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Bibliography on: Publications by FHCRC Researchers

RJR-3x

Robert J. Robbins is a biologist, an educator, a science administrator, a publisher, an information technologist, and an IT leader and manager who specializes in advancing biomedical knowledge and supporting education through the application of information technology. More About:  RJR | OUR TEAM | OUR SERVICES | THIS WEBSITE

RJR: Recommended Bibliography 12 Sep 2025 at 01:47 Created: 

Publications by FHCRC Researchers

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center began in 1975, with critical help from Washington State's U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson. Fred Hutch quickly became the permanent home to Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, who had spent decades developing an innovative treatment for leukemia and other blood cancers. Thomas and his colleagues were working to cure cancer by transplanting human bone marrow after otherwise lethal doses of chemotherapy and radiation. At the Hutch, Thomas improved this treatment and readied it for widespread use. Since then, the pioneering procedure has saved hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide. While improving bone marrow transplantation remains central to Fred Hutch's research, it is now only part of its efforts. The Hutch is home to five scientific divisions, three Nobel laureates and more than 2,700 faculty, who collectively have published more than 10,000 scientific papers, presented here as a full bibliography.

NOTE: From 1995 to 2009 I served as the Hutch's vice president for information technology — hence my interest in the organization. Although my role was in the admin division, if you dig through this bibliography, you will find a couple of papers with me as an author.

Created with PubMed® Query: ( fhcrc[Affiliation] OR "fred hutchinson"[Affiliation] OR "Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research"[Affiliation] OR "Fred Hutch"[affiliation] ) NOT pmcbook NOT ispreviousversion

Citations The Papers (from PubMed®)

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RevDate: 2025-09-10

Goya S, AL Greninger (2025)

Distinct Evolutionary Signatures of Human Parainfluenza Viruses 2 and 4 Reveal Host Antagonism Divergence and Phylogenetic Discordance.

Molecular biology and evolution pii:8250741 [Epub ahead of print].

Human parainfluenza virus 2 (HPIV-2) and human parainfluenza virus 4 (HPIV-4) are significant but underappreciated respiratory pathogens, particularly among high-risk populations including children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. In this study, we sequenced 101 HPIV-2 and HPIV-4 genomes from respiratory samples collected in western Washington State and performed comprehensive evolutionary analyses using both new and publicly available sequences. Phylogenetic and phylodynamic analyses revealed that both HPIV-2 and HPIV-4 evolve at significantly faster rates compared to mumps virus, a reference human orthorubulavirus. Notably, while HPIV-2 demonstrated the highest evolutionary rates in the surface glycoprotein HN, consistent with humoral immune-driven selection, the innate immune antagonist V/P gene evolved fastest in HPIV-4. We identified a hypervariable region within the HPIV-4 V/P protein (residues 35-75), which structural modeling placed in a loop overlapping a known interferon antagonism domain in other paramyxovirus V proteins, though HPIV-4 is functionally incompetent in this activity. Expanded phylogenetic analysis across the Paramyxoviridae family uncovered a striking evolutionary discordance: while the HN glycoprotein and L polymerase of HPIV-4 and its two closest bat-derived viruses clustered within the Orthorubulavirus genus, their nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix (M), and fusion (F) proteins formed a distinct lineage outside the Rubulavirinae subfamily. Together, these findings highlight the distinct evolutionary trajectories of HPIV-2 and HPIV-4, raise hypotheses around complex Paramyxoviridae zoonotic events including recombination-like patterns, and demonstrate limitations of current L protein-based taxonomic classification schemes.

RevDate: 2025-09-10
CmpDate: 2025-09-10

Hollis JA, Chan MC, Malik HS, et al (2025)

Molecular exaptation by the integrin αI domain.

Science advances, 11(37):eadx9567.

Integrins bind ligands between their alpha (α) and beta (β) subunits and transmit signals through conformational changes. Early in chordate evolution, some α subunits acquired an "inserted" (I) domain that expanded integrin's ligand-binding repertoire but obstructed the ancestral ligand pocket, seemingly blocking conventional integrin activation. Here, we compare cryo-electron microscopy structures of apo and ligand-bound states of the I domain-containing αEβ7 integrin and the I domain-lacking α4β7 integrin to illuminate how the I domain intrinsically mimics an extrinsic ligand to preserve integrin function. We trace the I domain's evolutionary origin to an ancestral collagen-collagen interaction domain, identifying an ancient molecular exaptation that facilitated integrin activation immediately upon I domain insertion. Our analyses reveal the evolutionary and biochemical basis of expanded cellular communication in vertebrates.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Colegrove HL, Monnat RJ, AF Feder (2025)

Epithelial competition determines gene therapy potential to suppress Fanconi Anemia oral cancer risk.

PLoS computational biology, 21(9):e1012915 pii:PCOMPBIOL-D-25-00389 [Epub ahead of print].

Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a heritable syndrome characterized by DNA damage repair deficits, frequent malformations and a significantly elevated risk of bone marrow failure, leukemia, and mucosal head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy can prevent marrow failure and lower leukemia risk, but mucosal gene therapy to lower HNSCC risk remains untested. Major knowledge gaps include an incomplete understanding of how rapidly gene-corrected cellular lineages could spread through the oral epithelium, and which delivery parameters are critical for ensuring efficient gene correction. To answer these questions, we extended an agent-based model of the oral epithelium to include the delivery of gene correction in situ to FA cells and the competitive dynamics between cellular lineages with and without gene correction. We found that only gene-corrected lineages with substantial proliferative advantages (probability of resisting displacement out of the basal layer [Formula: see text]) could spread on clinically relevant timelines, and that these lineages were initially at high risk of loss in the generations following correction. Delivering gene correction to many cells minimizes the risk of loss, while delivery to many distinct locations within a tissue maximizes the rate of spread. To determine the impact of mucosal gene therapy in preventing the clonal expansion of pre-cancerous mutations, we compared the expected burden of TP53 mutations in simulated tissue sections with and without gene correction. We found that when FA cells have elevated genome instability or a TP53-dependent proliferative advantage, gene correction can substantially reduce the accumulation of pro-tumorigenic mutations. This model illustrates the power of computational frameworks to identify critical determinants of therapeutic success to enable experimental optimization and support novel and effective gene therapy applications.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Haas JS, Todd KW, Mclerran D, et al (2025)

Gaps in care across the cancer screening continuum for cervical, colorectal and lung cancer.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute pii:8250689 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: While screening for cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers reduce cancer-specific mortality, the full benefits of screening are only realized when coupled with timely care across the subsequent "screening continuum" steps, including surveillance (results warranting frequent monitoring), diagnostic evaluation (results that require additional testing), and treatment (detected cancers). Our goal was to describe the proportion of individuals receiving timely cervical, colorectal, and lung cancer care at each step in the screening continuum.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used data from the 10 health care settings that participate in the Population-based Research to Optimize the Screening Process (PROSPR II) consortium and included individuals who were eligible for a step along the cancer screening continuum in 2018. Proportions of individuals who received timely testing were calculated for screening, surveillance, and diagnostic tests for each of the three cancers and treatment (colorectal only), and the association of these outcomes with patient characteristics was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS: The overall proportions of timely screening, surveillance, and diagnostic testing were 41.8%, 37.3%, and 61.2%, for cervical cancer; 82.4%, 45.5%, and 73.5% for colorectal (94.1% for timely treatment); and 73.8%, 80.5%, and 80.7% for lung cancer. Across all three cancers, there were differences across the screening continuum by insurance status, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

CONCLUSIONS: There are important gaps in care across the screening continuum beyond common metrics for screening uptake. Comparison across organ types may facilitate the identification of interventions and policies that could broadly improve cancer prevention and promote health equity.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Gunnell L, Hippe DS, Park SY, et al (2025)

Polyomavirus Antibodies for Merkel Cell Carcinoma Recurrence Detection.

JAMA dermatology [Epub ahead of print].

IMPORTANCE: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is typically caused by the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) and recurs in 40% of patients. Half of patients with MCC produce antibodies to MCPyV oncoproteins, the titers of which rise with disease recurrence and fall after successful treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of MCPyV oncoprotein antibodies for early detection of first recurrence of MCC in a real-world clinical setting.

This prospective cohort study used a data and specimen repository from 2008 to 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Patients with MCC with locoregional disease underwent serum antibody testing at diagnosis. Statistical analysis was conducted between 2020 and 2025.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The first posttreatment titer was necessary to establish a trend and was not used to assess risk (deferred). Subsequent titers were defined as (1) falling or negative, (2) rising, or (3) stable compared with the preceding titer.

