A composite F-FDG PET/CT and HER2 tissue-based biomarker to predict response to neoadjuvant pertuzumab and trastuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer (TBCRC026).

Background: Early metabolic change on PET/CT was predictive of response to neoadjuvant trastuzumab/pertuzumab (HP) in TBCRC026. We hypothesized that a composite biomarker incorporating PET/CT and HER2 tissue-based biomarkers could improve biomarker performance.

Methods: 83 patients with estrogen receptor-negative/HER2-positive breast cancer received neoadjuvant HP alone [pathologic complete response (pCR) 22 %].

Does pudendal nerve block improve perioperative pain following OnabotulinumtoxinA injection for myofascial pelvic pain?

Objective: OnabotulinumtoxinA (BTA) injections are useful for treatment of myofascial pelvic pain. Concurrent pudendal nerve block (PNB) has been suggested to decrease postoperative pain, as BTA does not take an immediate effect. The efficacy of PNB for this purpose has not been well elucidated.

BRAFV600E/pTERT double mutated papillary thyroid cancers exhibit immune gene suppression.

Introduction: BRAFV600E mutation (BRAF) is common in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), and most patients have an excellent outcome. However, a TERT-promoter mutation (pTERT) in the presence of BRAF (BRAFpTERT) has been demonstrated to confer a more aggressive behavior to PTC. Lymphocytic infiltration is often present in PTC.

Clinical Treatment Score Post-5 Years (CTS5) and Late Recurrence Risk in Hormone Receptor-Positive, HER2-Positive Breast Cancer.

Background: The Clinical Treatment Score post-5 years (CTS5) is a risk stratification tool used to determine the risk of late recurrence in hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative breast cancer (BC). Limited data exist on its use in HR+, HER2-positive (HER2+) BC.

Patients And Methods: CTS5 was evaluated in HR+, HER2+ BC in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N9831 (Alliance) and NSABP B-31 (NRG) trials.

Temporal Trends in Body Composition and Metabolic Markers Prior to Diagnosis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Background & Aims: Changes in body composition and metabolic factors may serve as biomarkers for the early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The aim of this study was to capture the longitudinal changes in body composition and metabolic factors before diagnosis of PDAC.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study in which all patients (≥18 years) diagnosed with PDAC from 2002 to 2021 were identified.

A Historic Cohort Analysis of Radiographic and Serologic Findings in Patients With Scleroderma and Interstitial Lung Disease.

Background/objective: Few studies have investigated associations between rheumatologic serology patterns and different interstitial lung disease (ILD) patterns.

Methods: We present novel findings of a historic cohort study (n = 454) with data collected from 2011 to 2021 within our hospital system. In this institutional review board-approved study, data regarding rheumatologic serologies and ILD patterns were noted based on chart review in patients with scleroderma.

Risk factors for post-acute sequelae of COVID-19: Survey results from a tertiary care hospital.

Identifying risk factors for post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is important. We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional survey study to define and characterize risk factors for severe COVID-19 in adults (≥18 years) treated at our virtual COVID-19 clinic from March 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021. We assessed patient demographics, symptom types, and persistence, incidence of PASC, and COVID-19-caused hospitalizations.

Distinct spatial immune microlandscapes are independently associated with outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer.

The utility of spatial immunobiomarker quantitation in prognostication and therapeutic prediction is actively being investigated in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Here, with high-plex quantitative digital spatial profiling, we map and quantitate intraepithelial and adjacent stromal tumor immune protein microenvironments in systemic treatment-naïve (female only) TNBC to assess the spatial context in immunobiomarker-based prediction of outcome. Immune protein profiles of CD45-rich and CD68-rich stromal microenvironments differ significantly.

Pan-Cancer Analyses Reveal Oncogenic Role and Prognostic Value of F-Box Only Protein 22.

The F-box protein 22 (FBXO22), an F-box E3 ligase, has been identified to be critically involved in carcinogenesis. However, a systematic assessment of the role of FBXO22 across human cancers is lacking. Here, we performed a pan-cancer analysis to explore the role of FBXO22 in 33 cancer types using multiomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).

Beta-2 Adrenergic Receptor Gene Expression in HER2-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients: A Post-hoc Analysis of the NCCTG-N9831 (Alliance) Trial.

