Bone Marrow Stroma Co-cultivation Model of Breast Cancer Dormancy.

Breast cancer cells metastasize to the bone marrow before a primary tumor is detected. Most micrometastases die in this hostile microenvironment, but some survive and enter a state of dormancy and chemoresistance due to their close interaction with cells in the bone marrow hematopoietic niche. Over many years, some of the cells reawaken and result in metastatic disease that cannot be cured.

Correction: Wieder, R.; Adam, N. Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Treatments and Adverse Events in the SEER-Medicare Data. 2023, , 4333.

[...

Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Treatments and Adverse Events in the SEER-Medicare Data.

Despite lower incidence rates, African American (AA) patients have shorter survival from breast cancer (BC) than white (W) patients. Multiple factors contribute to decreased survival, including screening disparities, later presentation, and access to care. Disparities in adverse events (AEs) may contribute to delayed or incomplete treatment, earlier recurrence, and shortened survival.

Awakening of Dormant Breast Cancer Cells in the Bone Marrow.

Up to 40% of patients with breast cancer (BC) have metastatic cells in the bone marrow (BM) at the initial diagnosis of localized disease. Despite definitive systemic adjuvant therapy, these cells survive in the BM microenvironment, enter a dormant state and recur stochastically for more than 20 years. Once they begin to proliferate, recurrent macrometastases are not curable, and patients generally succumb to their disease.

Fibroblasts as Turned Agents in Cancer Progression.

Differentiated epithelial cells reside in the homeostatic microenvironment of the native organ stroma. The stroma supports their normal function, their G differentiated state, and their expansion/contraction through the various stages of the life cycle and physiologic functions of the host. When malignant transformation begins, the microenvironment tries to suppress and eliminate the transformed cells, while cancer cells, in turn, try to resist these suppressive efforts.

Stromal Co-Cultivation for Modeling Breast Cancer Dormancy in the Bone Marrow.

Cancers metastasize to the bone marrow before primary tumors can be detected. Bone marrow micrometastases are resistant to therapy, and while they are able to remain dormant for decades, they recur steadily and result in incurable metastatic disease. The bone marrow microenvironment maintains the dormancy and chemoresistance of micrometastases through interactions with multiple cell types and through structural and soluble factors.

Drug repositioning for cancer in the era of AI, big omics, and real-world data.

Drug repositioning in cancer has been pursued for years because of slowing drug development, increasing costs, and the availability of drugs licensed for other indications with anticancer effects in the laboratory. Repositioning has encountered obstacles due to generally insufficient single-agent clinical anticancer effects of licensed drugs and a subsequent reluctance by pharmaceutical companies to invest in phase III combination studies with them. Here we review potential machine learning/artificial intelligence (ML/AI) approaches for using real-world data (RWD) that could overcome the limitations of clinical trials and retrospective analyses.

Radiation Oncologists' Views on Breast Radiation Therapy Guidelines: Utilizing an Online Q&A Platform to Assess Current Views on Whole-Breast Irradiation Therapy.

Introduction: Poor adherence to the 2011 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) evidence-based guideline on whole-breast irradiation (WBI) has been reported. We utilized theMednet to assess the views of the updated 2018 guideline among radiation oncologists (ROs).

Methods: We identified 11 questions asked by community ROs on theMednet, a web-based platform, between October 27, 2014 and May 2, 2017 that were updated in the 2018 guideline.

Application of the Bethesda Classification for Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration: Institutional Experience and Meta-analysis.

Context: -Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies have been an important component in the preoperative evaluation of thyroid nodules. Until the introduction of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) in 2008, individual institutions had developed their own diagnostic categories. The BSRTC proposed 6 categories in an attempt to standardize reporting of thyroid FNA.

The Role of MRI in the Follow-up of Women Undergoing Breast-conserving Therapy.

Objectives: Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) represents a standard of care in the management of breast cancer. However, unlike mastectomy, women treated with BCT require follow-up imaging of the treated breast as well as the contralateral breast as part of posttreatment surveillance. Traditionally, surveillance has consisted of clinical exams and mammograms.

Role of Internal Mammary Node Radiation as a Part of Modern Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Despite data from multiple randomized trials, the role of internal mammary lymph node irradiation as a part of regional nodal irradiation (IMLN RT-RNI) remains unanswered. Recent noteworthy data and modern RT techniques might identify a subset of patients who will benefit from IMLN RT-RNI, lending insight into the balance between improved outcomes and acceptable toxicity. We evaluated the current role of IMLN RT-RNI by analyzing randomized, prospective, and retrospective data.

Huaier extract suppresses breast cancer via regulating tumor-associated macrophages.

Macrophages in tumor microenvironment are mostly M2-polarized - and have been reported to promote tumorigenesis, which are also defined as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Here, we examined the regulatory effects of Huaier extract on TAMs using RAW264.7 murine macrophage cell line.

Racial Disparities in Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Breast Cancer Clinical Trials.

