Publications by authors named "Vera Qu"

Background: Hope is correlated with quality of life and overall survivorship among patients with cancer. We aimed to identify sociodemographic and clinical determinants of hope among patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancer.

Methods: Patients with GI cancer seen in radiation oncology between 10/2022 and 6/2023 were surveyed with the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) questionnaire, which assesses hope based on goal-setting and goal-striving beliefs.

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Purpose: Newer-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor () mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase () rearrangements have demonstrated high CNS activity. The optimal use of up-front stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for brain metastases (BM) in patients eligible for CNS-penetrant TKIs is controversial, and data to guide patient management are limited.

Materials And Methods: Data on TKI-naïve patients with EGFR- and ALK-driven NSCLC with BM treated with CNS-penetrant TKIs with and without up-front SRS were retrospectively collected from seven academic centers in the United States.

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Purpose: The health care sector is a major contributor of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Indirect emissions, including those associated with transportation, make up 82% of the US health care sector's environmental footprint. Radiation therapy (RT) treatment regimens present an opportunity for environmental health care-based stewardship owing to the high incidence of cancer diagnosis, significant utilization of RT, and myriad treatment days required for curative regimens.

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Purpose: Recruitment to radiation oncology training programs has recently declined, and gender inequities persist in radiation oncology. Policies that promote inclusivity, such as the updated American College of Graduate Medical Education parental leave policy establishing minimum parental leave requirements, may support recruitment to radiation oncology.

Methods And Materials: We surveyed 2021-2022 radiation oncology residency applicants and program directors (PDs) about program-specific parental leave policies, transparency of parental leave information during the residency application and interview process, and perceptions of the effect of parenthood on residency training, career advancement, and well-being.

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Purpose: Artificial intelligence-based tools can be leveraged to improve detection and segmentation of brain metastases for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). VBrain by Vysioneer Inc. is a deep learning algorithm with recent FDA clearance to assist in brain tumor contouring.

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Purpose: Radiation therapy (RT) refusal by patients with cancer is infrequent but is significant because it portends poor outcomes. No prior study has evaluated all five federally defined racial categories with respects to RT refusal. Here we use a large nationally representative population with cancer to determine: 1) which race of patients refuse RT the most and 2) predictive factors for RT refusal by race.

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Purpose: Although osimertinib has excellent intracranial activity in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with exon 19 deletion or L858R EGFR alterations, measures of local control of brain metastases are less well-reported. We describe lesion-level outcomes of brain metastases treated with osimertinib alone.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC with untreated brain metastasis measuring ≥ 5 mm at the time of initiating osimertinib.

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Importance: Improper aggregation of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander individuals with Asian individuals can mask Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander patient outcomes. A comprehensive assessment of cancer disparities comparing Asian with Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations is lacking.

Objective: To compare comorbidity burden and survival among East Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, South Asian, and Southeast Asian individuals with non-Hispanic White individuals with cancer.

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