Progress and emerging strategies to preserve function in the treatment of sinonasal cancer.

The sinonasal structures and their adjacent organs host several functions including vision, olfaction, nasal respiration and filtration, secretory immunity, facial expression, articulation, and oral deglutition. We reviewed the current evidence supporting functional preservation in sinonasal cancer treatment. Primary surgery with or without adjuvant modalities continues to be the standard of care for sinonasal cancer.

Allogeneic cord blood regulatory T cells decrease dsDNA antibody and improve albuminuria in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Lupus nephritis (LN) constitutes the most severe organ manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), where pathogenic T cells have been identified to play an essential role in 'helping' B cells to make autoantibodies and produce inflammatory cytokines that drive kidney injury in SLE. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), responsible for decreasing inflammation, are defective and decreased in SLE and have been associated with disease progression. We hypothesize that treatment with allogeneic, healthy Tregs derived from umbilical cord blood (UCB) may arrest such an inflammatory process and protect against kidney damage.

Microstructural Organization of Distributed White Matter Associated With Fine Motor Control in US Service Members With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is the most common form of brain injury. While most individuals recover from mTBI, roughly 20% experience persistent symptoms, potentially including reduced fine motor control. We investigate relationships between regional white matter organization and subcortical volumes associated with performance on the Grooved Pegboard (GPB) test in a large cohort of military Service Members and Veterans (SM&Vs) with and without a history of mTBI(s).

The genome of Anoplarchus purpurescens (Stichaeidae) reflects its carnivorous diet.

Digestion is driven by digestive enzymes and digestive enzyme gene copy number can provide insights on the genomic underpinnings of dietary specialization. The "Adaptive Modulation Hypothesis" (AMH) proposes that digestive enzyme activity, which increases with increased gene copy number, should correlate with substrate quantity in the diet. To test the AMH and reveal some of the genetics of herbivory vs carnivory, we sequenced, assembled, and annotated the genome of Anoplarchus purpurescens, a carnivorous prickleback fish in the family Stichaeidae, and compared the gene copy number for key digestive enzymes to that of Cebidichthys violaceus, a herbivorous fish from the same family.

Atezolizumab for Advanced Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma.

Background: Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare soft-tissue sarcoma with a poor prognosis and no established therapy. Recently, encouraging responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors have been reported.

Methods: We conducted an investigator-initiated, multicenter, single-group, phase 2 study of the anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) agent atezolizumab in adult and pediatric patients with advanced ASPS.

Precision modulation of dysbiotic adult microbiomes with a human-milk-derived synbiotic reshapes gut microbial composition and metabolites.

Manipulation of the gut microbiome using live biotherapeutic products shows promise for clinical applications but remains challenging to achieve. Here, we induced dysbiosis in 56 healthy volunteers using antibiotics to test a synbiotic comprising the infant gut microbe, Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis (B. infantis), and human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).

Development and benchmarking diffusion magnetic resonance imaging analysis for integration into radiation treatment planning.

Purpose: The rising promise in the utility of advanced multi-parametric magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in radiotherapy (RT) treatment planning creates a necessity for testing and enhancing the accuracy of quantitative imaging analysis. Standardizing the analysis of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to generate meaningful and reproducible apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) lays the requisite needed for clinical integration. The aim of the demonstrated work is to benchmark the generation of the ADC and FA parametric map analyses using integrated tools in a commercial treatment planning system against the currently used ones.

Updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on primary outpatient thromboprophylaxis in patients with gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers receiving chemotherapy.

Advanced gastric cancer is a highly thrombogenic cancer per Khorana score. Recent clinical practice guidelines suggest primary outpatient thromboprophylaxis (POTP) for patients with a Khorana score ≥2. We performed an updated meta-analysis to evaluate the benefit of POTP in patients with gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancers receiving chemotherapy.

Ceramide as an endothelial cell surface receptor and a lung-specific lipid vascular target for circulating ligands.

The vascular endothelium from individual organs is functionally specialized, and it displays a unique set of accessible molecular targets. These serve as endothelial cell receptors to affinity ligands. To date, all identified vascular receptors have been proteins.

Interruption of p53-MDM2 Interaction by Nutlin-3a in Human Lymphoma Cell Models Initiates a Cell-Dependent Global Effect on Transcriptome and Proteome Level.

In most lymphomas, p53 signaling pathway is inactivated by various mechanisms independent to p53 gene mutations or deletions. In many cases, p53 function is largely regulated by alterations in the protein abundance levels by the action of E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase MDM2, targeting p53 to proteasome-mediated degradation. In the present study, an integrating transcriptomics and proteomics analysis was employed to investigate the effect of p53 activation by a small-molecule MDM2-antagonist, nutlin-3a, on three lymphoma cell models following p53 activation.

From the archives of MD Anderson Cancer Center: Sporadic Burkitt lymphoma with a complex karyotype and SOX11 expression.

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a mature B-cell neoplasm arising from germinal center B-cells. There are three epidemiological variants of which the sporadic variant is most prevalent in developed countries representing 1-2 % of all lymphomas in adults. Patients usually present with bulky abdominal masses and ~ 30 % have bone marrow involvement.

The lateral forearm flap versus traditional upper extremity flaps: A comparison of donor site morbidity and flap thickness.

Introduction: The lateral forearm flap (LFF) is a thin fasciocutaneous flap with a donor site that can be closed primarily.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of donor site morbidity and hand function was performed in patients who underwent a radial forearm flap (RFF), ulnar artery perforator flap (UAPF), or LFF. Flap thickness was evaluated radiographically in 50 control patients.

Current status of sinonasal cancer survivorship care.

Sinonasal cancer is a heterogeneous orphan disease of diverse histologies, each with distinct clinical, oncologic, and toxicity profiles. Because of the comparative rarity of these cancers, sinonasal cancers are treated as a grouped diagnosis despite their clinical and biological heterogeneity. Multimodality treatment with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy is the standard-of-care for advanced-stage patients but there are few surveillance or follow-up practice guidelines or formalized survivorship care pathways.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients With Multiple Myeloma Who Developed Therapy-Related Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome After Autologous Cell Transplantation.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who undergo high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (Auto-HCT) have an increased risk of developing therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (t-MDS/AML). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all MM patients who underwent an Auto-HCT at our institution between 1 January and 31 December 2018 and later developed t-MDS/AML. Among the 2982 patients who underwent at least 1 Auto-HCT, 55 (2%) developed t-MDS/AML (MDS, n = 52; AML, n = 3).

Pharyngeal Reconstruction Methods to Reduce the Risk of Pharyngocutaneous Fistula After Primary Total Laryngectomy: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: The most common early postoperative complication after total laryngectomy (TL) is pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF). Rates of PCF are higher in patients who undergo salvage TL compared with primary TL. Published meta-analyses include heterogeneous studies making the conclusions difficult to interpret.