RESULTS: Among the 503 patients in the cohort (median [IQR] age at diagnosis, 70 [62-77] years; 40% female), 1402 tests were performed; 247 (49%) were seropositive. A total of 877 were falling or negative, 62 were rising, 317 were stable, and 146 were deferred. Median (IQR) follow-up was 4.2 (1.8-7.4) years. On average, antibody titers fell by half every 3 months among patients not experiencing a recurrence. After a falling or negative titer, the likelihood that a given patient would remain recurrence-free for 3 months was 99.3% (95% CI, 98.6%-99.8%). In contrast, after a single rising titer, the risk of recurrence over the next 3 months was 36% (95% CI, 22%-52%), increasing to 58% (95% CI, 40%-78%) by 12 months and 68% (95% CI, 48%-86%) by 24 months. A rising titer preceded clinical or radiographic evidence of recurrence in 57% of cases (20/35). The median (IQR) interval between a rising titer and clinical disease detection was 3.7 (1.1-7.5) months, with 90% of recurrences (18/20) occurring within 14 months of the rising titer. Recurrences and antibody titers were analyzed in 196 patients with multiple blood draws.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this prospective cohort study, given a negative predictive value of 99.3%, a falling or negative titer may obviate the need for imaging, reducing radiation and contrast dye exposure. Conversely, a rising antibody titer should trigger closer follow-up, as it may lead to earlier detection of clinical recurrence and initiation of therapy.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Wilson MH, Krantz EM, Pergam SA, et al (2025)

Limited yield of SARS-CoV-2 screening in asymptomatic hematopoietic cell transplant and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy patients.

Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE, 5(1):e195.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, screening was initiated in several settings to mitigate asymptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2. However, this practice was later discouraged by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. This single-center retrospective study demonstrates limited utility of SARS-CoV-2 screening tests in asymptomatic HCT and CAR T-cell patients.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Shaik F, Uldrick TS, Mazinu M, et al (2025)

Cytokine biomarkers and their relationship to symptoms and quality of life in people with HIV-associated Kaposi sarcoma.

HIV medicine [Epub ahead of print].

INTRODUCTION: Quality of life (QOL) is an essential component of care in people with HIV-associated Kaposi sarcoma (HIV-KS). Kaposi sarcoma herpes virus (KSHV) promotes cytokine expression and a dysfunctional inflammatory environment, contributing to KS pathogenesis and progression. However, disease-related inflammatory factors influencing QOL and symptoms remain underexplored. This study examines the relationship between baseline QOL parameters and inflammatory cytokine biomarkers in treatment-naïve Africans with HIV-KS participating in the randomized controlled KAART study. We hypothesized that inflammatory cytokines are linked with reduced QOL and symptom burden.

METHODS: Twenty-eight cytokines were measured from stored baseline serum using the Milliplex® multiplex assay. QOL was assessed using the validated EORTC QLQ-C30. Spearman Rho-Rank correlation was used to assess relationships between cytokine levels and QOL parameters, with p ≤ 0.01 considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Paired cytokine and QOL data were available for 68 participants. IL-8 showed significant negative correlations with summary scores, a reliable indicator of overall QOL (rs = -0.35, p = 0.005). Increased IL-8 also correlated significantly with reduced emotional functioning scales (rs = -0.33, p = 0.01) and increased pain (rs = 0.32, p = 0.01). By contrast, increased IL-10 correlated significantly with reduced pain (rs = -0.31, p = 0.01). VEGF and MCP-1 levels correlated negatively with role functioning (rs = -0.32, p = 0.01; rs = -0.30, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION: IL-8 is a key cytokine affecting QOL in HIV-KS. Elevations have a negative impact on pain, emotional functioning and overall QOL. IL-10, VEGF and MCP-1 perturbations also impact QOL. These findings enhance understanding of cytokine involvement in KS pathogenesis.

RevDate: 2025-09-09
CmpDate: 2025-09-09

Selvaraj MS, Li X, Li Z, et al (2025)

Whole genome sequence analysis of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol across 246 K individuals.

Genome biology, 26(1):273.

BACKGROUND: Rare genetic variation provided by whole genome sequence datasets has been relatively less explored for its contributions to human traits. Meta-analysis of sequencing data offers advantages by integrating larger sample sizes from diverse cohorts, thereby increasing the likelihood of discovering novel insights into complex traits. Furthermore, emerging methods in genome-wide rare variant association testing further improve power and interpretability.

RESULTS: Here, we conduct the largest meta-analysis of whole genome sequencing for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), a therapeutic target for coronary artery disease, analyzing data from 246 K participants and integrating 1.23B variants from the UK Biobank and the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We identify numerous rare coding and non-coding gene associations related to LDL-C, with replication across 86 K participants in All of Us. Our findings are based on single-variant analyses, rare coding and non-coding variant aggregation tests, and sliding window approaches. Through this comprehensive analysis, we identify 704 novel single-variant associations, 25 novel rare coding variant aggregates, 28 novel rare non-coding variant aggregates, and one novel sliding window aggregate.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a meta-analysis framework for large-scale whole genome sequence association analyses from diverse population groups, yielding novel rare non-coding variant associations.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Lawrenson K, Kar S, McCue K, et al (2025)

Author Correction: Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus.

Nature communications, 16(1):8237 pii:10.1038/s41467-025-63507-x.

RevDate: 2025-09-11
CmpDate: 2025-09-11

Lim R, O'Connor C, Pan J, et al (2025)

Weekly changes in ventilation response for photon and proton lung cancer patients during radiotherapy.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences.

PURPOSE: Conformal dose distributions in proton radiotherapy promise to reduce normal tissue toxicity such as radiation-induced pneumonitis, but this has not been fully realized in clinical trials. To further investigate dose and toxicity, we employ voxel-based normal tissue evaluation techniques such as ventilation maps throughout treatment. We hypothesize that ventilation change after 1 week of treatment (WK1) predicts for ventilation change at the end of treatment (EOT).

METHODS: For 48 photon and 23 proton lung cancer patients, 4DCT-based ventilation maps were generated using stress-based methods at planning, WK1, and EOT. Voxel-wise ventilation change from planning to WK1 and EOT was calculated and binned by planned dose, and median ventilation change at WK1 and EOT was calculated across all patients in each dose bin. Patients were stratified into 6 groups based on modality and increased, decreased, or stable ventilation at WK1. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to determine if median ventilation change at WK1 and EOT in each dose bin was significantly different from zero. Univariate analysis was performed to correlate ventilation change at EOT with change at WK1 and other clinical factors. A linear regression model was developed to predict ventilation at EOT using a variety of input features including ventilation at planning, ventilation at WK1, tumor response information, and tumor location. Accuracy of the model was assessed through R[2].

RESULTS: For patients that decreased in ventilation at WK1, 90% of photon patients and 92% of proton patients were stratified similarly at EOT. Patients that were stratified as increased ventilation at WK1 were stratified similarly (72% for photon, 80% for proton) at EOT. These patients were more likely to develop Grade 2+ pneumonitis though the difference was not significant when computing a Fisher's exact test. Univariate analysis indicated that only ventilation change at WK1 was correlated with ventilation change at EOT. The linear regression model achieved R[2] of 0.65.

CONCLUSION: Ventilation changes at EOT can be predicted using ventilation information from planning and WK1. Patients that increased in ventilation at WK1 were more likely to develop pneumonitis. Further work is needed to characterize the relationship between ventilation change with pneumonitis development.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Mugwany KK, Saina M, Mugo NR, et al (2025)

Adherence thresholds for emtricitabine-tenofovir disoproxil fumarate preexposure prophylaxis against HIV acquisition in cisgender women: A randomized directly observed dosing study.

