Tele-Mental Health Service: Unveiling the Disparity and Impact on Healthcare Access and Expenditures during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mississippi.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, tele-mental health (TMH) was a viable approach for providing accessible mental and behavioral health (MBH) services. This study examines the sociodemographic disparities in TMH utilization and its effects on healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and medical expenditures in Mississippi. Utilizing a cohort of 6787 insured adult patients at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and its affiliated sites between January 2020 and June 2023, including 3065 who accessed TMH services, we observed sociodemographic disparities between TMH and non-TMH cohorts.

Novel genetic associations for blood pressure identified via gene-alcohol interaction in up to 570K individuals across multiple ancestries.

Heavy alcohol consumption is an established risk factor for hypertension; the mechanism by which alcohol consumption impact blood pressure (BP) regulation remains unknown. We hypothesized that a genome-wide association study accounting for gene-alcohol consumption interaction for BP might identify additional BP loci and contribute to the understanding of alcohol-related BP regulation. We conducted a large two-stage investigation incorporating joint testing of main genetic effects and single nucleotide variant (SNV)-alcohol consumption interactions.

PSA-alpha-2-macroglobulin complex is enzymatically active in the serum of patients with advanced prostate cancer and can degrade circulating peptide hormones.

Background: Prostate cancer cells produce high levels of the serine protease Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA). PSA is enzymatically active in the tumor microenvironment but is presumed to be enzymatically inactive in the blood due to complex formation with serum protease inhibitors α-1-antichymotrypsin and α-2-macroglobulin (A2M). PSA-A2M complexes cannot be measured by standard ELISA assays and are also rapidly cleared from the circulation.

Impact of neoadjuvant and adjuvant radiotherapy on disease-specific survival in patients with stages II-IV rectal cancer.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to determine whether neoadjuvant or adjuvant radiotherapy affected disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with rectal cancer and whether stratification by tumor stage affected the results.

Results: 55.5% patients had neoadjuvant-radiotherapy (NRT), and 18.

Dose-Response Association of CD8+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes and Survival Time in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer.

Importance: Cytotoxic CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) participate in immune control of epithelial ovarian cancer; however, little is known about prognostic patterns of CD8+ TILs by histotype and in relation to other clinical factors.

Objective: To define the prognostic role of CD8+ TILs in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a multicenter observational, prospective survival cohort study of the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium.

Treatment of esophageal cancer with radiation therapy -a pan-Chinese survey of radiation oncologists.

Lots of controversies were found about the treatment in relation to radiation therapy (RT) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We designed a questionnaire of these controversies to do a pan-Chinese survey of radiation oncologists (ROs). For operable ESCC, 53% ROs chose surgery plus postoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT), while 40% chose preoperative CRT plus surgery.

Incidence and survival differences in esophageal cancer among ethnic groups in the United States.

Objectives: This study was performed to identify the differences in incidence, clinicopathological features, and survival in esophageal cancer among ethnic groups in the United States and to determine the reasons for the differences.

Result: A total of 49,766 patients were included. Black and Asian groups had a higher proportion of squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (85.

Location of Receipt of Initial Treatment and Outcomes in Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors.

Purpose: Cancer outcomes differ depending on where treatment is received. We assessed differences in outcomes in long-term breast cancer survivors at a specialty care hospital by location of their initial treatment.

Methods: We retrospectively examined a cohort of women diagnosed with invasive early-stage breast cancer who did not experience recurrence for at least 5 years after the date of diagnosis and were evaluated at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between January 1997 and August 2008.

Characteristics of Differently Located Colorectal Cancers Support Proximal and Distal Classification: A Population-Based Study of 57,847 Patients.

Background: It has been suggested that colorectal cancer be regarded as several subgroups defined according to tumor location rather than as a single entity. The current study aimed to identify the most useful method for grouping colorectal cancer by tumor location according to both baseline and survival characteristics.

Methods: Cases of pathologically confirmed colorectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed from 2000 to 2012 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database and categorized into three groups: right colon cancer (RCC), left colon cancer (LCC), and rectal cancer (ReC).

Comparative Analysis of Clinicopathologic Features of, Treatment in, and Survival of Americans with Lung or Bronchial Cancer.

Ethnic disparities in lung and bronchial cancer diagnoses and disease-specific survival (DSS) rates in the United States are well known. However, few studies have specifically assessed these differences in Asian subgroups. The primary objectives of the retrospective analysis described herein were to identify any significant differences in clinicopathologic features, treatment, and survival rate between Asian lung cancer patients and lung cancer patients in other broad ethnic groups in the United States and to determine the reasons for these differences among subgroups of Asian patients with lung or bronchial cancer.

Association Between Hepatitis C Virus and Head and Neck Cancers.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In 2009, MD Anderson established the first US clinic for treating HCV-infected cancer patients, where we observed an unexpectedly large number of patients with head and neck cancers (HNCs). We sought to determine whether HCV is associated with HNCs.

Influenza A viruses of swine circulating in the United States during 2009-2014 are susceptible to neuraminidase inhibitors but show lineage-dependent resistance to adamantanes.

Antiviral drug susceptibility is one of the evaluation criteria of pandemic potential posed by an influenza virus. Influenza A viruses of swine (IAV-S) can play an important role in generating novel variants, yet limited information is available on the drug resistance profiles of IAV-S circulating in the U.S.

Crossover effects of estrogen receptor status on breast cancer-specific hazard rates by age and race.

Background: Previous studies found that the risk of breast cancer-related death is greater in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative disease than in ER-positive disease within 5 years of diagnosis, but greater for ER-positive disease than for ER-negative disease more than 5 years after diagnosis. This phenomenon is referred to as ER-positive and -negative crossover. Our aim was to evaluate this crossover by determining the timing of the hazard of breast cancer death by patient, clinical, and tumor factors.

Large-scale evaluation of common variation in regulatory T cell-related genes and ovarian cancer outcome.

The presence of regulatory T cells (Treg) in solid tumors is known to play a role in patient survival in ovarian cancer and other malignancies. We assessed inherited genetic variations via 749 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in 25 Treg-associated genes (CD28, CTLA4, FOXP3, IDO1, IL10, IL10RA, IL15, 1L17RA, IL23A, IL23R, IL2RA, IL6, IL6R, IL8, LGALS1, LGALS9, MAP3K8, STAT5A, STAT5B, TGFB1, TGFB2, TGFB3, TGFBR1, TGRBR2, and TGFBR3) in relation to ovarian cancer survival. We analyzed genotype and overall survival in 10,084 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, including 5,248 high-grade serous, 1,452 endometrioid, 795 clear cell, and 661 mucinous carcinoma cases of European descent across 28 studies from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC).

Financial strain and cancer risk behaviors among African Americans.

Background: African Americans suffer disproportionately from the adverse consequences of behavioral risk factors for cancer relative to other ethnic groups. Recent studies have assessed how financial strain might uniquely contribute to engagement in modifiable behavioral risk factors for cancer, but not among African Americans. The current study examined associations between financial strain and modifiable cancer risk factors (smoking, at-risk alcohol use, overweight/obesity, insufficient physical activity, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, and multiple risk factors) among 1,278 African American adults (age, 46.