Publications by authors named "Therese Bevers"

Background: A breath test for volatile organic compounds has identified biomarkers associated with breast cancer. We evaluated the potential clinical and economic benefits of a breath test to detect women at low risk for breast cancer by comparing its negative predictive value (NPV) to the NPV of screening mammography.

Methods: Sensitivity and specificity values for screening mammography were obtained from the Food & Drug Administration Mammography Quality Standards Act; Amendments to Part 900 Regulations Docket No.

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Previous studies have reported volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breath as biomarkers of breast cancer. These biomarkers may be derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts, in which oxidative stress degrades polyunsaturated fatty acids to volatile alkanes and methylated alkane derivatives that are excreted in the breath. We evaluated a rapid point-of-care test for breath VOC biomarkers as predictors of breast cancer and abnormal mammograms.

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Deep learning-based mammographic evaluations could noninvasively assess response to breast cancer chemoprevention. We evaluated change in a convolutional neural network-based breast cancer risk model applied to mammograms among women enrolled in SWOG S0812, which randomly assigned 208 premenopausal high-risk women to receive oral vitamin D3 20 000 IU weekly or placebo for 12 months. We applied the convolutional neural network model to mammograms collected at baseline (n = 109), 12 months (n = 97), and 24 months (n = 67) and compared changes in convolutional neural network-based risk score between treatment groups.

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Purpose: The Normal Risk Ovarian Screening Study (NROSS) tested a two-stage screening strategy in postmenopausal women at conventional hereditary risk where significantly rising cancer antigen (CA)-125 prompted transvaginal sonography (TVS) and abnormal TVS prompted surgery to detect ovarian cancer.

Methods: A total of 7,856 healthy postmenopausal women were screened annually for a total of 50,596 woman-years in a single-arm study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00539162).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate surgical and clinical outcomes for patients diagnosed with lobular neoplasia (LN) via MRI biopsy, specifically looking at the rate of upgrades to malignancy and associated characteristics.
  • A retrospective analysis was conducted on 94 patients from 2013 to 2022, with the findings showing a low upgrade rate of 7.4% for those treated with excision or surveillance.
  • The results suggest that surgery may not be necessary for all patients with MRI-detected LN, highlighting the need for shared decision-making and further research to identify predictive factors for upgrade risk.
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Background: To evaluate the efficacy of Cobas human papillomavirus (HPV) testing to predict cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or higher (CIN2+), Cobas HPV testing results were correlated with follow-up biopsy in patients from Cancer Prevention Center (CPC) and Gynecologic Oncology Clinic (GOC) of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Methods: Institutional data for patients who underwent Cobas HPV and Papanicolaou (Pap) cytology cotesting from 2019 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Surgical follow-up results were compared with Cobas HPV testing results in two populations.

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Objectives: Little research exists on how risk scores are used in counselling. We examined (a) how Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (BCRAT) scores are presented during counselling; (b) how women react and (c) discuss them afterwards.

Design: Consultations were video-recorded and participants were interviewed after the consultation as part of the NRG Oncology/National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Decision-Making Project 1 (NSABP DMP-1).

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Objective: To compare flat epithelial atypia (FEA) upgrade rates after excision versus surveillance and to identify variables associated with upgrade.

Methods: This single-institution retrospective study identified isolated FEA cases determined by percutaneous biopsy from April 2005 through July 2022 with excision or ≥2 years surveillance. All cases were recommended for excision or surveillance based on multidisciplinary discussion of clinical, imaging, and pathologic variables with emphasis on sampling adequacy and significant atypia.

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Article Synopsis
  • The NCCN Guidelines offer healthcare providers a standardized approach for screening and diagnosing breast cancer, covering various clinical situations and types of breast lesions.
  • The guidelines are created by a diverse panel of experts from different medical fields, ensuring comprehensive insights and recommendations.
  • The panel meets yearly to assess new data and feedback, allowing them to update screening recommendations based on the latest findings and discussions.
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Objective: Many cancer survivors do not meet recommended levels of exercise, despite the benefits physical activity offers. This study aimed to understand experiences of insufficiently active overweight/obese breast or colorectal cancer survivors, in efforts to (1) examine regular physical activity barriers, and (2) determine perceptions and acceptability of a remotely delivered physical activity intervention utilizing wearable sensors and personalized feedback messages.

Methods: In-person and virtual small group interviews were conducted engaging overweight/obese cancer survivors ( = 16, 94% female, 94% breast cancer survivors) in discussions resulting in 314 pages of transcribed data analyzed by multiple coders.

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Background: Deleterious BRCA mutations confer a significant lifetime risk of breast cancer (BC) as well as contralateral BC (CBC) in patients who do not undergo prophylactic mastectomy. Prior reports have suggested that tamoxifen reduces the risk of CBC in BRCA mutation carriers. Whether aromatase inhibitors (AI) have the same effect is unknown.

