Vitamin D Receptor Protects Against Dysbiosis and Tumorigenesis via the JAK/STAT Pathway in Intestine.

Background & Aims: Vitamin D exerts regulatory roles via vitamin D receptor (VDR) in mucosal immunity, host defense, and inflammation involving host factors and microbiome. Human Vdr gene variation shapes the microbiome and VDR deletion leads to dysbiosis. Low VDR expression and diminished vitamin D/VDR signaling are observed in colon cancer.

Spatial-omics: Novel approaches to probe cell heterogeneity and extracellular matrix biology.

Complex intercellular interactions as well as biomolecular and biomechanical cues from the extracellular matrix (ECM) profoundly affect cellular functions. Traditional transcriptomic and proteomic approaches have provided insight into disease progression by identifying discrete cellular subpopulations or microenvironmental signatures characteristic of normal or pathological tissues, however these techniques do not examine how a given cellular state relates to its interactions with neighboring cells or its surrounding ECM with multiparametric characterization (i.e.

Clinical Application of Computational Methods in Precision Oncology: A Review.

Importance: There is an enormous and growing amount of data available from individual cancer cases, which makes the work of clinical oncologists more demanding. This data challenge has attracted engineers to create software that aims to improve cancer diagnosis or treatment. However, the move to use computers in the oncology clinic for diagnosis or treatment has led to instances of premature or inappropriate use of computational predictive systems.

MatrisomeDB: the ECM-protein knowledge database.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex and dynamic meshwork of cross-linked proteins that supports cell polarization and functions and tissue organization and homeostasis. Over the past few decades, mass-spectrometry-based proteomics has emerged as the method of choice to characterize the composition of the ECM of normal and diseased tissues. Here, we present a new release of MatrisomeDB, a searchable collection of curated proteomic data from 17 studies on the ECM of 15 different normal tissue types, six cancer types (different grades of breast cancers, colorectal cancer, melanoma, and insulinoma) and other diseases including vascular defects and lung and liver fibroses.

Exploring the extracellular matrix in health and disease using proteomics.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex assembly of hundreds of proteins that constitutes the scaffold of multicellular organisms. In addition to providing architectural and mechanical support to the surrounding cells, it conveys biochemical signals that regulate cellular processes including proliferation and survival, fate determination, and cell migration. Defects in ECM protein assembly, decreased ECM protein production or, on the contrary, excessive ECM accumulation, have been linked to many pathologies including cardiovascular and skeletal diseases, cancers, and fibrosis.

A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Patient Experiences of Pain Before and After Spine Surgery.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the preoperative and postoperative experiences of spine surgery from the patient's perspective to help inform behavioral health services provided before, during, and after hospitalization.

Setting: Single urban academic tertiary care hospital.

Methods: Semistructured interviews with 14 adults who underwent spine surgery.

Enasidenib: An Oral IDH2 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematologic malignancy that affects predominantly older patients, with a median age of diagnosis around 67. Overall prognosis is poor; however, novel targeted therapies that can potentially improve outcomes in these patients have emerged in recent years. Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) occur in 20% of AML diagnoses.

Application of mutagen sensitivity assay in a glioma case-control study.

Few risk factors for glioma have been identified other than ionizing radiation. The alkylating agent acrylamide is a compound found in both occupational and the general environment and identified as one of the forty known or suspected neurocarcinogens in animal models. The mutagen sensitivity assay (MSA) has been used to indirectly show reduced DNA repair capacity upon exposure to ionizing radiation in those with glioma compared to controls.

Lung cancer early detection and health disparities: the intersection of epigenetics and ethnicity.

Lung cancer is the most prominent cause of cancer-related mortality. Significant disparities in incidence and outcome characterize the disease's manifestations among ethnically and racially diverse populations. Complete surgical resection is the most effective curative treatment.

A geographic information system-based method for estimating cancer rates in non-census defined geographical areas.

Purpose: To address locally relevant cancer-related health issues, health departments frequently need data beyond that contained in standard census area-based statistics. We describe a geographic information system-based method for calculating age-standardized cancer incidence rates in non-census defined geographical areas using publically available data.

Methods: Aggregated records of cancer cases diagnosed from 2009 through 2013 in each of Chicago's 77 census-defined community areas were obtained from the Illinois State Cancer Registry.

Measures of economic advantage associated with HPV-positive head and neck cancers among non-Hispanic black and white males identified through the National Cancer Database.

Background: National trends show dramatic increases in the incidence of HPV-related head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) among black and white males. Using cases identified through the National Cancer Data Base, we assessed factors associated with HPV 16- or 16/18 positive HNSCCs among non-Hispanic black and white males diagnosed in the U.S.

The effect of time on racial differences in epithelial ovarian cancer (OVCA) diagnosis stage, overall and by histologic subtypes: a study of the National Cancer Database.

Purpose: Previous studies assessing racial and ethnic differences in ovarian cancer (OVCA) diagnosis stage fail to present subtype-specific results and provide historic data on cases diagnosed between 10 and 20 years ago. The purpose of this analysis is to assess non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) differences in late-stage diagnosis including; (1) factors associated with late-stage diagnosis of invasive epithelial OVCA overall and by histologic subtypes, (2) potential changes across time and (3) current patterns of trends in a national cancer registry in the USA and Puerto Rico between 1998 and 2011.

