Primary thyroid lymphoma: A multi-center retrospective review.

Background: Primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) is rare and diagnosis is challenging.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study of patients with PTL from 1990 to 2023 to determine method of diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.

Results: The study cohort included 31 patients with PTL; all had thyroid enlargement; 21 (68 ​%) had compressive symptoms, 11 (35 ​%) had hypothyroidism and 3 had (10 ​%) B symptoms.

Bilateral exploration in primary hyperparathyroidism: Double adenoma distribution and biochemical patterns over two decades.

Background: We investigated if anatomic patterns of abnormal parathyroid glands have ch anged for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) as atypical biochemical presentation (normohormonal and normocalcemic) has increased.

Methods: Retrospective review of patients with pHPT who underwent routine bilateral neck exploration.

Results: 2762 patients were included.

EUS-guided management of anastomotic stricture: A case report.

Introduction And Importance: Anastomotic stenosis after low anterior resection is a serious complication and at times even requires surgical revision of the anastomosis.

Case Presentation And Clinical Discussion: The patient presented with a 4.0 cm tubulovillous adenoma of the proximal rectum and underwent low anterior resection with loop ileostomy and subsequent reversal.

Case report: multiple gastrointestinal stroma tumors in the background of neurofibromatosis type 1.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract. GISTs can occur in the background of neurofibromatosis 1 (NF-1), where chemotherapeutic treatment is not optimal and surgical intervention is the only management option. In this case report, we present a case involving a 61-year-old gentleman with NF-1.

An improved method of delivering a sclerosing agent for the treatment of malignant pleural effusion.

Background: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a devastating sequela associated with cancer. Talc pleurodesis is a common treatment strategy for MPE but has been estimated to be unsuccessful in up to 20-50% of patients. Clinical failure of talc pleurodesis is thought to be due to poor dispersion.

Circulating tumor cell and cell-free RNA capture and expression analysis identify platelet-associated genes in metastatic lung cancer.

Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) and plasma cell-free RNA (cfRNA) can serve as biomarkers for prognosis and treatment response in lung cancer. One barrier to the selected or routine use of CTCs and plasma cfRNA in precision oncology is the limited quantity of both, and CTCs are only seen in metastatic disease. As capture of CTCs and plasma cfRNA presents an opportunity to monitor and assess malignancies without invasive procedures, we compared two methods for CTC capture and identification, and profiled mRNA from CTCs and plasma cfRNA to identify potential tumor-associated biomarkers.

Case report: reinitiating pembrolizumab treatment after small bowel perforation.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have emerged as paradigm shifting treatment options for a number of cancers. Six antibodies targeting the immune checkpoint proteins programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA4) have been approved. In some cases, response rates have been impressive, but not uniformly so and not consistently; similarly, toxicity to this class of therapeutic is often unpredictable and can be life threatening.

Molecular mechanisms of the preventable causes of cancer in the United States.

Annually, there are 1.6 million new cases of cancer and nearly 600,000 cancer deaths in the United States alone. The public health burden associated with these numbers has motivated enormous research efforts into understanding the root causes of cancer.

Rare antibody-associated hemolytic transfusion reaction and transfusion-related acute lung injury: a case report.

Background: Hemolytic transfusion reactions and transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) are life-threatening complications associated with the transfusion of blood products. Hemorrhage is one of the most common surgical complications and the risk of bleeding is particularly acute in patients with hematologic deficiencies. Management of surgical bleeding can be divided into two phases.

Identification of evolutionarily conserved DNA damage response genes that alter sensitivity to cisplatin.

Ovarian, head and neck, and other cancers are commonly treated with cisplatin and other DNA damaging cytotoxic agents. Altered DNA damage response (DDR) contributes to resistance of these tumors to chemotherapies, some targeted therapies, and radiation. DDR involves multiple protein complexes and signaling pathways, some of which are evolutionarily ancient and involve protein orthologs conserved from yeast to humans.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Ambiguous human papillomavirus status, elevated p16, and deleted retinoblastoma 1.

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is potentially curable, but treatment planning remains a challenge. Oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive disease is often associated with a good prognosis compared with HPV-negative disease. However, some HPV-positive HNSCC recurs, often with distant metastases and significant treatment resistance.

EGFR and RB1 as Dual Biomarkers in HPV-Negative Head and Neck Cancer.

Clinical decision making for human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is predominantly guided by disease stage and anatomic location, with few validated biomarkers. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an important therapeutic target, but its value in guiding therapeutic decision making remains ambiguous. We integrated analysis of clinically annotated tissue microarrays with analysis of data available through the TCGA, to investigate the idea that expression signatures involving EGFR, proteins regulating EGFR function, and core cell-cycle modulators might serve as prognostic or drug response-predictive biomarkers.