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Rationale And Objective: To determine the diagnostic yield of various imaging tests used to evaluate nipple discharge.

Materials And Methods: A single institution, IRB-approved, retrospective study was performed of 320 consecutive patients presenting with nipple discharge. Imaging and pathology were reviewed to determine the yield for malignancy, atypical high-risk lesions (HRLs), and intraductal papillomas (IDPs).

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Background: Immunosenescence is described as age-associated changes within the immune system that are responsible for decreased immunity and increased cancer risk. Physically active individuals have fewer 'senescent' and more naïve T-cells compared to their sedentary counterparts, but it is not known if exercise training can rejuvenate 'older looking' T-cell profiles. We determined the effects of 12-weeks supervised exercise training on the frequency of T-cell subtypes in peripheral blood and their relationships with circulating levels of the muscle-derived cytokines (i.

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Background: Conflicting breast cancer screening recommendations have the potential to diminish informed decision making about screening.

Objective: We examined the knowledge, attitudes, and intentions related to divergent recommendations for breast cancer screening among racially/ethnically diverse women.

Design: We used a multimethod study design employing focus groups and questionnaires.

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Objective: To review breast cancer incidence in women with ADH diagnosed by CNB and managed nonoperatively.

Background: ADH found on CNB is associated with an upgrade to carcinoma in 10%-50% of women, thus surgical excision remains the standard of care. Safety of nonoperative management is unknown.

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Proper management of symptomatic textured implant patients is critical to identify and treat associated oncologic disease. Textured surface breast implants were first introduced more than 50 years ago in an effort to decrease high rates of capsular contracture and implant malposition observed with first-generation smooth surface breast implants. Textured implants were dominant over smooth devices in the United States in the late 1990s, but they fell out of favor for newer-generation smooth implants, while texture remained the dominant selling implants worldwide until recently.

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Purpose: Preclinical evidence suggests that natural killer cell (NK-cell) function and myokines facilitate the protective effects of exercise for breast cancer prevention. Since higher-intensity exercise acutely promotes greater mobilization and larger changes in NK-cell cytotoxicity than lower-intensity, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) might offer increased immune protection compared to moderate-intensity continuous-training (MICT). This study compared a 12-week HIIT program to a 12-week MICT program and usual care on changes in resting NK-cell function and circulating myokines among women at high risk for breast cancer.

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Purpose: Low-dose tamoxifen reduces breast cancer risk, but remains untested in chest-irradiated cancer survivors-a population with breast cancer risk comparable with mutation carriers. We hypothesized that low-dose tamoxifen would be safe and efficacious in reducing radiation-related breast cancer risk.

Patients And Methods: We conducted an investigator-initiated, randomized, phase IIb, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial (FDA IND107367) between 2010 and 2016 at 15 U.

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In preclinical studies, celecoxib has been associated with reduced risk of breast cancer. In this study, the aim was to assess the biomodulatory effect of celecoxib on blood and benign breast tissue biomarkers in women at increased risk for breast cancer. Women at increased risk for breast cancer [5-year Gail risk score of >1.

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Objective Or Purpose Of Study: The objective of this retrospective study was to determine the frequency of positive findings on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with palpable breast abnormalities in the setting of negative mammographic and sonographic evaluations.

Materials, Methods, And Procedures: Consecutive patients undergoing breast MRI for palpable abnormalities from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2015 were identified for this retrospective study. Those with preceding imaging (mammograms or ultrasounds) demonstrating positive findings related to the palpable abnormalities were excluded.

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Background: Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with a lower risk of several types of cancers. However, two-thirds of overweight/obese adults are not sufficiently active; this, in combination with the unfavorable effect of excess body weight, puts them at a greater risk for cancer. One reason that these individuals do not engage in enough PA may be their lack of motivation to change their current behavior due to the perception of putting in effort for possible future gain without obvious short-term benefits.

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Importance: Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography lowers lung cancer mortality but has potential harms. Current guidelines support patients receiving information about the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening during decision-making.

Objective: To examine the effect of a patient decision aid (PDA) about lung cancer screening compared with a standard educational material (EDU) on decision-making outcomes among smokers.

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Clinical guidelines endorse either a 30 or 20 pack-year smoking history threshold when determining eligibility for lung cancer screening (LCS). However, self-reported smoking history is subject to recall bias that can affect patient eligibility. We examined the reliability of smokers' self-reported tobacco use and its impact on eligibility for LCS.

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Enhanced visual effects, like animation, have the potential to improve comprehension of probabilistic risk information, particularly for those with lower health literacy. We tested the effect of presentation format on comprehension of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening probabilities to identify optimal risk communication strategies. Participants from a community foodbank and a cancer prevention center were randomized to 1 of 3 CRC screening risk presentations.

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