PLoS medicine, 22(9):e1004732 pii:PMEDICINE-D-25-00588 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (F/TDF) preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) effectiveness against HIV acquisition highly depends on adherence. For men who have sex with men, a dosing study in the United States (US) population defined clinically meaningful tenofovir diphosphate (TFV-DP) thresholds in dried blood spots (DBS) based on the rounded 25th percentile for 2, 4, and 7 doses/week as 350, 700, and 1,250 fmol/punch. However, divergent efficacy results in the first generation randomized clinical trials of F/TDF PrEP among African women led to several hypotheses to question whether the pharmacology and adherence requirement for oral F/TDF PrEP may be different in cisgender women compared to what is already established for men.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted an open-label, parallel, randomized study of directly observed oral F/TDF PrEP among women without HIV who were not pregnant or breastfeeding in Kenya. Participants were randomly assigned to 2, 4, or 7 DOD doses/week for 8 weeks. Blood was collected weekly, and TFV-DP and emtricitabine triphosphate (FTC-TP) concentrations in DBS and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were quantified using validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. For DBS, concentrations were quantified from a 3-mm punch using the 70% methanol/30% water (70:30) extraction method as the primary process-the same method used for the original TFV-DP benchmarks derived in US adults, and additionally with 50% methanol/50% water (50:50) extraction using punches from the same DBS spot to compare the extraction performance of 70:30 versus 50:50 methods. The primary outcome was the steady-state fitted concentrations of TFV-DP and dose proportionality in DBS and the observed PBMC TFV-DP levels by study dosing groups. Secondary outcomes included the quantitative concentrations of FTC-TP in DBS, TFV-DP half-life in DBS, and the relative TFV-DP recovery from DBS using the 70:30 versus 50:50 extraction method. One-compartment population pharmacokinetic models were fit to estimate steady-state DBS concentrations. Descriptive statistics were summarized as range, means, and medians with interquartile range (IQR) for continuous outcomes and proportions for categorical variables. Fifty-four women were enrolled and randomized. Median age was 22 (IQR, 20-25) years. The observed median (IQR) week 8 TFV-DP concentrations in DBS were 359 (266-464), 749 (596-923), and 1,389 (1,151-1,551) fmol/punch after 2, 4, and 7 doses/week, respectively. At week 8, FTC-TP was quantifiable in 71%, 19%, and 0% DBS samples for 7, 4, and 2 doses/week groups, respectively. Fitted median (IQR) steady-state DBS TFV-DP concentrations were 416 (316, 516), 832 (631, 1,033), and 1,457 (1,106, 1,808) fmol/punch for 2, 4, and 7 doses/week, respectively, similar to previous estimates in US adults. TFV-DP exhibited a mean half-life of 17.5 days (95%CI: 16.7, 18.4) in DBS and steady-state TFV-DP concentrations varied in direct proportion to the dosing frequency [slope: 1.02 90% confidence interval 0.84, 1.20]. The 50:50 DBS extraction method yielded 1.27 (95% CI 1.25, 1.28) higher TFV-DP concentrations compared to the 70:30 method. When the 1.27 conversion factor was applied to the original 70:30 method-derived TFV-DP thresholds, the updated TFV-DP adherence interpretation benchmarks based on the 50:50 extraction were: <450 for <2 dose/week, 450-899 for 2-3 doses/week, 900-1,599 for 4-6 doses/week, and ≥1,600 fmol/punch for 7 doses/week. The observed mean (standard deviation) steady-state PBMC TFV-DP concentrations was 11.99 ± 8.47, 31.81 ± 15.66, and 63.1 ± 28.97 fmol/106 cells after 2, 4, and 7 doses/week, respectively. Overall, oral F/TDF PrEP was well tolerated. No grade 3 or higher adverse events were observed during the dosing phase. The primary study limitation was dosing for 8 weeks, but population pharmacokinetic modeling enabled steady-state estimates.

CONCLUSIONS: Steady-state DBS TFV-DP concentrations from directly observed F/TDF PrEP dosing in African cisgender women participants are similar to previous estimates defined from US-based participants. These data demonstrate that cisgender women achieve similar DBS and PBMC TFV-DP concentrations as men for the same adherence level and validate the original TFV-DP benchmarks to interpret F/TDF adherence in HIV prevention studies and PrEP programs among cisgender women.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05057858.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Blinka S, EY Yu (2025)

Drug targets in prostate cancer: an appetite for KLK2-mediated destruction.

Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research pii:764581 [Epub ahead of print].

Human Kallikrein 2 (KLK2) is a prostate cancer tissue specific protein that is regulated by androgen receptor (AR) signaling. KLK2 was not previously recognized as a therapeutic target as it is secreted. It has now been demonstrated that KLK2 is expressed on the cell surface and targetable by various methodologies.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Rossenkhan R, Giorgi EE, Shao D, et al (2025)

Bayesian estimation of HIV acquisition dates for prevention trials.

mBio [Epub ahead of print].

Accurate timing estimates of when participants acquire HIV in HIV prevention trials are necessary for determining antibody levels at acquisition. The Antibody-Mediated Prevention (AMP) Studies showed that a passively administered broadly neutralizing antibody can prevent the acquisition of HIV from a neutralization-sensitive virus. We developed a pipeline for estimating the date of detectable HIV acquisition (DDA) in AMP Study participants using diagnostic and viral sequence data. Using a Bayesian strategy that combines three streams of data (REN [rev/vpu/env/Δnef] sequence, GP [gag/Δpol] sequence, and diagnostic) where their 95% credible intervals overlap based on pre-specified criteria and decision rules. We evaluated the performance of our AMP pipeline using PacBio viral sequence data from 41 participants across two prospective acute HIV acquisition cohort studies, FRESH and RV217, with twice-weekly sampling. These cohort studies enrolled young women in South Africa and men and women in Kenya and Thailand, respectively, with a high likelihood of HIV acquisition. In evaluating performance, "true DDA" was the center of bounds between last-negative and first-positive RNA diagnostic tests (median time 4 days, range 2-7 days); bias was the mean difference between estimated and true DDA. Using diagnostic data alone yielded timing estimates with a bias of 2.4 days and root mean square error (RMSE) of 7.9 days. These results were improved using sequence + diagnostic data (bias 1.5 days, RMSE 6.9 days), as well as by restricting sequence-based estimation to samples from ≤5 weeks post-DDA (bias 0.2 days, RMSE 7.8 days).IMPORTANCEIn HIV prevention trials, accurate timing estimates of when individual participants acquire HIV can be used to estimate antibody levels at the time of acquisition, which is useful for projecting antibody levels needed for prevention. The results we report here suggest that if sequence-based estimation of acquisition timing is used in future clinical trials of combination broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) regimens or multispecific bnAbs for HIV prevention, a sampling frequency of at least monthly is needed. Moreover, in the samples analyzed here, we observed less bias in sequence-based timing estimation for samples taken <5 weeks post-DDA. This observation is consistent with the timing of immune-driven selective pressures that may negatively impact the power to detect acquisition sieve effects.

RevDate: 2025-09-09
CmpDate: 2025-09-09

Song Q, Zheng M, Li Q, et al (2025)

Intestinal epithelial Ceacam1 deficiency prevents steroid-refractory acute gut graft-versus-host disease.

JCI insight, 10(17): pii:186984.

Steroid-refractory gut acute graft-versus-host disease (SR-Gut-aGVHD) is the major cause of nonrelapse death after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. High numbers of donor-type IL-22+ T cells, IL-22-dependent dysbiosis, and loss of antiinflammatory CX3CR1hi mononuclear phagocytes (MNPs) play critical roles in SR-Gut-aGVHD pathogenesis. CEACAM1 on intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) is proposed to regulate bacterial translocation and subsequent immune responses in the intestine. Here, with imaging mass cytometry (IMC), combined scRNA-Seq with ATAC-Seq, and high-dimensional flow cytometry analysis, we show that CEACAM1 expression was enhanced on IECs in murine and human SR-Gut-aGVHD. Ceacam1 deficiency on host IECs effectively prevented SR-Gut-aGVHD in murine models. Ceacam1 deficiency on IECs resulted in (i) higher numbers of IL-22+IL-10+Foxp3+CD4+ peripheral Tregs (pTregs) and lower numbers of conventional IL-22+CD4+ T (Tcon), Th/Tc1, and Th17 cells in the intestine; (ii) higher prevalence of beneficial commensal bacteria that augment colonic pTreg expansion, with lower prevalence of pathogenic bacteria; and (iii) higher numbers of antiinflammatory CD103-CX3CR1hi MNPs that produce indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and IL-10, with lower numbers of proinflammatory CD103+CX3CR1lo MNPs that produce IL-6. Thus, specifically targeting IEC CEACAM1 represents a promising approach for prevention of SR-Gut-aGVHD.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Malik H (2025)

The viral arms race: an interview with Harmit Malik.

Disease models & mechanisms, 18(9):.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Thakur R, S Al Hadidi (2025)

From Physician-Driven to Patient-Centered: Transforming Multiple Myeloma Care Decisions.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Bashore L, Peterson RK, Li C, et al (2025)

Chronic Health Conditions and Academic Achievement: A Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Report.

JCO oncology practice [Epub ahead of print].

PURPOSE: To examine associations between special education, chronic health conditions (CHCs), and college graduation in survivors of childhood cancer and their siblings.

METHODS: Childhood Cancer Survivor Study participants included 23,082 5-year survivors (53.7% male; median [IQR] age at diagnosis, 6 [3-13] years; age at evaluation, 31.0 [24-39] years; treated between 1970 and 1999) and 5,037 siblings (47.7% male; 36.0 [28-44] years at evaluation). Special education use, reasons for special education, CHCs, and college graduation were self-reported. Primary cancer diagnosis and treatment exposures were abstracted from medical records. Comparisons between survivors and siblings were made using chi-square statistics; demographic and treatment factors associated with outcomes were examined using modified Poisson regression models.

RESULTS: More survivors reported special education use than siblings (26.5% v 8.6%; relative risk [RR], 2.55 [95% CI, 2.32 to 2.80]). Of those survivors and siblings who had special education services, use was highest between kindergarten and fifth grade (64.4% of survivors and 71.9% of siblings in kindergarten-fifth grade, 14.4% of survivors and 12.5% of siblings in sixth-eighth grade, and 9.2% of survivors and 9.0% of siblings in ninth-12th grade), and primarily attributable to learning and concentration problems. Despite receiving special education, survivors were less likely to graduate college compared with siblings requiring special education (RR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.66 to 0.88]). Risk for not graduating college included history of CNS tumor (RR, 1.47 [95% CI, 1.40 to 1.55]), cranial irradiation (20-29 Gy, RR, 1.16 [95% CI, 1.09 to 1.25]; 30-49 Gy, RR, 1.37 [95% CI, 1.26 to 1.49]; ≥50 Gy, RR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.28 to 1.42]), or the presence of a severe, disabling or life-threatening CHC (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events grade 3-4, RR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.07 to 1.24]).

