Association of Hospital Market Competition with Outcomes of Complex Cancer Surgery.

Background: The association of hospital market competition, financial costs, and quality of oncologic care has not been well-defined. This study sought to evaluate variations in patient outcomes and financial expenditures after complex cancer surgery across high- and low-competition markets.

Methods: Medicare 100% Standard Analytic Files were used to identify patients with lung, esophageal, gastric, hepatopancreaticobiliary, or colorectal cancer who underwent surgical resection between 2018 and 2021.

A single-arm pilot of MyInspiration: a novel digital resource to support spiritual needs of patients undergoing cancer-directed surgery.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction associated with the MyInspiration intervention, a digital spiritual support tool for patients undergoing cancer surgery. Additionally, we evaluated changes in spiritual well-being and the ability to find meaning in their experience with cancer before and after the intervention.

Methods: This was a prospective, single-arm pilot study.

Examining the Predictive Utility of Behavioral Economic Demand Indices and Subjective Effects on the Actualized Reinforcing Value of Menthol Cigarettes and Potential Alternatives.

Introduction: Considering recent and proposed bans on menthol cigarettes, methods are needed to understand the substitutability of potential menthol cigarette alternatives (MCAs) for menthol cigarettes. This study examined the prospective relationship between behavioral economic demand indices and subjective effects of usual brand menthol cigarettes (UBMC) and preferred MCAs with subsequent performance on a laboratory-based concurrent-choice task comparing UBMC and MCAs.

Methods: Eighty participants who typically smoked menthol cigarettes completed this clinical laboratory study.

Sepsis and Septic Shock in Patients Undergoing Thyroidectomy: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes.

Introduction: Postoperative sepsis represents a rare complication following thyroidectomy. We aimed to explore the incidence, risk factors, sources, and outcomes of postoperative sepsis and septic shock among adult patients undergoing thyroidectomy.

Methods: Data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program were used in this retrospective cohort study.

The impact of county-level food access on the mortality and post-transplant survival among patients with steatotic liver disease.

Background: The impact of county-level food access on mortality associated with steatotic liver disease, as well as post-liver transplant outcomes among individuals with steatotic liver disease, have not been characterized.

Methods: Data on steatotic liver disease-related mortality and outcomes of liver transplant recipients with steatotic liver disease between 2010 and 2020 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control Prevention mortality as well as the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients databases. These data were linked to the food desert score, defined as the proportion of the total population in each county characterized as having both low income and limited access to grocery stores.

Cannabis use disorder and perioperative outcomes following complex cancer surgery.

Introduction: Cannabis usage is increasing in the United States, especially among patients with cancer. We sought to evaluate whether cannabis use disorder (CUD) was associated with higher morbidity and mortality among patients undergoing complex cancer surgery.

Methods: Patients who underwent complex cancer surgery between January 2016 and December 2019 were identified in the National Inpatient Sample database.

Emerging therapies targeting growth factors in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer that commonly arises in the background of chronic liver inflammation and/or cirrhosis. Chronic liver inflammation results in the production of different growth factors, remodeling of the microenvironment architecture into fibrosis, and eventually carcinogenesis. Overexpression of some growth factors has been associated with worse prognosis in patients with HCC.

Medicaid expansion and palliative care for advanced-stage liver cancer.

Background: Medicaid expansion (ME) has contributed to transforming the United States healthcare system. However, its effect on palliative care of primary liver cancers remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the association between ME and the receipt of palliative treatment in advanced-stage liver cancer.

Textbook outcome in liver surgery: open vs minimally invasive hepatectomy among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: We sought to investigate whether minimally invasive hepatectomy (MIH) was superior to open hepatectomy (OH) in terms of achieving textbook outcome in liver surgery (TOLS) after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Patients who underwent resection of HCC between 2000 and 2020 were identified from an international database. TOLS was defined by the absence of intraoperative grade ≥2 events, R1 resection margin, posthepatectomy liver failure, bile leakage, major complications, in-hospital mortality, and readmission.

