Life-years lost due to cancer among solid organ transplant recipients in the United States, 1987 to 2014.

Background: Solid organ transplant recipients have an elevated risk of cancer. Quantifying the life-years lost (LYL) due to cancer provides a complementary view of the burden of cancer distinct from other metrics and may identify subgroups of transplant recipients who are most affected.

Methods: Linked transplant and cancer registry data were used to identify incident cancers and deaths among solid organ transplant recipients in the United States (1987-2014).

Chemical Composition of JUUL Pods Collected From Students in California High Schools.

Purpose: To examine the chemical composition of JUUL pods collected from a convenience sample of 16 high schools in California to identify possible consumer modification or counterfeit use.

Methods: Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, we quantitatively analyzed the nicotine, propylene glycol (PG), and vegetable glycerin (VG) in JUUL pods (n = 26) collected from California high schools and compared results to commercial 3% (n = 15) and 5% (n = 24) JUUL pods purchased online.

Results: Most of the collected JUUL pods (24/26 pods) had a nicotine concentration (43.

Late Effects in Survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Background: Knowledge regarding late effects (medical conditions and subsequent neoplasms) in survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is lacking.

Methods: Using the population-based California Cancer Registry linked with California hospitalization data, we evaluated late effects in 1069 AYAs (aged 15-39 years) diagnosed with ALL in California between 1995 and 2012 and surviving a minimum of 3 years from diagnosis.

Results: The estimated 10-year cumulative incidence of subsequent endocrine disease (28.

Impact of insurance type and timing of Medicaid enrollment on survival among adolescents and young adults with cancer.

Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with public or no insurance experience later stage at diagnosis and worse overall survival compared with those with private insurance. However, prior studies have not distinguished the survival impact of continuous Medicaid coverage prior to diagnosis compared with gaining Medicaid coverage at diagnosis.

Methods: We linked a cohort of AYAs aged 15-39 who were diagnosed with 13 common cancers from 2005 to 2014 in the California Cancer Registry with California Medicaid enrollment files to ascertain Medicaid enrollment, with other insurance determined from registry data.

First-Line Systemic Treatments for Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in California: Patterns of Care and Outcomes in a Real-World Setting.

Background: Multiple systemic treatments have been developed for stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but their use and effect on outcomes at the population level are unknown. This study describes the utilization of first-line systemic treatments among stage IV NSCLC patients in California and compares survival among treatment groups.

Methods: Data on 17 254 patients diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC from 2012 to 2014 were obtained from the California Cancer Registry.

A population-based assessment of proton beam therapy utilization in California.

Objectives: Proton beam therapy (PBT) is a type of radiation therapy (RT) used for certain cancer types because it minimizes collateral tissue damage. The high cost and limited availability of PBT have constrained its utilization. This study examined patterns and determinants of PBT use in California.

Liver cancer: A leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the role of the 1945-1965 birth cohort by ethnicity.

Unlabelled: Liver cancer is highly fatal and the most rapidly increasing cancer in the US, where chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection is the leading etiology. HCV is particularly prevalent among the 1945-1965 birth cohort, the so-called "baby boomers". Focusing on this cohort-etiology link, we aim to characterize liver cancer patterns for 15 unique US populations: White, African American, Mexican Immigrant, Mexican American, Cuban and Chinese, among others.

Assessment of Underage Sales Violations in Tobacco Stores and Vape Shops.

This study assesses whether the US Food and Drug Administration regulation to limit the sale of flavored tobacco products to age-restricted locations is adequate based on a 1-year review of violations rates in age-restricted shops.

Probabilistic walking models using built environment and sociodemographic predictors.

Background: Individual sociodemographic and home neighborhood built environment (BE) factors influence the probability of engaging in health-enhancing levels of walking or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Methods are needed to parsimoniously model the associations.

Methods: Participants included 2392 adults drawn from a community-based twin registry living in the Seattle region.

Disparities in Systemic Treatment Use in Advanced-stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer by Source of Health Insurance.

Background: Management of advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has changed significantly over the past two decades with the development of numerous systemic treatments, including targeted therapies. However, a high proportion of advanced-stage patients are untreated. The role that health insurance plays in receipt of systemic treatments is unclear.

A text-mining approach to obtain detailed treatment information from free-text fields in population-based cancer registries: A study of non-small cell lung cancer in California.

Background: Population-based cancer registries have treatment information for all patients making them an excellent resource for population-level monitoring. However, specific treatment details, such as drug names, are contained in a free-text format that is difficult to process and summarize. We assessed the accuracy and efficiency of a text-mining algorithm to identify systemic treatments for lung cancer from free-text fields in the California Cancer Registry.

Survival after a cancer diagnosis among solid organ transplant recipients in the United States.

Background: Transplant recipients have an elevated risk of cancer because of immunosuppressive medications used to prevent organ rejection, but to the authors' knowledge no study to date has comprehensively examined associations between transplantation status and mortality after a cancer diagnosis.

Methods: The authors assessed cases in the US general population (N=7,147,476) for 16 different cancer types as ascertained from 11 cancer registries. The presence of a solid organ transplant prior to diagnosis (N=11,416 cancer cases) was identified through linkage with the national transplantation registry (1987-2014).