CONCLUSION: Cognitive problems and CHCs increase risk for not graduating college; these problems are not alleviated by special education.

RevDate: 2025-09-09
CmpDate: 2025-09-08

Lee JR, Morehead D, Young B, et al (2025)

Patient and Physician Perceptions of Prostate-Specific Antigen Testing Among Black Individuals.

JAMA network open, 8(9):e2530946.

IMPORTANCE: Black individuals have a twofold higher rate of prostate cancer death in the US compared with the average population with prostate cancer. Few guidelines support race-conscious screening practices among at-risk Black individuals.

OBJECTIVE: To examine structural factors that facilitate or impede access to prostate cancer screening among Black individuals in the US.

This qualitative, mixed-methods study was conducted between September 1, 2021, and December 31, 2023, in clinical and community settings across Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. It included semistructured interviews with Black adults (aged ≥18 years) at risk for prostate cancer with or without a history of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and a survey of primary care practitioners (PCPs) and urologists.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Patient and physician experiences, knowledge, attitudes, and practices of PSA testing and prostate cancer screening were evaluated. Consensus coding and thematic analysis were used to analyze interviews; surveys were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: A total of 29 Black men (median [range] age, 59 [32-72] years) participated in the interviews, and 31 PCPs (including 30 phyicians and 1 physician assistant) and 32 urologists (45 of 63 aged 30-59 years [71.4%]; 40 male [63.5%]) participated in the survey. Interview participants perceived that PCPs function as gatekeepers in accessing PSA testing but may lack knowledge specific to Black men's risk for prostate cancer and hold attitudes about PSA testing that do not support its use. Interview participants also reported a lack of trusted relationships with PCPs to support shared decision-making. While both urologists and PCPs were highly aware of US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, PCPs were much less likely than urologists to believe in the value of PSA testing or the role of early detection to prevent prostate cancer-related mortality (2 [6.5%] vs 24 [75.0%], respectively).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this qualitative study examining structural factors associated with access to prostate cancer screening among Black individuals, findings from the survey supported participants' perceptions that PCPs do not value PSA testing for prostate cancer early detection or appreciate its role in reducing the risk of prostate cancer-related mortality. Primary care practitioner reliance on USPSTF guidelines, which currently do not provide guideline recommendations for screening high-risk groups, including Black individuals, suggests that incorporating evidence-driven guidance for PSA screening among Black individuals into these guidelines may substantially improve prostate cancer early detection among this high-risk population.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Wang LH, Sonbas Cobb B, Riem L, et al (2025)

Electrical impedance myography captures features of muscle structure measured by MRI and transcriptomic analysis in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

Journal of neuromuscular diseases [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Electrical impedance myography (EIM) has been proposed as an efficient, non-invasive biomarker of muscle composition in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).

OBJECTIVE: We investigate whether EIM parameters are associated with muscle structure measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), muscle histology, and transcriptomic analysis as well as strength at the individual leg muscle level.

METHODS: We performed a multi-center cross-sectional study enrolling 33 patients with FSHD. EIM measurements were recorded from bilateral vastus lateralis, tibialis anterior (TA), and medial gastrocnemius muscles and compared to quantitative muscle volume measures by MRI as well as knee extension and ankle dorsiflexion strength by quantitative muscle testing. EIM measurements of the bilateral TA were further compared to histology and transcriptomic analysis (RNAseq) of muscle and fat content.

RESULTS: EIM phase at multiple frequencies was positively associated to the amount of muscle measured by MRI (ρ = 0.48 to 0.70, p ≤ 0.001) and negatively associated to the amount of fat replacement of muscle (ρ = -0.53 to -0.73, p ≤ 0.001). EIM phase of the vastus lateralis and TA was positively associated with knee extension and ankle dorsiflexion strength normalized to age and sex (ρ = 0.45 to 0.60, p < 0.0001). The bilateral TA muscles were analyzed at the histopathological and molecular (transcriptomic) levels and showed that EIM phase was positively associated with amount of muscle (ρ = 0.33 to 0.35, p < .01) and negatively associated with amount of fat (ρ = -0.36 to -0.56, p < .001) by transcriptomic analysis.

CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the hypothesis that the amount and quality of muscle tissue as assessed by EIM is associated with the amount and quality of muscle tissues as assessed by MRI and muscle biopsy, with all measures ultimately being strongly associated with muscle strength. These data provide further convergent validity for the use of EIM as a potential non-invasive biomarker to assess muscle health in FSHD.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Choe M, Kirkey D, Lira I, et al (2025)

Preclinical evaluation of folate receptor-alpha chimeric antigen receptor T cells (FOLR1-CART) exhibit highly efficient anti-tumor activity against osteosarcoma.

Cancer research communications pii:764524 [Epub ahead of print].

Metastatic and relapsed osteosarcoma (OS) remains difficult to treat despite advanced surgical techniques, intensified chemotherapy, and targeted therapies. Adoptive immunotherapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, are in their nascent stage, but remain a viable therapeutic strategy for patients with aggressive solid tumors such as OS. Folate receptor-(?) (FOLR1) has been functionally implicated in OS pathophysiology, providing rationale as a potential therapeutic target. We recently advanced a FOLR1-specific CAR T cell product (FH FOLR1-CART) into a trial in infant AML (NCT06609928) and now evaluate this CAR construct against OS. We provide comprehensive FOLR1 transcript and protein expression profile in OS patients, cell lines and patient-derived xenografts, substantiating its significance as a therapeutic target. We further evaluate in vitro and in vivo efficacy of FH FOLR1-CART in both standard and patient-derived OS cell lines and xenograft models. FOLR1 transcript is expressed in the overwhelming majority of OS primary patient specimens, in OS cell lines, and patient-derived models. FH FOLR1-CART exhibit robust in vitro activation and potent cytotoxicity against FOLR1-expressing OS cell lines and primary OS patient samples. More importantly, FH FOLR1-CART demonstrates potent anti-tumor activity in both localized and metastatic in vivo cell-derived and patient-derived xenograft models, with complete tumor eradication. These results demonstrate a potential therapeutic option for patients with advanced OS. FH FOLR1 CART is advancing to an early phase trial in relapsed/refractory OS at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and Seattle Children's Hospital.

RevDate: 2025-09-10

Wallace M, Mathey B, Yeung CCS, et al (2025)

Coexistence of Essential Thrombocythemia and Waldenström Macroglobulinemia: A Case Report.

Case reports in hematology, 2025:3390770.

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) are distinct hematologic malignancies that have only been reported to co-occur in one previous patient. We present a 64-year-old man with a significant family history for WM who was found to have both ET and WM. He had symptomatic ET, diagnosed by elevated platelets and a positive JAK2 V617F mutation, and asymptomatic WM was found on serum electrophoresis done for screening due to family history. Genomic evaluation of the myeloid and lymphoid cells suggested independent neoplastic transformation. This is the second reported case of a patient with both WM and ET. There was no evidence for a shared mechanism in these dual malignancies.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Nriagu BN, Rosario KF, Hansen S, et al (2025)

Hispanic/Latino ethnic background and genetic ancestry in relation to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk estimation: Findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

American journal of preventive cardiology, 23:101268.

BACKGROUND: Hispanics/Latinos are a heterogenous population with no validated atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk estimation tool. We examined performance of the pooled cohort equation (PCE) across Hispanic/Latino background groups and quantiles of African, Amerindian, and European genetic ancestry.

METHODS: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) was used to evaluate the performance of the non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) PCE defined by predicted to observed (P/O) ratios of 10-year ASCVD events. Risk calibration was expressed as P/O ratios and risk discrimination was assessed with Harrell's C-statistic based on Cox models.

RESULTS: Our study included 966 Hispanics/Latinos [age 58 years at baseline (SD=9); 52 % females], comprising 504 Hispanics/Latinos of Mexican descent (MX), 284 Hispanics/Latinos of Caribbean descent (CA) and 178 Other Hispanics (O). At 10-years, there were 54 ASCVD events: MX (33); CA (13) and O (8). The PCE overestimated ASCVD risk across disaggregated Hispanic/Latino background groups. Both NHW and NHB PCE models performed best with increasing European genetic ancestry (NHW PCE: P/O ratio decreasing from 1.5 to 1.0; NHB PCE: from 2.4 to 1.5 between the 20th and 80th quantile threshold of European genetic ancestry). In contrast, PCE performance worsened with increasing African genetic ancestry (NHW PCE: P/O ratio increasing from 1.5 to 2.6; NHB PCE: from 1.5 to 2.9 between the 20th and 80th quantile threshold of African genetic ancestry).

