Embracing the Future of Clinical Trials in Radiotherapy: An NRG Oncology CIRO Technology Retreat Whitepaper on Pioneering Technologies and AI-Driven Solutions.

This white paper examines the potential of pioneering technologies and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions in advancing clinical trials involving radiotherapy. As the field of radiotherapy evolves, the integration of cutting-edge approaches such as radiopharmaceutical dosimetry, FLASH radiotherapy, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), and AI promises to improve treatment planning, patient care, and outcomes. Additionally, recent advancements in quantum science, linear energy transfer/relative biological effect (LET/RBE), and the combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy create new avenues for innovation in clinical trials.

High-Grade Astrocytoma With Piloid Features.

Context.—: High-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP) is a newly recognized glioma defined by its methylation profile. Understanding of its clinical, histologic, and molecular characteristics continues to evolve.

Massively parallel reporter assay investigates shared genetic variants of eight psychiatric disorders.

A meta-genome-wide association study across eight psychiatric disorders has highlighted the genetic architecture of pleiotropy in major psychiatric disorders. However, mechanisms underlying pleiotropic effects of the associated variants remain to be explored. We conducted a massively parallel reporter assay to decode the regulatory logic of variants with pleiotropic and disorder-specific effects.

Impact of Subsequent Fellowship on Urology Chief Resident Case Log Volumes.

Objective: To characterize the impact of subsequent fellowship on the case log experience of trainees throughout their residency and specifically their chief resident year.

Materials And Methods: Urology resident case logs from 2010 to 2022 were obtained from 13 institutions for total residency and chief years. Five categorized index procedures were included for analysis: General Urology; Endourology; Reconstructive Urology; Urologic Oncology; and Pediatric Urology.

Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry for Top-Down Proteomics.

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based top-down proteomics (TDP) characterizes proteoforms in cells, tissues, and biological fluids (e.g., human plasma) to better our understanding of protein function and to discover new protein biomarkers for disease diagnosis and therapeutic development.

Development and Implementation of Oral Anticancer Agent Tools for a Thematic Quality Improvement Program: A Collaboration Between Hematology Oncology Pharmacist Association and ASCO Quality Training Program.

Purpose: The Hematology Oncology Pharmacist Association Oral Chemotherapy Collaborative (HOPA OCC) developed practice-based tools to use in program development and improvement for the management of patients receiving oral anticancer agents (OAAs).

Methods: These tools include a baseline OAA program assessment, clinical OAA adherence tool, and OAA dashboard. HOPA OCC distributed these tools to teams participating in the 6-month HOPA ASCO Quality Training Programs (QTPs).

Outpatient Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Intensity: Linking Massachusetts Cancer Registry with All-Payer Claims.

Background: Early palliative care is associated with better outcomes for patients with advanced-stage cancers. Using a novel data linkage, we assessed outpatient palliative care use before death and its association with end-of-life care intensity and variation across eight provider networks.

Methods: We linked Massachusetts Cancer Registry and the All-Payer Claims Database for individuals with commercial insurance, Medicaid or Medicare Advantage diagnosed with colorectal, lung, prostate, and breast cancers from 2010 through 2013 who died by December 31, 2014.

Neonatal but not Juvenile Gene Therapy Reduces Seizures and Prolongs Lifespan in SCN1B-Dravet Syndrome Mice.

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) that begins in the first year of life. While most cases of DS are caused by variants in SCN1A, variants in SCN1B, encoding voltage-gated sodium channel β1 subunits, are also linked to DS or to the more severe early infantile DEE. Both disorders fall under the OMIM term DEE52.

A Pilot Intervention to Prevent Financial Exploitation.

Objectives: Based on previous empirical research on financial stressors and resources and using a prevention science framework, this pilot study examined the effect and acceptability of a three-session older adult financial exploitation prevention intervention.

Methods: Forty-five older adults participated in the study. Each participant completed three 30- to 45-minute sessions.

Third Proceedings of The North American Airway Collaborative (NoAAC): Consensus Statement on Trial Design for Airway Stenosis.

Importance: Airway stenosis is a rare but debilitating disorder that significantly degrades the quality of life in affected patients. Treatments are primarily surgical, and disease management lacks established medical therapies. The North American Airway Collaborative held its third symposium at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 15, 2024, focused on strategies to advance the care of these patients.

Violence against women and girls research: Leveraging gains across disciplines.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, linked to numerous health, economic, and human rights outcomes. Target 5.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for elimination of all forms of VAWG; however, progress toward achieving this goal has been inadequate.

Impact of preoperative frailty status on decision regret following elective hernia repair.

