Publications by authors named "Wendy Chen"

Background: Breast cancer patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant therapy have increased risk of recurrence. Novel therapies to decrease this risk are urgently needed.

Methods: Two clinical trials (05-055 and 09-134) offered adjuvant bevacizumab-based therapy to stage I-III breast cancer patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Trimodal therapy (TMT) is the standard treatment for patients with nonmetastatic inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). TMT consists of neoadjuvant systemic therapy, modified radical mastectomy (MRM), and postmastectomy radiation therapy. Although broadly considered the best approach for IBC, in the United States, only a third of patients receive TMT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Although the representation of women and ethnic minority students in the US medical schools has recently increased, discrepancies in representation among plastic surgery residents and faculty continue. The state of sex and ethnic diversity in academic microsurgery remains minimally investigated. We aimed to evaluate the sex, race, and ethnicity demographics among academic microsurgeons and identify underrepresentation along the leadership pathway.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Dietary patterns promoting chronic inflammation, including the empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP), have been associated with certain cancers. Investigating whether this dietary pattern is associated with breast cancer-where the role of inflammation is less well-defined-could provide valuable insights and potentially improve strategies for preventing this cancer.

Methods: We prospectively followed 76,386 women from Nurses' Health Study (NHS, 1984-2018) and 92,886 women from Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII, 1991-2019).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Online patient education materials (PEMs) that are difficult to read disproportionately affect patients with low health literacy and educational attainment. Patients may not be fully informed or empowered to engage meaningfully with providers and advocate for their goals. We aim to assess the readability of online PEMs regarding polydactyly and syndactyly.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Debate persists regarding the potential carcinogenicity of aspartame as suggested by experimental studies. Therefore, we prospectively evaluated whether aspartame consumption is associated with breast cancer risk in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Nurses' Health study II (NHSII). We used Cox models to calculate HRs and 95% CIs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We examined differences between social workers in hospitals versus social workers in community health services regarding levels of professional quality of life (ProQoL), proximity to COVID-19, resilience, perceived social support, and preparedness for the next pandemic during waves 3-5 of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel (December 2020-December 2021, the main COVID-19 variants were Alpha and Delta). We also examined the moderating role of resilience, social support, preparedness for the next pandemic, and health care service type in the association between proximity to COVID-19 and ProQoL. Participants were 163 social workers from four hospitals and 98 social workers from a major health maintenance organization in the community.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As of 2020, penetrating injuries became the leading cause of death among children and adolescents ages 1-19 in the United States. For those patients who survive and receive advanced medical care, vascular injuries are a significant cause of morbidity and trigger notable trauma team angst. Moreover, penetrating injuries can lead to life-threatening hemorrhage and/or limb-threatening ischemia if not addressed promptly.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study compares the time burden of subcutaneous (SC) versus intravenous (IV) drug administration of trastuzumab and pertuzumab in breast cancer patients, aiming to improve their quality of life during treatment.
  • - Results from 22 enrolled patients showed that SC administration significantly reduced the time patients spent in the treatment chair by an average of 61.8 minutes and total treatment experience time by 81.8 minutes compared to IV.
  • - The findings suggest that SC administration not only shortens patient time commitment but also enhances workflow efficiency for healthcare professionals, making the treatment process more manageable for patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The decision to allocate hospitals for the initial reception of hostages abducted on the October 7th Hamas attack introduced an array of unprecedented challenges. These challenges stemmed from a paucity of existing literature and protocols, lack of information regarding captivity conditions, and variability in hostage characteristics and circumstances.

Objective: To describe the rapid development, implementation and evaluation of the Hostage-ReSPOND protocol, a comprehensive trauma-informed procedure for the care of hostages, including young children, their caregivers and families, immediately following their release from prolonged captivity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Breast cancer-related arm lymphedema (BCRL) is a common chronic and debilitating condition that involves accumulation of lymphatic fluid in the arm or hand. Limited data are available on BCRL in African American women. Lack of physical activity (PA) and poor physical functioning (PF) are both associated with increased morbidity and mortality among breast cancer survivors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biomass and waste power generation holds the promise to secure electricity supply for a growing population and mitigate global warming simultaneously. Along with the increasing commission and installation of biomass/waste power units (BWPUs) across the globe, some BWPUs failures have been observed, including the cancellation of planned/commissioned BWPUs and the termination of those in operation before reaching their natural retirement. While empirical evidence suggests that factors like feedstock accessibility and policy instruments might affect the feasibility and performance of BWPUs, there is a lack of comprehensive investigation about why some BWPUs failed at the global scale.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Observational studies of survivors of breast cancer and prospective trials of aspirin for cardiovascular disease suggest improved breast cancer survival among aspirin users, but prospective studies of aspirin to prevent breast cancer recurrence are lacking.

