A qualitative study of ovarian cancer survivors' perceptions of endpoints and goals of care.

Objectives: A survey of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance revealed a communication gap between physicians and survivors. This qualitative study explored the space between perceptions in hopes of better defining treatment endpoints meaningful to treating physicians and their patients.

Methods: A focus group of ovarian cancer survivors (n=22) was assembled via the survivor support network SHARE.

Multi-scale in vivo systems analysis reveals the influence of immune cells on TNF-α-induced apoptosis in the intestinal epithelium.

Intestinal epithelial cells exist within a complex environment that affects how they interpret and respond to stimuli. We have applied a multi-scale in vivo systems approach to understand how intestinal immune cells communicate with epithelial cells to regulate responses to inflammatory signals. Multivariate modeling analysis of a large dataset composed of phospho-signals, cytokines, and immune cell populations within the intestine revealed an intimate relationship between immune cells and the epithelial response to TNF-α.

In vivo systems analysis identifies spatial and temporal aspects of the modulation of TNF-α-induced apoptosis and proliferation by MAPKs.

Cellular responses to external stimuli depend on dynamic features of multipathway network signaling; thus, cell behavior is influenced in a complex manner by the environment and by intrinsic properties. Methods of multivariate systems analysis have provided an understanding of these convoluted effects, but only for relatively simplified examples in vitro. To determine whether such approaches could be successfully used in vivo, we analyzed the signaling network that determines the response of intestinal epithelial cells to tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).