Anti-Müllerian Hormone Signaling Regulates Epithelial Plasticity and Chemoresistance in Lung Cancer.

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and its type II receptor AMHR2, both previously thought to primarily function in gonadal tissue, were unexpectedly identified as potent regulators of transforming growth factor (TGF-β)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in lung cancer. AMH is a TGF-β/BMP superfamily member, and AMHR2 heterodimerizes with type I receptors (ALK2, ALK3) also used by the type II receptor for BMP (BMPR2). AMH signaling regulates expression of BMPR2, ALK2, and ALK3, supports protein kinase B-nuclear factor κB (AKT-NF-κB) and SMAD survival signaling, and influences BMP-dependent signaling in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Musashi-2 (MSI2) supports TGF-β signaling and inhibits claudins to promote non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) metastasis.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a 5-y survival rate of ∼16%, with most deaths associated with uncontrolled metastasis. We screened for stem cell identity-related genes preferentially expressed in a panel of cell lines with high versus low metastatic potential, derived from NSCLC tumors of Kras(LA1/+);P53(R172HΔG/+) (KP) mice. The Musashi-2 (MSI2) protein, a regulator of mRNA translation, was consistently elevated in metastasis-competent cell lines.

Genomic insights into head and neck cancer.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and is frequently impervious to curative treatment efforts. Similar to other cancers associated with prolonged exposure to carcinogens, HNSCCs often have a high burden of mutations, contributing to substantial inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity. The heterogeneity of this malignancy is further increased by the rising rate of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated (HPV+) HNSCC, which defines an etiological subtype significantly different from the more common tobacco and alcohol associated HPV-negative (HPV-) HNSCC.

Phospho-T356RB1 predicts survival in HPV-negative squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) that is not associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) has a poor prognosis in contrast to HPV-positive disease. To better understand the importance of RB1 activity in HPV-negative SCCHN, we investigated the prognostic value of inhibitory CDK4/6 phosphorylation of RB1 on threonine 356 (T356) in archival HPV-negative tumor specimens from patients who underwent surgical resection and adjuvant radiation. We benchmarked pT356RB1 to total RB1, Ki67, pT202/Y204ERK1/2, and TP53, as quantified by automatic quantitative analysis (AQUA), and correlated protein expression with tumor stage and grade.

Adaptors for disorders of the brain? The cancer signaling proteins NEDD9, CASS4, and PTK2B in Alzheimer's disease.

No treatment strategies effectively limit the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a common and debilitating neurodegenerative disorder. The absence of viable treatment options reflects the fact that the pathophysiology and genotypic causes of the disease are not well understood. The advent of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has made it possible to broadly investigate genotypic alterations driving phenotypic occurrences.

Non-transpeptidase binding arylthioether β-lactams active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Moraxella catarrhalis.

The prevalence of drug resistance in both clinical and community settings as a consequence of alterations of biosynthetic pathways, enzymes or cell wall architecture is a persistent threat to human health. We have designed, synthesized, and tested a novel class of non-transpeptidase, β-lactamase resistant monocyclic β-lactams that carry an arylthio group at C4. These thioethers exhibit inhibitory and cidal activity against serine β-lactamase producing Mycobacterium tuberculosis wild type strain (Mtb) and multiple (n=8) β-lactamase producing Moraxella catarrhalis clinical isolates.

Bioinformatic approaches to augment study of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in lung cancer.

Bioinformatic approaches are intended to provide systems level insight into the complex biological processes that underlie serious diseases such as cancer. In this review we describe current bioinformatic resources, and illustrate how they have been used to study a clinically important example: epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and is often diagnosed at advanced stages, leading to limited therapeutic success.

Integrating in silico resources to map a signaling network.

The abundance of publicly available life science databases offers a wealth of information that can support interpretation of experimentally derived data and greatly enhance hypothesis generation. Protein interaction and functional networks are not simply new renditions of existing data: they provide the opportunity to gain insights into the specific physical and functional role a protein plays as part of the biological system. In this chapter, we describe different in silico tools that can quickly and conveniently retrieve data from existing data repositories and we discuss how the available tools are best utilized for different purposes.

C4-alkylthiols with activity against Moraxella catarrhalis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Antimicrobial resistance represents a global threat to healthcare. The ability to adequately treat infectious diseases is increasingly under siege due to the emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms. New approaches to drug development are especially needed to target organisms that exhibit broad antibiotic resistance due to expression of β-lactamases which is the most common mechanism by which bacteria become resistant to β-lactam antibiotics.