The Association Between Park Facilities and Duration of Physical Activity During Active Park Visits.

Public parks provide places for urban residents to obtain physical activity (PA), which is associated with numerous health benefits. Adding facilities to existing parks could be a cost-effective approach to increase the duration of PA that occurs during park visits. Using objectively measured PA and comprehensively measured park visit data among an urban community-dwelling sample of adults, we tested the association between the variety of park facilities that directly support PA and the duration of PA during park visits where any PA occurred.

Incidence of childhood cancer in Costa Rica, 2000-2014: An international perspective.

Background: Estimating childhood cancer incidence globally is hampered by a lack of reliable data from low- and middle-income countries. Costa Rica is one of the few middle-income countries (MIC) with a long-term high quality nationwide population-based cancer registry.

Methods: Data on incident cancers in children aged under 15 years reported to the Costa Rica National Cancer Registry between 2000 and 2014 were analyzed by diagnostic group, age, sex, and geographical region and compared with incidence data for Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) children in California, USA.

Academic Health Centers and Medicaid: Advance or Retreat?

The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has strained the capacity of many academic health centers (AHCs) to deliver primary and specialty care to this traditionally underserved population. The authors, longtime faculty members in the University of California, Davis Health (UCDH) system, discuss the challenges of UCDH's participation in Medi-Cal, the nation's largest Medicaid program, and their institution's controversial decision in 2015 to withdraw from its last Medi-Cal primary care contract, which has had untoward effects on UCDH's social and educational missions. The authors call on AHCs to leverage their considerable intellectual and human capital as well as their focus on education and research to aggressively pursue innovative models of high-value primary care for underserved populations in their local communities, highlighting several recent successful examples of such programs.

Codability of industry and occupation information from cancer registry records: Differences by patient demographics, casefinding source, payor, and cancer type.

Introduction: Industry and occupation (I&O) information collected by cancer registries is useful for assessing associations among jobs and malignancies. However, systematic differences in I&O availability can bias findings.

Methods: Codability by patient demographics, payor, identifying (casefinding) source, and cancer site was assessed using I&O text from first primaries diagnosed 2011-2012 and reported to California Cancer Registry.

Evaluation of California's 'Tobacco 21' law.

Introduction: California's law raising the minimum tobacco sales age to 21 went into effect on 9 June 2016. This law, known as 'Tobacco 21' or 'T21', also expanded the definition of tobacco to include electronic smoking devices. This paper describes the T21 evaluation plan and initial evaluation results.

Disparities in quality of cancer care: The role of health insurance and population demographics.

Escalating costs and concerns about quality of cancer care have increased calls for quality measurement and performance accountability for providers and health plans. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to assess variability in the quality of cancer care by health insurance type in California.Persons with breast, ovary, endometrium, cervix, colon, lung, or gastric cancer during the period 2004 to 2014 were identified in the California Cancer Registry.

Comorbidity index in central cancer registries: the value of hospital discharge data.

Background: The presence of comorbid medical conditions can significantly affect a cancer patient's treatment options, quality of life, and survival. However, these important data are often lacking from population-based cancer registries. Leveraging routine linkage to hospital discharge data, a comorbidity score was calculated for patients in the California Cancer Registry (CCR) database.

Assessing social values for California's efforts to reduce the overuse of unnecessary medical care.

Background: A partnership of large health-care purchasers created a workgroup to reduce the overuse of harmful and wasteful medical care in California.

Objective: Employ a civic engagement process to identify the social values important to the public in considering different strategies to reduce overuse.

Intervention: Use of deliberation techniques for 3 case examples that explore possible strategies: physician oversight, physician compensation, increased patient cost-sharing or taking no definitive action.

Implementing a Quality Improvement Collaborative to Improve Hypertension Control and Advance Million Hearts Among Low-Income Californians, 2014-2015.

From January through December 2015, the California Department of Health Care Services, which administers Medi-Cal, the nation's largest Medicaid program, conducted a quality improvement collaborative (QIC) with 9 Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs) aimed at improving hypertension control consistent with the Million Hearts initiative. The QIC included quarterly webinars and links to local, state, and national resources that consisted of materials and consultations with subject matter experts. Participating MCPs demonstrated an average increase of 5.

Kidney Cancer Incidence in California: End of the Trend?

Since the 1990s, multiple studies have reported on an increased incidence of renal cell carcinomas (RCC), which has been considered incidental to the high use of abdominal diagnostic imaging. This population-based study used data from the California Cancer Registry to (i) update trends in RCC incidence and mortality by several tumor and demographic characteristics after reports of decreased use of diagnostic imaging in recent years, and (ii) examine changes in surgical treatment for early-stage RCC. Records of patients diagnosed with RCC from 1988 through 2013 and mortality data from the same period were examined.

Feasibility of collecting tumor samples of breast cancer patients diagnosed up to 50 years ago in the Child Health and Development Studies.

Environmental exposures during pregnancy may increase breast cancer risk for mothers and female offspring. Tumor tissue assays may provide insight regarding the mechanisms. This study assessed the feasibility of obtaining tumor samples and pathology reports from mothers (F0) who were enrolled in the Child Health and Development Studies during pregnancy from 1959 to 1967 and their daughters (F1) who developed breast cancer over more than 50 years of follow-up.