CONCLUSIONS: Disaggregating Hispanics/Latinos by background and ancestry led to variability in PCE performance with greater overestimation of ASCVD risk for those of Caribbean background and those with increasing quantiles of African genetic ancestry.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Chakraborty H, Sun Q, Bhupathiraju SN, et al (2025)

Corrigendum to "The Dietary Biomarkers Development Consortium: An Initiative for Discovery and Validation of Dietary Biomarkers for Precision Nutrition. [Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 9, Issue 5, May 2025, 107435]".

Current developments in nutrition, 9(8):107517 pii:S2475-2991(25)02978-6.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107435.].

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Giorgi EE, Abrahams MR, Fouda G, et al (2025)

Characterization of Early Viral Populations in Infants Acquiring HIV Through Perinatal and Breastmilk Transmission: A Review of what is Currently Known and the Gaps that Need to be Addressed to Guide Passive HIV Immunization of Breastfeeding Infants.

Current HIV research pii:CHR-EPUB-150431 [Epub ahead of print].

Newborns represent only 1% of the population. Yet, HIV vertical transmissions represent 10% of all new infections globally, even though antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been shown to reduce the risk of vertical transmission to less than 2%. While vaccines still represent the most efficient and cost-effective intervention to eradicate new infections, HIV immunogens that can effectively elicit broad-spectrum protection are still at least a decade away. In contrast, passive immunization with broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) combinations has the potential to provide a more immediate pathway to HIV prophylaxis. Early-phase infant trials are underway to establish the safety and pharmacokinetics of bnAb combinations selected for their potency against viruses acquired via adult transmissions. However, the specific characteristics and phenotypic differences of vertically transmitted viruses in infants compared to those in adults remain uncertain, including their susceptibility to known broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). We review the current knowledge of vertically transmitted HIV viruses, including their genetics and phenotypic features. Differences in immunity between adults and infants lead us to hypothesize that distinct selection and evolutionary pressures act on the virus at the time of transmission and during the early phases of infection, and these may in turn affect the choice of bnAb combinations needed for protection against vertical transmission of HIV.

RevDate: 2025-09-07

MacKay EJ, Zhang B, Beaty JM, et al (2025)

Practice Pattern Variability in the Use of Pulmonary Arterial Catheters in Cardiac Surgery.

Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia pii:S1053-0770(25)00656-1 [Epub ahead of print].

OBJECTIVES: To quantify intraoperative pulmonary arterial catheter (PAC) use during cardiac surgery and identify hospital-, anesthesiologist-, and patient-level factors associated with PAC utilization.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional, observational study using generalized logistic mixed models to examine variations in PAC use.

SETTING: Fifty-three US academic hospitals participating in the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group (MPOG) national registry PARTICIPANTS: 145,343 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2022.

INTERVENTION(S): Receipt of intraoperative PAC, defined by ≥60 minutes of physiologically plausible pulmonary arterial pressures.

The primary outcome was PAC utilization. Mixed-effects logistic regression quantified fixed-effect predictors, and variation attributable to anesthesiologists and then to anesthesiologists nested within a hospital was characterized using median odds ratio (MOR). Of the 145,343 cardiac surgeries performed across 53 hospitals, 104,626 (72%) included PAC monitoring. PAC use varied widely across hospitals (0-98%) and across anesthesiologists (0-100%). PAC was used most frequently in heart transplants (94%) and lung transplants (87%) and least frequently in pulmonic valve procedures (30%). A patient's likelihood of receiving a PAC was influenced most strongly by hospital (MOR, 15.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.98-28.32), with substantially less variation attributable to an anesthesiologist within the same hospital (MOR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.61-1.81).

CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative PAC monitoring is used in nearly three-quarters of cardiac surgeries at US academic centers, with hospital practice pattern the factor most closely associated with PAC utilization.

RevDate: 2025-09-06

Upreti M, Petrosyan A, Thornton ME, et al (2025)

Multicellular tumor-stromal interactions recapitulate aspects of therapeutic response and human oncogenic signaling in a 3D disease model for H3K27M-altered DIPG.

Oncogene [Epub ahead of print].

It has become evident from decades of clinical trials that multimodal therapeutic approaches with focus on cell intrinsic and microenvironmental cues are needed to improve understanding and treat the rare, inoperable, and ultimately fatal diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), now categorized as a diffuse midline glioma. In this study we report the development and characterization of an in vitro system utilizing 3D Tumor Tissue Analogs (TTA), designed to replicate the intricate DIPG microenvironment. The innate ability of fluorescently labeled human brain endothelial cells, microglia, and patient-derived DIPG cell lines to self-assemble has been exploited to generate multicellular 3D TTAs that mimic tissue-like microstructures, enabling an in- depth exploration of the spatio-temporal dynamics between neoplastic and stromal cells. The 3D-TTA model recapitulates clinical patterns of DIPG growth, evidenced by resistance to chemotherapy, HDAC and proteasome inhibitors, as well as sensitization to the antibody-activated innate immune microenvironment including complement proteins and surrounding microglia. Multimodal fluorescence imaging platforms integrated with high-throughput omics revealed that alterations in tumor cell motility and growth in the 3D-TTA model compared to tumor cell only spheroids correlated with specific transcriptomic and proteomic changes. STAT3, ITGA5, LGALS1, SOD2, MVP, and CLIC1, associated with microenvironment signaling, DNA replication, and immune regulation, were identified as potential novel targets in the 3D model. The results indicate that the 3D TTA platform developed here represents a powerful tool for preclinical studies, paving the way for identification/validation of tissue specific biomarkers and novel drug targets, thus advancing disease management strategies for DIPG in children.

RevDate: 2025-09-06

de la Calle CM, Jing Y, Fountain J, et al (2025)

Family History of Prostate, Breast, Ovarian, and/or Pancreatic Cancer and Associations with Grade Reclassification in a Large Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance Cohort.

European urology oncology pii:S2588-9311(25)00200-7 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The effect of family history (FH) on prostate cancer active surveillance outcomes is unknown. Our objective is to evaluate FH of prostate, breast, ovarian, and/or pancreatic cancer in a large prospective active surveillance cohort.

METHODS: Patients with recorded FH data (N = 1421) were selected. Association between grade reclassification to Gleason grade (GG) ≥2 and GG ≥3, and FH of prostate cancer (FH-Pr); FH of breast, ovarian, and/or pancreatic cancer (FH-BOPa); and FH-Pr and/or FH-BOPa in first-degree relatives was evaluated by a competing risk analysis. Association with adverse pathologic features (APFs; GG ≥3, seminal vesicle, and/or lymph node involvement) at radical prostatectomy was assessed with multivariable logistic regression.

KEY FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS: Of the 1421 patients, 41/362 (11.3%) with FH-Pr, 37/336 (11.0%) with FH-BOPa, and 67/600 (11.2%) with FH-Pr and/or FH-BOPa were reclassified to GG ≥3. FH-Pr was associated with reclassification to GG ≥2 and GG ≥3 (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.49 for GG ≥3 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.02-2.17], p = 0.039), as was FH-Pr and/or FH-BOPa (HR 1.52 for GG ≥3 [95% CI 1.07-2.17], p = 0.020). FH-BOPa however was not associated with any grade reclassification (HR 1.30 for GG ≥3 [95% CI 0.88-1.94], p = 0.190). In the 349 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy, no FH status was associated with APFs. Our study is limited by having information on first-degree relatives only.

Patients with FH-Pr had a higher risk of grade reclassification, including extreme grade reclassification (GG ≥3), but no FH status led to more APFs at radical prostatectomy. Patients with FH can safely be managed on surveillance, but might benefit from closer monitoring.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Ju X, Hannon WW, Kaszuba T, et al (2025)

Determinants of human versus mosquito cell entry by the Chikungunya virus envelope proteins.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infects both humans and mosquitoes during its transmission cycle. How the virus's envelope proteins mediate entry in cells from such different species is unclear. MXRA8 is a receptor for CHIKV in mammalian cells, but the receptor(s) in mosquito cells remains unknown. Here we use pseudovirus deep mutational scanning to measure how nearly all amino-acid mutations to the CHIKV envelope proteins affect entry in MXRA8-expressing human and mosquito cells. Most mutations similarly affect entry in both types of cells, and our comprehensive measurements of these effects define functional constraints related to protein folding and fusion activity. However, some mutations differentially affect entry in MXRA8-expressing human cells versus mosquito cells. Sites where mutations specifically impair entry in MXRA8-expressing human cells are often involved in MXRA8 binding, and we hypothesize sites where mutations specifically impair entry in mosquito cells are involved in binding the unknown mosquito receptor(s). We use the deep mutational scanning data to design loss-of-tropism mutant viruses that are impaired in their ability to infect either mosquito cells or MXRA8-expressing human cells. Our findings provide insights into the species-specific determinants of CHIKV cell entry that can help guide receptor identification and vaccine development.