Purpose: Decision regret following hernia repair is common, particularly for patients who experience complications. Frailty is a risk factor for complications, but whether frailty is independently associated with regret remains unknown.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative Core Optimization Hernia Registry, a representative sample of adult patients from > 70 hospitals across Michigan.

Contexts, people, and work designs: Developing and testing a multilevel theory for understanding variability in work design consequences.

Work design scholarship has demonstrated that work characteristics are important determinants of a wide range of individual outcomes including well-being, motivation, satisfaction, and performance. Yet this scholarship has also revealed substantial and unaccounted for variance in these effects, prompting calls for theory and research that applies multilevel and contextual perspectives to expand our understanding of work designs. We develop theory that spans occupation, job, and individual levels to connect the influences of both context and personal attributes (e.

Jan and mini-Jan, a model system for potato functional genomics.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the third-most important food crop in the world. Although the potato genome has been fully sequenced, functional genomics research of potato lags behind that of other major food crops, largely due to the lack of a model experimental potato line. Here, we present a diploid potato line, 'Jan,' which possesses all essential characteristics for facile functional genomics studies.

Stakeholder Perceptions of Digital Nutrition Education Modules on Infant Feeding in Home Visiting Programs.

Objective: Evaluate the usability and acceptability of a digital infant feeding module for use in a home visiting program.

Methods: Home visitors (n = 11) and mothers (n = 10) completed a qualitative interview while viewing a digital nutrition education module on infant feeding. Quantitative data were collected using the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire.

Consensus on Safe Initiation and Monitoring of Transanal Irrigation to Optimize Adherence With Therapy.

Background: Transanal irrigation is a well-established minimally invasive therapy that addresses symptoms of both constipation and incontinence. The therapy has been extended from just neurogenic bowel dysfunction patients to those with disorders of brain-gut interaction and postsurgical conditions.

Aim: To summarized the literature on transanal irrigation and update the contraindication profile.

Inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell PERK/ATF4 ER stress signaling protects against abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are a life-threatening cardiovascular disease for which there is a lack of effective therapy preventing aortic rupture. During AAA formation, pathological vascular remodeling is driven by vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) dysfunction and apoptosis, for which the mechanisms regulating loss of VSMCs within the aortic wall remain poorly defined. Using single-cell RNA-Seq of human AAA tissues, we identified increased activation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress response pathway, PERK/eIF2α/ATF4, in aortic VSMCs resulting in upregulation of an apoptotic cellular response.

Impact of Scleroderma-Associated Autoantibodies on Clinical Outcome Assessments: Post Hoc Analysis From a Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Phase 3 Trial of Tocilizumab in Scleroderma.

Objective: Scleroderma-associated autoantibodies (SSc-Abs) are specific in participants (pts) with systemic sclerosis and are associated with organ involvement. Our objective was to assess the influence of baseline SSc-Abs on the trajectories of the clinical outcome assessments (COAs) in a phase III randomized controlled trial.

Methods: We used data on both the groups who received placebo (Pbo) and tocilizumab from the focuSSced trial.

Developing : A Virtual Peer-Support Wellness Intervention by and for Trans/Gender Diverse Michiganders.

The U.S. trans/gender diverse (TGD) community experiences considerable mental health disparities and barriers to health care.

Bayesian Sample Size Calculation in Small n, Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trials (snSMART).

A recent study design for clinical trials with small sample sizes is the small n, sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (snSMART). An snSMART design has been previously proposed to compare the efficacy of two dose levels versus placebo. In such a trial, participants are initially randomized to receive either low dose, high dose or placebo in stage 1.

Re-defining the interpretation of 24-h urine studies for stone formers.

Objectives: To identify associations between 24-h urine abnormalities and clinical risk factors for recurrent stone formers.

Patients And Methods: The Registry for Stones of the Kidney and Ureter was queried for all patients who underwent 24-h urine studies. Patients were categorised by the number of clinical risk factors for recurrent stone disease.

Magnetophononics and the chiral phonon misnomer.

The direct, ultrafast excitation of polar phonons with electromagnetic radiation is a potent strategy for controlling the properties of a wide range of materials, particularly in the context of influencing their magnetic behavior. Here, we show that, contrary to common perception, the origin of phonon-induced magnetic activity does not stem from the Maxwellian fields resulting from the motion of the ions themselves or the effect their motion exerts on the electron subsystem. Through the mechanism of electron-phonon coupling, a coherent state of circularly polarized phonons generates substantial non-Maxwellian fields that disrupt time-reversal symmetry, effectively emulating the behavior of authentic magnetic fields.