There is a paucity of data regarding factors affecting enrollment onto radiation oncology clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to determine patients and tumor characteristics that influenced enrollment of breast cancer patients onto hypofractionated breast radiotherapy trials (HBRTs) at a single institution. In this retrospective cohort study, patients enrolled on HBRTs at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (n = 132) were compared with a cohort of breast cancer patients eligible for, but not enrolled onto HBRTs treated during the same time period (n = 132).

Silencing sounds off.

Silent chromatin in budding yeast is propagated from one generation to the next, even though 'silenced' genes are occasionally expressed.

Genomic complexity: a call to action.

Because of their genomic simplicity relative to mature cancers, pre-malignant tissues might harbor therapeutic targets for drugs that destroy cancers before they appear.

Neighborhood factors associated with time to resolution following an abnormal breast or cervical cancer screening test.

Background: The effect of neighborhood and healthcare access factors on cancer outcomes among patients enrolled in navigator programs is not clearly understood. This study assessed associations between: (i) neighborhood factors and diagnostic time to resolution (TTR) and (ii) geographic access and TTR following an abnormal breast or cervical cancer screening test among women participating in the Ohio Patient Navigator Research Program (OPNRP).

Methods: Patient (demographic, socioeconomic status, home-to-clinic distance) and neighborhood (deprivation, racial segregation) characteristics of 801 women living in one of 285 census tracts (CT) in greater Columbus, Ohio were examined.

No association between colorectal cancer worry and screening uptake in Appalachian Ohio.

Background: Limited data are available on the association between colorectal cancer (CRC) worry and CRC screening uptake, particularly in rural and underserved populations where there is an excess burden of CRC.

Methods: Between September 2009 and March 2010, we conducted a cross-sectional study among a randomly selected sample of Appalachian Ohio residents aged 51-75 years (n= 1084). We also reviewed their medical records.

Autophagy in adipose tissue biology.

Obesity, which predisposes individuals to type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, results from accumulation of white adipose tissue (WAT). WAT comprises mainly white adipocytes that have a unique cellular structure in which almost the entire intracellular space is occupied by one single lipid droplet. The cytoplasm envelopes this lipid droplet and occupies negligible space.

Luminal breast cancer metastasis is dependent on estrogen signaling.

Luminal breast cancer is the most frequently encountered type of human breast cancer and accounts for half of all breast cancer deaths due to metastatic disease. We have developed new in vivo models of disseminated human luminal breast cancer that closely mimic the human disease. From initial lesions in the tibia, locoregional metastases develop predictably along the iliac and retroperitoneal lymph node chains.

Dietary isothiocyanate-induced apoptosis via thiol modification of DNA topoisomerase IIα.

Studies in animal models have indicated that dietary isothiocyanates (ITCs) exhibit cancer preventive activities through carcinogen detoxification-dependent and -independent mechanisms. The carcinogen detoxification-independent mechanism of cancer prevention by ITCs has been attributed at least in part to their ability to induce apoptosis of transformed (initiated) cells (e.g.

Epidemiology of Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Use among South Asian Immigrants in the Northeastern United States.

As the most preventable cause of death in the world today, understanding tobacco use among one of the fastest growing ethnic/racial groups is warranted. We explore cigarette and smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among South Asians in NJ and the Northeast using the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Overall, tobacco use rates among South Asians were similar or lower than the population.

Molecular crowding defines a common origin for the Warburg effect in proliferating cells and the lactate threshold in muscle physiology.

Aerobic glycolysis is a seemingly wasteful mode of ATP production that is seen both in rapidly proliferating mammalian cells and highly active contracting muscles, but whether there is a common origin for its presence in these widely different systems is unknown. To study this issue, here we develop a model of human central metabolism that incorporates a solvent capacity constraint of metabolic enzymes and mitochondria, accounting for their occupied volume densities, while assuming glucose and/or fatty acid utilization. The model demonstrates that activation of aerobic glycolysis is favored above a threshold metabolic rate in both rapidly proliferating cells and heavily contracting muscles, because it provides higher ATP yield per volume density than mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation.

Using large institutional or national databases to evaluate prostate cancer outcomes and patterns of care: possibilities and limitations.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin-related cancer in men. With advances in technology, the care and treatment for men with this disease continues to become more complex. Large databases offer researchers a unique opportunity to conduct prostate cancer research in various areas, and provide important information that helps patients and providers determine prognosis after treatment.

Targeting the Transforming Growth Factor-beta pathway inhibits human basal-like breast cancer metastasis.

Background: Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGF-beta) plays an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. We set out to investigate the possible clinical utility of TGF-beta antagonists in a human metastatic basal-like breast cancer model. We examined the effects of two types of the TGF-beta pathway antagonists (1D11, a mouse monoclonal pan-TGF-beta neutralizing antibody and LY2109761, a chemical inhibitor of TGF-beta type I and II receptor kinases) on sublines of basal cell-like MDA-MB-231 human breast carcinoma cells that preferentially metastasize to lungs (4175TR, 4173) or bones (SCP2TR, SCP25TR, 2860TR, 3847TR).