RevDate: 2025-09-09

Bakker RA, Nicholson OB, Park H, et al (2025)

Deaminase-based RNA recording enables high throughput mutational profiling of protein-RNA interactions.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

Protein-RNA interactions govern nearly every aspect of RNA metabolism and are frequently dysregulated in disease. While individual protein residues and RNA nucleotides critical for these interactions have been characterized, scalable methods that jointly map protein- and RNA-level determinants remain limited. RNA deaminase fusions have emerged as a powerful strategy to identify transcriptome-wide targets of RNA-binding proteins by converting binding events into site-specific nucleotide edits. Here, we demonstrate that this 'RNA recording' approach enables high-throughput mutational scanning of protein-RNA interfaces. Using the λN-boxB system as a model, we show that editing by a fused TadA adenosine deaminase directly correlates with binding affinity between protein and RNA variants in vitro. Systematic variation of RNA sequence context reveals a strong bias for editing at UA dinucleotides by the engineered TadA8.20, mirroring wild-type TadA preferences. We further demonstrate that stepwise recruitment of the deaminase using nanobody and protein A/G fusions maintains both sequence and binding specificity. Stable expression of the TadA fusion in human cells reproduces in vitro editing patterns across a library of RNA variants. Finally, comprehensive single amino acid mutagenesis of λN in human cells reveals critical residues mediating RNA binding. Together, our results establish RNA recording as a versatile and scalable tool for dissecting protein-RNA interactions at nucleotide and residue resolution, both in vitro and in cells.

RevDate: 2025-09-06

Vuong W, SS Lo (2025)

A Case for Widening the Window of Opportunity.

International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 123(2):331-332.

RevDate: 2025-09-05

Moore A, Kane E, Teras LR, et al (2025)

Genetically determined body mass index is associated with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in polygenic and Mendelian randomization analyses.

International journal of cancer [Epub ahead of print].

Obesity has been associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but the evidence is inconclusive. We examined the association between genetically determined adiposity and four common NHL subtypes: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and marginal zone lymphoma, using eight genome-wide association studies of European ancestry (N = 10,629 cases, 9505 controls) and constructing polygenic scores for body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI (WHRadjBMI). Higher genetically determined BMI was associated with an increased risk of DLBCL [odds ratio (OR) per standard deviation (SD) = 1.18, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.05-1.33, p = .005]. This finding was consistent with Mendelian randomization analyses, which demonstrated a similar increased risk of DLBCL with higher genetically determined BMI (ORper SD = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02-1.23, p = .03). No significant associations were observed with other NHL subtypes. Our study demonstrates a positive link between a genetically determined BMI and an increased risk of DLBCL, providing additional support for increased adiposity as a risk factor for DLBCL.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Hong A, Liu M, Truta A, et al (2025)

Gabija restricts phages that antagonize a conserved host DNA repair complex.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

Anti-bacteriophage systems like restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas have DNA substrate specificity mechanisms that enable identification of invaders. How Gabija, a highly prevalent nuclease-helicase anti-phage system, executes self- vs. non-self-discrimination remains unknown. Here, we propose that phage-encoded DNA end-binding proteins that antagonize host RecBCD sensitize phages to Gabija. When targeting a temperate Lambda-like phage in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Gabija protects the cell by preventing phage genome circularization and subsequent replication. Phage and plasmid sensitivity to Gabija is licensed by DNA end-binding complexes such as a phage exonuclease together with a ssDNA-annealing protein or GamMu dimers, which prevent loading of host repair complex RecBCD. Escape phages lacking these end-binding proteins become protected from Gabija by RecBCD translocation activities. RecBCD activity on the bacterial genome also prevents Gabija from targeting self-DNA. Therefore, we propose that Gabija antagonizes circularization of linear DNA devoid of RecBCD as a mechanism to identify foreign invaders.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Ockerman F, Chen B, Sun Q, et al (2025)

An Efficient Lasso Framework for Admixture-Aware Polygenic Scores.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

Polygenic scores (PGS) have promising clinical applications for risk stratification, disease screening, and personalized medicine. However, most PGS are trained on predominantly European ancestry cohorts and have limited portability to external populations. While cross-population PGS methods have demonstrated greater generalizability than single-ancestry PGS, they fail to properly account for individuals with recent admixture between continental ancestry groups. GAUDI is a recently proposed PGS method which overcomes this gap by leveraging local ancestry to estimate ancestry-specific effects, penalizing but allowing ancestry-differential effects. However, the modified fused LASSO approach used by GAUDI is computationally expensive and does not readily accommodate more than two-way admixture. To address these limitations, we introduce HAUDI, an efficient LASSO framework for admixed PGS construction. HAUDI re-parameterizes the GAUDI model as a standard LASSO problem, allowing for extension to multi-way admixture settings and far superior computational speed than GAUDI. In extensive simulations, HAUDI compares favorably to GAUDI while dramatically reducing computation time. In real data applications, HAUDI uniformly out-performs GAUDI across 18 clinical phenotypes, including total triglycerides (TG), C-reactive protein (CRP), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and shows substantial benefits over an ancestry-agnostic PGS for white blood cell count (WBC) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Chu HY, Janes H, Carone M, et al (2025)

Improving the evidence base for COVID-19 vaccines.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Ali M, Correa RJM, Pryor D, et al (2025)

Efficacy of Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) in uncommon subtypes of primary kidney cancer: An analysis from the International Radiosurgery Oncology Consortium of the Kidney.

International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics pii:S0360-3016(25)06192-9 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: While stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is associated with excellent local control for primary renal cell carcinoma (RCC), outcomes based on clear-cell (ccRCC) and non-clear cell (nccRCC) histologies are not well defined.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Individual data of adult patient with biopsy confirmed primary RCC receiving SABR between 2007 and 2021 from 16 institutions in Australia, Canda, Germany, Japan and USA pooled. Patients with metastatic disease or upper tract urothelial carcinoma were excluded. The primary outcome was local failure (LF), based on the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) version 1.1. Distant failure (DF), cancer-specific survival (CSS), treatment related toxicity and renal function changes following SABR were defined as secondary outcomes. Kaplan-Meier estimates were generated for LF, DF and CSS stratified by clear cell vs. non-clear cell histology, compared using the log-rank test (CSS) or Gray's test (LF and DF).

RESULTS: Two hundred and eleven patients with a biopsy confirmed ccRCC (n=167) or nccRCC (n=44) were included. In the nccRCC group, 59% (n=26/44) and 11% (n=5/44) were papillary and chromophobe histologies, respectively. Patients with nccRCC were more likely to be older (median age at SABR 77.2 years vs. 71.5, p=0.009) and to be treated with multifraction SABR (82% [n=36/44] vs. 38% [n=63/167]; p < 0.001) than the ccRCC group. The median follow-up was 4.02 years (IQR: 3.43-4.94) and 4.25 years (IQR: 3.02-5.00) for ccRCC and nccRCC groups, respectively. The 5-year cumulative incidence of LF was 1.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3-4.8%) in ccRCC group vs. 2.4% (95% CI: 0.2-11.0%) in nccRCC group (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.10-8.31, p=0.922). The corresponding cumulative incidence of DF at 5-years was 6.0% in ccRCC group vs. 2.9% in nccRCC group (HR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.04-2.68, p=0.304). The 5-year estimated CSS was 96.4% in ccRCC group vs. 96.4% in nccRCC group (HR: 2.04, p=0.561). From baseline, eGFR reduced by 11.4 ± 13.4 mL/min at 3 years and by 12.2 ± 14.0 mL/min at 5 years. Sixteen patients (7.6%) experienced grade-2 or higher toxicities, with grade-2 fatigue (5.7%) being the most common.

CONCLUSION: SABR provides excellent oncologic outcomes, irrespective of ccRCC or nccRCC histology.

RevDate: 2025-09-05
CmpDate: 2025-09-04

Gui C, Wang JZ, Patil V, et al (2025)

Analysis of TERT association with clinical outcome in meningiomas: a multi-institutional cohort study.

The Lancet. Oncology, 26(9):1191-1203.

BACKGROUND: TERT promoter mutation is a rare biomarker in meningiomas associated with aberrant TERT expression and reduced progression-free survival. Although high TERT expression is characteristic of tumours with TERT promoter mutations, it has also been observed in tumours with wildtype TERT promoters. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and prognostic association of TERT expression in meningiomas.

METHODS: This multi-institutional cohort study retrospectively collected clinical and molecular data from 1241 meningiomas surgically resected between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2024, at Toronto Western Hospital, Canada (n=380; discovery cohort) and external institutions in Canada, Germany, and the USA (n=861; validation cohort). All patients were aged 18 years and older. TERT promoter mutation and TERT expression were determined by Sanger and bulk RNA sequencing. The primary outcomes were TERT expression (presence or absence) in meningiomas with and without TERT promoter mutations, and the difference in progression-free survival between tumours expressing TERT and those not expressing TERT. Survival analysis was assessed using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis.