Methods: NHB and NHW OVCA cases were derived from the National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Racial differences in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas among non-Hispanic black and white males identified through the National Cancer Database (1998-2012).

Purpose: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) incidence is increasing, and evidence suggests survival disparities between non-Hispanic (nH) black and white males. However, temporal changes in HNSCCs and factors contributing to survival differences have not been examined at the national level.

Methods: National Cancer Database (NCDB) cases were used to evaluate temporal trends in HNSCC anatomical sites and site groupings (i.

Human hematopoietic CD34+ progenitor cells induce natural killer cell alloresponses via NKG2D activation.

Human CD34+ cells cross-interact with allogeneic T lymphocytes. In this study we addressed the interaction between CD34+ cells and allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells. Purified NK cells were cultured with allogeneic KIR-permissive CD34+ or CD14+ blood cells, obtained from HLA group C homozygous donors, or with high-dose interleukin-2.

The influence of neighborhood socioeconomic status and race on survival from ovarian cancer: a population-based analysis of Cook County, Illinois.

Purpose: Despite significant improvements in treatment for ovarian cancer, survival is poorer for non-Hispanic black (NHB) women compared to non-Hispanic white (NHW) women. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) has been implicated in racial disparities across a variety of health outcomes and may similarly contribute to racial disparities in ovarian cancer survival. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the influence of neighborhood SES on NHB-NHW survival differences after accounting for differences in tumor characteristics and in treatment.

The effect of neighborhood-level socioeconomic status on racial differences in ovarian cancer treatment in a population-based analysis in Chicago.

Background: Less than half of women with ovarian cancer and blacks specifically receive therapy adherent to National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. The purpose is to assess the effect of neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) on black-white treatment differences in a population-based analysis in a highly-segregated community.

Methods: Illinois State Cancer Registry data for invasive epithelial ovarian cancer cases diagnosed in Cook County, IL in non-Hispanic white (NHW) or black (NHB) women from 1998 to 2009 was analyzed.

Optimizing autologous stem cell mobilization strategies to improve patient outcomes: consensus guidelines and recommendations.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) is a well-established treatment for malignancies such as multiple myeloma (MM) and lymphomas. Various changes in the field over the past decade, including the frequent use of tandem aHSCT in MM, the advent of novel therapies for the treatment of MM and lymphoma, and the addition of new stem cell mobilization techniques, have led to the need to reassess current stem cell mobilization strategies. Mobilization failures with traditional strategies are common and result in delays in treatment and increased cost and resource utilization.

Training in the primary prevention and early detection of oral cancer: pilot study of its impact on clinicians' perceptions and intentions.

In this pilot study, we tested a new program for training medical care providers in the primary prevention and early detection of oral cancer. The training program consisted of two modules: (1) oral cancer epidemiology and head and neck examinations for the early detection of oral cancer and (2) assessment and counseling of patients in tobacco cessation. On a pretraining questionnaire, the 8 participating clinicians (3 primary care physicians, 4 ENT nurses, and 1 physician assistant) indicated that they had only a limited awareness of oral cancer, that they generally did not routinely examine asymptomatic patients for oral cancer, and that they engaged in only a limited amount of risk assessment/counseling with their patients.

The meaning of the survivor identity for women with breast cancer.

"Survivor" has become a ubiquitous and largely unquestioned term in culture and cancer discourse. While anecdotal evidence suggests women with breast cancer find fault with survivor images and discourse, the extent to which women identify with or reject the survivor identity has not been empirically studied. This paper examines whether women treated for breast cancer embrace survivorship.

Neighborhood racial composition, neighborhood poverty, and the spatial accessibility of supermarkets in metropolitan Detroit.

Objectives: We evaluated the spatial accessibility of large "chain" supermarkets in relation to neighborhood racial composition and poverty.

Methods: We used a geographic information system to measure Manhattan block distance to the nearest supermarket for 869 neighborhoods (census tracts) in metropolitan Detroit. We constructed moving average spatial regression models to adjust for spatial autocorrelation and to test for the effect of modification of percentage African American and percentage poor on distance to the nearest supermarket.

Constitutive mobilization of CD34+ cells into the peripheral blood in idiopathic myelofibrosis may be due to the action of a number of proteases.

Idiopathic myelofibrosis (IM) is characterized by increased numbers of CD34(+) cells in the peripheral blood (PB). We explored the possible mechanisms underlying this abnormal trafficking of CD34(+) cells. Plasma levels of neutrophil elastase (NE), total and active matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were dramatically increased in IM.

The constitutive mobilization of bone marrow-repopulating cells into the peripheral blood in idiopathic myelofibrosis.

Idiopathic myelofibrosis (IM) is characterized by the constitutive mobilization of CD34(+) cells. IM peripheral blood (PB) CD34(+) cells had a reduced cloning efficiency and a lower frequency of cobblestone areas compared with normal granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized PB CD34(+) cells. IM CD34(+) cells engrafted nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice, demonstrating that they contain bone marrow (BM)-repopulating cells.