Lipid Alterations in African American Men with Prostate Cancer.

African-American (AA) men are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer (PCa) than European American (EA) men. Previous in silico analysis revealed enrichment of altered lipid metabolic pathways in pan-cancer AA tumors. Here, we performed global unbiased lipidomics profiling on 48 matched localized PCa and benign adjacent tissues (30 AA, 24 ancestry-verified, and 18 EA, 8 ancestry verified) and quantified 429 lipids belonging to 14 lipid classes.

Physician requirements for adoption of telehealth following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

It took the advent of SARS-CoV-2, a "black swan event", to widely introduce telehealth, remote care, and virtual house calls. Prior to the epidemic (2019), the American Medical Association (AMA) conducted a routine study to compare physicians' adoption of emerging technologies to a similar survey in 2016. Most notable was a doubling in the adoption of telehealth/virtual technology to 28% and increases in the use of remote monitoring and management for improved care (13-22%).

Race/Ethnic Variations in Predictors of Health Consciousness Within the Cancer Prevention Context.

Purpose: Although the literature establishes a link between health consciousness (HC) and prevention behavior, less explored are the individual, social, and health characteristics that are associated with increased HC. Similarly, underexamined is the influence of race and ethnicity on the relationship of these characteristics to higher levels of HC.

Design: This cross-sectional study aims to identify and assess the relative importance of factors associated with higher levels of HC, highlighting the role of race and ethnicity.

Provider- and Patient-Related Barriers to and Facilitators of Digital Health Technology Adoption for Hypertension Management: Scoping Review.

Background: The uptake of digital health technology (DHT) has been surprisingly low in clinical practice. Despite showing great promise to improve patient outcomes and disease management, there is limited information on the factors that contribute to the limited adoption of DHT, particularly for hypertension management.

Objective: This scoping review provides a comprehensive summary of barriers to and facilitators of DHT adoption for hypertension management reported in the published literature with a focus on provider- and patient-related barriers and facilitators.

Methionine-Homocysteine Pathway in African-American Prostate Cancer.

African American (AA) men have a 60% higher incidence and two times greater risk of dying of prostate cancer (PCa) than European American men, yet there is limited insight into the molecular mechanisms driving this difference. To our knowledge, metabolic alterations, a cancer-associated hallmark, have not been reported in AA PCa, despite their importance in tumor biology. Therefore, we measured 190 metabolites across ancestry-verified AA PCa/benign adjacent tissue pairs (n = 33 each) and identified alterations in the methionine-homocysteine pathway utilizing two-sided statistical tests for all comparisons.

The complex case of EHRs: examining the factors impacting the EHR user experience.

Physicians can spend more time completing administrative tasks in their electronic health record (EHR) than engaging in direct face time with patients. Increasing rates of burnout associated with EHR use necessitate improvements in how EHRs are developed and used. Although EHR design often bears the brunt of the blame for frustrations expressed by physicians, the EHR user experience is influenced by a variety of factors, including decisions made by entities other than the developers and end users, such as regulators, policymakers, and administrators.

Genetic Ancestry Analysis Reveals Misclassification of Commonly Used Cancer Cell Lines.

Background: Given the scarcity of cell lines from underrepresented populations, it is imperative that genetic ancestry for these cell lines is characterized. Consequences of cell line mischaracterization include squandered resources and publication retractions.

Methods: We calculated genetic ancestry proportions for 15 cell lines to assess the accuracy of previous race/ethnicity classification and determine previously unknown estimates.

Inhibition of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer.

The precise molecular alterations driving castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) are not clearly understood. Using a novel network-based integrative approach, here, we show distinct alterations in the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) to be critical for CRPC. Expression of HBP enzyme glucosamine-phosphate N-acetyltransferase 1 (GNPNAT1) is found to be significantly decreased in CRPC compared with localized prostate cancer (PCa).

Metabolomic profiling of hormone-dependent cancers: a bird's eye view.

Hormone-dependent cancers present a significant public health challenge, because they are among the most common cancers in the world. One factor associated with cancer development and progression is metabolic reprogramming. By understanding these alterations, we can identify potential markers and novel biochemical therapeutic targets.

Cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus cytome assay and spectral karyotyping as methods for identifying chromosome damage in a lung cancer case-control population.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer-related deaths in the US. The need to develop more accurate cancer risk assessment tools is imperative to improve the ability to identify individuals at greatest risk of developing disease. The Cytokinesis-Blocked Micronucleus Cytome Assay (CBMNcyt) presents a sensitive and specific method of assessing DNA damage.

Plasma leptin levels, LEPR Q223R polymorphism and mammographic breast density: a cross-sectional study.

Obesity is associated with breast cancer in post-menopausal women, and breast density is a marker of breast cancer risk. Leptin is produced by the adipose tissue, acts through receptors that are polymorphic in nature, and is considered a cancer growth factor. The relationship between body mass index, leptin, leptin receptors and breast density is not well studied.

Association study of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes identifies a novel lung cancer susceptibility locus near CHRNA1 in African-Americans.

Studies in European and East Asian populations have identified lung cancer susceptibility loci in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) genes on chromosome 15q25.1 which also appear to influence smoking behaviors. We sought to determine if genetic variation in nAChR genes influences lung cancer susceptibly in African-Americans, and evaluated the association of these cancer susceptibility loci with smoking behavior.

Fine-mapping of the 5p15.33, 6p22.1-p21.31, and 15q25.1 regions identifies functional and histology-specific lung cancer susceptibility loci in African-Americans.

Background: Genome-wide association studies of European and East Asian populations have identified lung cancer susceptibility loci on chromosomes 5p15.33, 6p22.1-p21.

Views of young, rural African Americans of the role of community social institutions in HIV prevention.

Background: We explored rural African American youths' perceptions about the role of community social institutions in addressing HIV.

Methods: We conducted four focus groups with African Americans aged 16 to 24 years in two rural counties in North Carolina. Groups were stratified by gender and risk status.

Urinary estrogen metabolites in women at high risk for breast cancer.

Objective: This study explored whether average urinary estrogen metabolites in breast cancer high-risk women can be used to identify a subgroup of women at particularly high risk to develop breast cancer, to which prevention strategies should be addressed.

Methods: The population consisted of 77 high-risk women, 30 breast cancer patients and 41 controls. All subjects answered a standardized questionnaire; height and weight and spot urine samples were also obtained.