FINDINGS: Between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2024, clinical demographics and tumour characteristics were collected. Median follow-up was 6·2 years (IQR 1·7-12·5) in the discovery cohort and 3·3 years (1·3-3·8) in the validation cohort. 777 (65·8%) of 1181 patients with sex data in the overall cohort were female; 404 (34·2%) were male. TERT was expressed in 157 (28·7%) of 547 wildtype TERT promoter meningiomas and in 193 (32·0%) of 604 overall with RNA data. TERT expression overall conferred an intermediate progression-free survival, shorter than that in patients with TERT-negative tumours but longer than in those with TERT promoter mutations. In the discovery cohort, median progression-free survival was 3·2 years (95% CI 1·7-6·5) in patients with wildtype TERT promoter tumours expressing TERT, 16·0 years (7·1 to not reached; p=0·0021) in patients with TERT-negative wildtype TERT promoter tumours, and 1·6 years (0·9 to not reached; p=0·039) in patients with TERT promoter mutations. These findings were replicated in the validation cohort. Within each WHO grade, TERT expression conferred a progression-free survival equivalent to TERT-negative meningiomas of one grade higher. Grade 1 tumours with TERT expression had a progression-free survival similar to TERT-negative grade 2 tumours (median not reached [95% CI 16·0 to not reached] vs 8·2 years [95% CI 4·5 to not reached]; p=0·59). Grade 2 tumours with TERT expression had a similar progression-free survival to TERT-negative grade 3 tumours (median 3·6 years [2·4 to 5·3] vs 3·8 years [2·3 to not reached]; p=0·42). Multivariable regression showed that TERT expression remained associated with shorter progression-free survival even after adjusting for TERT promoter mutations, CDKN2A/B loss, chromosome 1p/22q status, and WHO grade (hazard ratio 1·85 [95% CI 1·33-2·57]; p=0·0002).

INTERPRETATION: TERT expression in meningiomas predicted earlier disease progression, independent of TERT promoter mutation and other markers, and might warrant reclassification of meningiomas that express TERT to a higher WHO grade.

FUNDING: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Brain Tumour Charity UK, University Health Network Foundation, Mary Hunter Meningioma Research Fund, V Foundation, and National Institutes of Health.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Beckers F, Karkada N, Yang Y, et al (2025)

Adopting the estimand framework in prophylactic vaccine trials.

Vaccine, 64:127645 pii:S0264-410X(25)00942-9 [Epub ahead of print].

The estimand framework as outlined in ICH E9(R1) has been extensively discussed and implemented in clinical trials of therapeutic products. However, there is limited literature on the application of the framework in preventive vaccine trials, which has many unique characteristics, including emphasis on estimating the per-protocol or "biological" effect. We provide a comprehensive review of the application of the framework to preventive vaccine trials evaluating clinical outcome and immunogenicity, focusing on commonly encountered intercurrent events including but not limited to: noncompliance with vaccination schedule and blood sampling window, infection not meeting protocol definition, death, and use of prohibited products. We discuss various considerations in choosing strategies to handle intercurrent events in terms of their utility in addressing the scientific questions. Finally, we provide considerations and examples for summarizing study estimands and data handling which may be incorporated into the protocol and statistical analysis plan.

RevDate: 2025-09-07

Osazuwa-Peters N, Gao MZ, Kahmke RR, et al (2025)

Preexisting Psychiatric Risk Factors and Any and Long-Term Opioid Use in Head and Neck Cancer.

JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery [Epub ahead of print].

INTRODUCTION: Head and neck cancer (HNC), one of the most emotionally distressing cancers, carries a significant burden of psychiatric comorbidities. While opioids are commonly prescribed in cancer care, the association between preexisting psychiatric risk factors and prescription opioid use in HNC remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that preexisting psychiatric risk factors are associated with any opioid prescription and long-term opioid therapy in patients with HNC.

This retrospective longitudinal cohort study used deidentified data from the Optum electronic health record database, comprising a random sample of 5 million patients across the US between January 2010 and December 2018. Eligible patients were adults diagnosed with HNC. Using a 2-year look-back prior to the index date of HNC diagnosis, patients who used prescription opioids prior to HNC diagnosis were excluded. The data analysis was conducted between July 2022 and July 2023.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Outcomes of interest were receipt of any prescription opioid within 12 months of index HNC and long-term opioid therapy (LTOT), defined as 10 or more opioid prescriptions within 12 months of index HNC. Psychiatric risk factors included anxiety disorders, depression, smoking/nicotine dependence, substance use disorders, and benzodiazepine prescription. Multivariate logistic regression estimated the odds of opioid use based on preexisting psychiatric factors.

RESULTS: Of 20 286 patients with an HNC diagnosis, 11 335 met all eligibility criteria. Patients in the analytic cohort had a mean (SD) age of 57.1 (15.5) years, and 55.4% were female. Within 12 months of HNC diagnosis, 23.4% received an opioid prescription, and 4.9% received LTOT. In fully adjusted models, depression (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.21; 95% CI, 1.01-1.45), nicotine dependence (aOR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.40-1.73), and benzodiazepine comedication (aOR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.22-1.70) were associated with increased odds of receiving any opioid prescription. Furthermore, male patients had 49% greater odds of receiving opioid prescriptions (aOR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.36-1.64). Only smoking/nicotine dependence was associated with increased odds of LTOT (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.21-2.61).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Preexisting psychiatric comorbidities, especially depression and smoking/nicotine dependence, were associated with increased odds of prescription opioid use and LTOT in patients with HNC in this longitudinal cohort study. Screening for these comorbidities during the management of patients with HNC can be impactful in informing clinical decisions that contribute to safer opioid prescribing.

RevDate: 2025-09-07
CmpDate: 2025-09-04

Issaka RB, Matrajt L, de Lima PN, et al (2025)

Modeled Cost-Effectiveness of a Rideshare Program to Facilitate Colonoscopy Completion.

JAMA network open, 8(9):e2530515.

IMPORTANCE: In colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, too many patients fail to receive follow-up colonoscopy after an abnormal fecal immunochemical test (FIT), and transportation is a frequently reported barrier.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of providing a rideshare intervention to patients with abnormal FIT results.

The CRC-Simulated Population Model for Incidence and Natural History microsimulation model was used to simulate the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of a rideshare intervention to improve colonoscopy completion in a population-based CRC screening program. Cohorts were adherent to annual FIT-based screening; baseline analyses assumed that 35% would complete a follow-up colonoscopy. Data were analyzed from November 14, 2023, to July 8, 2025.

INTERVENTION: A $40 or $100 rideshare to increase completion of follow-up colonoscopy.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Lifetime outcomes included the number of CRC cases, deaths, and life-years gained (LYG) per 1000 people screened and costs associated with improved completion of a colonoscopy after an abnormal FIT result.

RESULTS: Four single-age cohorts (ages 45, 55, 65, and 70 years on January 1, 2024) of 10 million people each were simulated. In cohorts with similar sex distribution as the US population (aged 45 years, 50.0% male; aged 55 years, 49.4% male); aged 65 years, 48.0% male; and aged 70 years, 46.9% male), compared with no intervention, using a rideshare intervention starting at age 45 years that costs $100 per ride to increase colonoscopy completion from 35% to 70% was associated with a reduction in CRC cases per 1000 by 26.3% (30.7 vs 41.6 cases per 1000), CRC deaths per 1000 by 32.5% (9.8 vs 14.6 cases per 1000), 24.9 LYG per 1000, and at $100 per ride cost $43 308 per 1000 people screened and saved $330 587 per 1000 people screened.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In a microsimulation model, increasing colonoscopy completion in a population with abnormal FIT results via a rideshare intervention was cost saving up to $100 per ride due to the combined outcome of cancer prevention and early detection.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Ilozumba MN, Gomez MF, Lin T, et al (2025)

Pre-surgery gut microbial diversity and abundance are associated with post-surgery onset of cachexia in colorectal cancer patients: the ColoCare Study.

Cancer causes & control : CCC [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Cachexia accounts for about 20% of all cancer-related deaths and it is indicative of poor prognosis and progressive functional impairment. The role of the gut microbiome in the development of cachexia in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients has not been established.

METHODS: Pre-surgical stool samples from n = 103 stage I-III CRC patients in the ColoCare Study were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina) to characterize fecal bacteria. We calculated estimates of alpha- and beta-diversity and a priori- and exploratory-selected bacterial relative abundance. Using Fearon criteria, cachexia onset at 6 months post-surgery was defined as > 5% weight loss over the past 6 months and/or body mass index (BMI) of < 20 kg/m[2] and weight loss of > 2%. Associations of microbial metrics with cachexia onset were estimated using multivariable logistic regression models.

RESULTS: Higher alpha-diversity was positively associated with cachexia onset, with stronger associations in females, patients < 65 years, those receiving adjuvant treatment, consuming high fiber, or with energy intake outside USDA recommendations (p < 0.05). Porphyromonas (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.26-0.89, p = 0.03) and Actinomyces (OR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.48-1.03, p = 0.08) were inversely associated with cachexia, although the association for Actinomyces did not reach statistical significance. Stratified analyses revealed a stronger inverse association between Porphyromonas and cachexia onset in males, patients with rectal or stage III tumors, those receiving neoadjuvant treatment, physically inactive individuals, and those consuming low fiber. However, these associations did not reach statistical significance (0.05 ≤ p < 0.10).

