Technical Evaluation of Commercial Mutation Analysis Platforms and Reference Materials for Liquid Biopsy Profiling.

Molecular profiling from liquid biopsy, in particular cell-free DNA (cfDNA), represents an attractive alternative to tissue biopsies for the detection of actionable targets and tumor monitoring. In addition to PCR-based assays, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based cfDNA assays are now commercially available and are being increasingly adopted in clinical practice. However, the validity of these products as well as the clinical utility of cfDNA in the management of patients with cancer has yet to be proven.

Publisher Correction: Pulmonary venous circulating tumor cell dissemination before tumor resection and disease relapse.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Liquid Biopsy-Based Biomarkers of Treatment Response and Resistance.

Predictive biomarkers aid selection of personalized therapy targeted to molecular alterations within an individual's tumor. Patients' responses to targeted therapies are commonly followed by treatment resistance. Here, we survey liquid biopsies as alternatives to tumor biopsies to assess predictive and therapy response biomarkers.

A clinically applicable tool for rapidly estimating muscle volume using ultrasound images.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify a safe, rapid, and accessible method of estimating muscle volume of key lower limb muscle groups to reduce the time-demand of acquiring this measurement and potentially facilitate its application as a clinical monitoring tool.

Methods: Unilateral MRI images were acquired from the 12th thoracic vertebrae to the base of the foot in 18 recreationally active males. Panoramic B-mode ultrasound images were acquired from the same leg at the mid-hip, 25%, 50%, and 75% of thigh length, and 25% of shank length.

Profiling of Circulating Free DNA Using Targeted and Genome-wide Sequencing in Patients with SCLC.

Introduction: SCLC accounts for approximately 250,000 deaths worldwide each year. Acquisition of adequate tumor biopsy samples is challenging, and liquid biopsies present an alternative option for patient stratification and response monitoring.

Methods: We applied whole genome next-generation sequencing to circulating free DNA (cfDNA) from 39 patients with limited-stage (LS) SCLC and 30 patients with extensive-stage SCLC to establish genome-wide copy number aberrations and also performed targeted mutation analysis of 110 SCLC associated genes.