Objective: To determine whether aspirin decreases the risk of invasive cancer events among survivors of breast cancer.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A011502, a phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial conducted in the United States and Canada with 3020 participants who had high-risk nonmetastatic breast cancer, enrolled participants from 534 sites from January 6, 2017, through December 4, 2020, with follow-up to March 4, 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Radiotherapy (RT) is the primary treatment for prostate cancer (PCa); however, the emergence of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) often leads to treatment failure and cancer-related deaths. In this study, we aimed to explore the use of microwave hyperthermia (MW-HT) to sensitize PCa to RT and investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Methods: We developed a dedicated MW-HT heating setup, created an and MW-HT + RT treatment model for CRPC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: YouTube is a platform for many topics, including plastic surgery. Previous studies have shown poor educational value in YouTube videos of plastic surgery procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality and accuracy of YouTube videos concerning gynecomastia surgery (GS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clinicians working with older transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals need to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to provide care that is high quality and culturally appropriate. This includes supporting patients in their exploration of gender and attainment of gender-affirming medical interventions. Clinicians should strive to create environments that are inclusive and safe, and that will facilitate health care access and build constructive provider-patient relationships.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We aimed to examine the association between the use of metformin and other anti-diabetic medications and breast cancer incidence within two large prospective cohort studies. We followed 185,181 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS; 1994-2016) and the NHSII (1995-2017), with baseline corresponding to the date metformin was approved for type 2 diabetes (T2D) treatment in the US Information on T2D diagnosis, anti-diabetes medications, and other covariates was self-reported at baseline and repeatedly assessed by follow-up questionnaires every 2 years. Breast cancer cases were self-reported and confirmed by medical record review.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6is) are an important component of treatment for hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC), but it is not known if patients might derive benefit from continuation of CDK4/6i with endocrine therapy beyond initial tumor progression or if the addition of checkpoint inhibitor therapy has value in this setting.

Methods: The randomized multicenter phase II PACE trial enrolled patients with hormone receptor-positive/HER2- MBC whose disease had progressed on previous CDK4/6i and aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy. Patients were randomly assigned 1:2:1 to receive fulvestrant (F), fulvestrant plus palbociclib (F + P), or fulvestrant plus palbociclib and avelumab (F + P + A).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a highly aggressive subtype of breast cancer characterized by rapidly arising diffuse erythema and edema. Genomic studies have not identified consistent alterations and mechanisms that differentiate IBC from non-IBC tumors, suggesting that the microenvironment could be a potential driver of IBC phenotypes. Here, using single-cell RNA sequencing, multiplex staining, and serum analysis in patients with IBC, we identified enrichment of a subgroup of luminal progenitor (LP) cells containing high expression of the neurotropic cytokine pleiotrophin (PTN) in IBC tumors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Urban trees have attracted increasing attention to serve as a green prescription for addressing various challenges facing human society like climate change and environmental deterioration. However, without healthy growth of urban trees, they cannot service any environmental, social, and economic benefits in a sustainable manner. By monitoring the canopy development, the tree growth dynamics in different urban habitats can be detected and appropriate management approaches can be executed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lower extremity (LE) trauma within the pediatric population may be debilitating and have different implications and etiologies than in adults. Specifically, lawnmower injuries can cause catastrophic sequelae to the lower extremities, often requiring complex reconstruction or resulting in amputation. This study aims to present our experience with pediatric LE lawnmower injuries at one of the busiest level 1 trauma centers in the United States.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: fopen(/var/lib/php/sessions/ci_session2timi2tn4ea4qlm4b9nj8h9hkqvf5nkc): Failed to open stream: No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 177

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 137

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once