Inflammatory bowel disease-associated colorectal cancer negatively affects surgery outcomes and health care costs.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease may affect the pathogenesis and clinicopathologic course of colorectal cancer. We sought to characterize the impact of inflammatory bowel disease on outcomes after colectomy and/or proctectomy for a malignant indication.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer as well as a pre-existing comorbid diagnosis of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis between 2018 and 2021 were identified from Medicare claims data.

Real-world patient characteristics and treatment patterns in US patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Patients from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) controlled clinical trials do not always reflect real-world heterogeneous patient populations. We designed a study to describe the real-world patient characteristics and treatment patterns of first-line treatment in patients in the US with NSCLC.

Methods: This was an observational, retrospective cohort study based on electronic medical records of US adults with locally advanced or metastatic disease in the ConcertAI Patient360 NSCLC database who initiated first-line treatment with anti-programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) therapy between July 2016 and December 2020.

Disparities in clinical trial enrollment among patients with gastrointestinal cancer relative to minority-serving and safety-netting hospitals.

Background: For results to be generalizable to all patients with cancer, clinical trials need to include a diverse patient demographic that is representative of the general population. We sought to characterize the effect of receiving care at a minority-serving hospital (MSH) and/or safety-net hospital on clinical trial enrollment among patients with gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies.

Methods: Adult patients with GI cancer who underwent oncologic surgery and were enrolled in institutional-/National Cancer Institute-funded clinical trials between 2012 and 2019 were identified in the National Cancer Database.

Effect of the opioid crisis on the liver transplantation donor pool: A national analysis.

Background: Over the last decade there has been a surge in overdose deaths due to the opioid crisis. We sought to characterize the temporal change in overdose donor (OD) use in liver transplantation (LT), as well as associated post-LT outcomes, relative to the COVID-19 era.

Methods: LT candidates and donors listed between January 2016 and September 2022 were identified from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database.

Preoperative anemia: impact on short- and long-term outcomes following curative-intent resection of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Background: The effect of preoperative anemia on clinical outcomes of patients undergoing resection of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) has not been previously investigated. This study aimed to characterize how preoperative anemia affected short- and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing curative-intent resection of GEP-NETs.

Methods: Patients who underwent curative-intent resection for GEP-NETs between January 1990 and December 2020 were identified from 8 major institutions.

Molecular Classification and Pathogenesis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and Targeted Therapies: A Review.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is disease with a 5-year survival of only 12%. Many patients with PDAC present with late-stage disease and even early-stage disease can often be characterized by an aggressive tumor biology. Standard therapy for metastatic PDAC consists mainly of chemotherapy regimens like FOLFIRINOX, FOLFOX, or gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel.

Impaired neuronal macroautophagy in the prelimbic cortex contributes to comorbid anxiety-like behaviors in rats with chronic neuropathic pain.

A large proportion of patients with chronic pain experience co-morbid anxiety. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is proposed to underlie this comorbidity, but the molecular and neuronal mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we reported that impaired neuronal macroautophagy in the prelimbic cortical (PrL) subregion of the mPFC paralleled the occurrence of anxiety-like behaviors in rats with chronic spared nerve injury (SNI).

Recurrent Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A 10-Point Score to Predict Post-Recurrence Survival and Guide Treatment of Recurrence.

Introduction: Although up to 50-70% of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) recur following resection, data to predict post-recurrence survival (PRS) and guide treatment of recurrence are limited.

Methods: Patients who underwent resection of ICC between 2000 and 2020 were identified from an international, multi-institutional database. Data on primary disease as well as laboratory and radiologic data on recurrent disease were collected.

Decoding the glycoproteome: a new frontier for biomarker discovery in cancer.

Cancer early detection and treatment response prediction continue to pose significant challenges. Cancer liquid biopsies focusing on detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and DNA (ctDNA) have shown enormous potential due to their non-invasive nature and the implications in precision cancer management. Recently, liquid biopsy has been further expanded to profile glycoproteins, which are the products of post-translational modifications of proteins and play key roles in both normal and pathological processes, including cancers.