Background: Beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ß2AR) modulates immune activation and may enhance trastuzumab activity. We assessed the impact of ß2AR gene (ADRB2) expression on the outcomes of patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer enrolled on the NCCTG-N9831 trial.

Patients And Methods: This is a post-hoc analysis of the NCCTG-N9831 trial, which compared chemotherapy (arm A) versus chemotherapy plus trastuzumab (arms B&C) as adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer, with disease-free survival (DFS) as primary endpoint.

Association of coccygodynia with pelvic floor symptoms in women with pelvic pain.

Background: Coccygodynia is a painful condition of the tailbone that occurs more commonly in females. The association of coccyx pain with pelvic floor symptoms and the prevalence of coccyx pain in women with pelvic pain has not previously been reported.

Objective: To identify the prevalence of coccygodynia in women with pelvic pain and to describe the association of coccygodynia with pelvic floor examination findings and symptoms.

Systemic anticoagulation is associated with decreased mortality and morbidity in acute pancreatitis.

Background/objectives: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a procoagulant state, and markers of coagulopathy are associated with AP severity. We aimed to explore the association of systemic anticoagulation therapy before AP onset with the inpatient outcomes of patients with acute pancreatitis.

Methods: This case-control, retrospective study used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (Jan 2014-Dec 2016).

Inhibition of microRNA-29b suppresses oxidative stress and reduces apoptosis in ischemic stroke.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate protein expression by antagonizing the translation of mRNAs and are effective regulators of normal nervous system development, function, and disease. MicroRNA-29b (miR-29b) plays a broad and critical role in brain homeostasis. In this study, we tested the function of miR-29b in animal and cell models by inhibiting miR-29b expression.

NOGEA: A Network-oriented Gene Entropy Approach for Dissecting Disease Comorbidity and Drug Repositioning.

Rapid development of high-throughput technologies has permitted the identification of an increasing number of disease-associated genes (DAGs), which are important for understanding disease initiation and developing precision therapeutics. However, DAGs often contain large amounts of redundant or false positive information, leading to difficulties in quantifying and prioritizing potential relationships between these DAGs and human diseases. In this study, a network-oriented gene entropy approach (NOGEA) is proposed for accurately inferring master genes that contribute to specific diseases by quantitatively calculating their perturbation abilities on directed disease-specific gene networks.

Systematic Evaluation of the Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance of Competitive Endogenous RNA Networks in Prostate Cancer.

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-mediated competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks act as essential mechanisms in tumor initiation and progression, but their diagnostic and prognostic significance in prostate cancer (PCa) remains poorly understood. Presently, using the RNA expression data derived from multiple independent PCa-related studies, we constructed a high confidence and PCa-specific core ceRNA network by employing three lncRNA-gene inference approaches and key node filter strategies and then established a logistic model and risk score formula to evaluate its diagnostic and prognostic values, respectively. The core ceRNA network consists of 10 nodes, all of which are significantly associated with clinical outcomes.

Systems-level analysis identifies key regulators driving epileptogenesis in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent and often devastating form of epilepsy. The molecular mechanism underlying the development of TLE remains largely unclear, which hinders the discovery of effective antiepileptogenic drugs. Here we adopted a systems-level approach integrating transcriptomic profiles of three epileptogenesis stages to identify key regulators underlying epilepsy progression.

Evolving Role of Liver Transplantation in Elderly Recipients.

The need for liver transplantation (LT) among older patients is increasing, but the role of LT in the elderly (≥70 years) is not well defined. We retrospectively reviewed all primary LTs from 1998 through 2016 at our center. Survival and associated risk factors were analyzed with Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier methods for LT recipients in 3 age groups: <60, 60-69, and ≥70 years.

Protective effect of BAG5 on MPP+-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells.

Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease in humans, and an abundance of evidence has implicated apoptosis signaling pathways in the neurodegeneration of PD. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated athanogene 5 (BAG5) protein, which was previously confirmed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of PD, in the regulation of apoptosis induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridinium (MPP(+)) in PC12 cells.

Methods: PC12 cells were treated with MPP(+) for 48 hours to induce apoptosis, and activation of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and caspase 3 was measured by western blot.