CONCLUSION: Higher gut microbial alpha-diversity and lower relative abundances of the genera Porphyromonas and Actinomyces in pre-surgery stool samples were associated with onset of cachexia in CRC patients six months post-surgery. This is the first study to explore a link between the gut microbiome and cachexia in CRC patients, providing novel insights into the biology of cachexia and potential clinical interventions.

RevDate: 2025-09-08

Swan DA, Krantz EM, Byrne C, et al (2024)

Human Herpes Virus-8 Oral Shedding Heterogeneity is Due to Varying Rates of Reactivation from Latency and Immune Containment.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is a gamma herpesvirus linked to the development of Kaposi sarcoma (KS). KS is more common in persons living with HIV (PLWH), but endemic KS in HIV-negative individuals is also common in sub-Saharan Africa. HHV-8 shedding occurs in the oral mucosa and is likely responsible for transmission. The mechanistic drivers of different HHV-8 shedding patterns in infected individuals are unknown. We applied stochastic mathematical models to a longitudinal study of HHV-8 oral shedding in 295 individuals in Uganda who were monitored daily with oral swabs. Participants were divided into four groups based on whether they were HIV-negative or positive as well as KS-negative or positive. In all groups, we observed a wide variance of shedding patterns, including no shedding, episodic low viral load shedding, and persistent high viral load shedding. Our model closely replicates patterns in individual data and attributes higher shedding rates to increased rates of viral reactivation, and lower median viral load values to more rapid and effective engagement of cytolytic immune responses. Our model provides a framework for understanding different shedding patterns observed in individuals with HHV-8 infection.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Lawson-Michod KA, Johnson CE, Barnard ME, et al (2025)

Homologous recombination deficiency and survival in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma by self-reported race.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology pii:764497 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Half of ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSC) have homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). However, HRD is not well-characterized in Black individuals who experience worse survival after a diagnosis of HGSC. The objective of this study was to characterize ovarian HGSC HRD and examine its association with survival by self-reported race.

METHODS: HRD features were identified using matched tumor-normal whole-exome and RNA sequencing in a HGSC cohort. We calculated age and stage-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for survival, comparing individuals with a feature to those without, separately by self-reported race.

RESULTS: Any HRD was associated with a 32% reduced risk of death in Black individuals compared with a 62% reduction in White individuals (Black HR=0.68, 95%CI 0.43-1.09; White HR=0.38, 95%CI 0.14-1.04). More of the germline and somatic variants detected among Black individuals were unannotated or variants of uncertain significance (VUS; germline 65% versus 45%; somatic 62% versus 50%, respectively). Black individuals with germline unannotated/VUS were more likely to have tumors with HRD scarring and a first-degree family history of breast or ovarian cancer compared with those without (HRD scar 71.4% versus 49.6%; family history 68.4% versus 34.6%).

CONCLUSIONS: HRD testing informs precision-based medicine approaches that improve outcomes, but a higher proportion of VUS among Black individuals may complicate referral for such care leading to worse outcomes for Black individuals.

IMPACT: Our findings emphasize the importance of recruiting diverse individuals in genomics research and better characterizing VUS.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Merli P, Masetti R, Pigazzi M, et al (2025)

Sensitivity of Pediatric Myelodysplastic Syndromes With Excess of Blasts With UBTF-TD to Venetoclax/Azacitidine.

UBTF-TD has been reported in a significant percentage of childhood MDS-EB and has been associated with inferior survival compared to that of patients with the wild-type gene. We treated three consecutive pediatric patients affected by UBTF-TD MDS-EB with venetoclax and azacitidine (ven/aza) in combination as 28-day cycles on a compassionate use basis three consecutive pediatric patients affected by UBTF-TD MDS-EB as a bridge to allogeneic HSCT. Treatment with ven/aza was well-tolerated, and all patients responded to the ven/aza course, achieving CR with flow-cytometry negativity. All three patients were bridged to myeloablative HSCT. All patients are disease-free and graft-versus-host disease-free at last follow-up. Comprehensive biological characterization of the disease showed (i) high expression of the BCL2 gene, paralleled by a low expression of BCL2A1 and MCL1; (ii) overexpression of both HOXA and HOXB; and (iii) a distinct methylation signature of patients with UBTF-TD myeloid neoplasms.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Gem H, Ebadi M, Sebastian G, et al (2025)

Dental plaque microbiota following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation and risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Haematologica [Epub ahead of print].

Microbiota disruptions have been associated with short-term complications after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT). However, only a few studies have examined the relationship between dysbiosis and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), the main long-term immunologic toxicity of alloHCT. Considering the role of oral microbiota in systemic inflammatory diseases, we evaluated whether oral microbiota at day 28 post-HCT corresponding to clinical recovery from the acute events after transplantation is associated with subsequent cGVHD. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing of 207 saliva and supragingival plaque samples collected longitudinally at baseline (pre-conditioning), day +28, and day +84 from 37 patients (11 with subsequent moderate/severe cGVHD) revealed a significant association between day +28 plaque microbiota composition and cGVHD. Two orthogonal statistical approaches demonstrated Streptococcus sanguinis and Prevotella loescheii in day +28 plaque to be associated with cGVHD. Metagenome-based functional analysis identified 4 microbial metabolic pathways associated with future cGVHD, two of which were highly attributed to S. sanguinis. These pathways - ethanolamine utilization and glycerol metabolism - increase bacterial fitness by providing an alternative carbon/nitrogen source and improving survival in inflamed tissues. Our findings propose a novel mechanism by which the early post-transplant dental biofilm may contribute to cGVHD months later, offering a potential target for early prophylactic intervention.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Cho Y, Zheng C, Qi L, et al (2025)

Causal effect estimation for competing risk data in randomized trial: adjusting covariates to gain efficiency.

Journal of applied statistics, 52(11):2094-2112.

The double-blinded randomized trial is considered the gold standard to estimate the average causal effect (ACE). The naive estimator without adjusting any covariate is consistent. However, incorporating the covariates that are strong predictors of the outcome could reduce the issue of unbalanced covariate distribution between the treated and controlled groups and can improve efficiency. Recent work has shown that thanks to randomization, for linear regression, an estimator under risk consistency (e.g. Random Forest) for the regression coefficients could maintain the convergence rate even when a nonparametric model is assumed for the effect of covariates. Also, such an adjusted estimator will always lead to efficiency gain compared to the naive unadjusted estimator. In this paper, we extend this result to the competing risk data setting and show that under similar assumptions, the augmented inverse probability censoring weighting (AIPCW) based adjusted estimator has the same convergence rate and efficiency gain. Extensive simulations were performed to show the efficiency gain in the finite sample setting. To illustrate our proposed method, we apply it to the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) dietary modification trial studying the effect of a low-fat diet on cardiovascular disease (CVD) related mortality among those who have prior CVD.

RevDate: 2025-09-03

Bakaloudi DR, Koehne EL, Voutsinas JM, et al (2025)

Agreement between transurethral resection of bladder tumor and radical cystectomy pathology in patients with bladder cancer subtype histology: A retrospective cohort study.

Urologic oncology pii:S1078-1439(25)00282-0 [Epub ahead of print].

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Transurethral Resection of Bladder Tumor (TURBT) is a diagnostic staging procedure for bladder cancer (BC). Its pathologic interpretation may be limited by cautery artifact, lack of spatial orientation of tumor specimens, inter-pathologist variance in identifying subtypes, and sampling bias. Accurately identifying subtype histology (SH) on TURBT is critical for clinical decisions. We compared the agreement between TURBT and radical cystectomy (RC) pathology in patients with SH BC.

METHODS: We examined TURBT and RC pathology of patients who underwent RC at our institution. We included patients with pure SH and mixed histologies in either TURBT or RC specimens. Cohen's kappa coefficient was used to determine the degree of agreement between TURBT and RC.

RESULTS: From 1135 RC performed, 650 (57%) patients had SH in either TURBT or RC; 225 patients were (y)pT0 at the time of RC and 36 patients had rare histologies, leaving 389 patients for analysis. 172 (44%) patients had an exact match between TURBT and RC. We found a high level of agreement between TURBT and RC in pure non-UC histology (kappa range: 0.82-0.98). In contrast, we found substantial (sarcomatoid; kappa 0.70), moderate (squamous, glandular, plasmacytoid, small cell/neuroendocrine; kappa range: 0.42-0.55) and fair (micropapillary; kappa 0.38) concordance between TURBT and RC in patients with UC mixed with SH.

CONCLUSIONS: We found variable levels of agreement of SH detection between TURBT and RC. Agreement was high in pure non-UC histology. Further, we found that NAT, completeness of TURBT, and >50% SH at TURBT are associated with the persistence of SH at RC. Future efforts are needed to develop reproducible diagnostic tools for accurate characterization of SH in UC.

RevDate: 2025-09-03

Colbert CM, Kruse E, Jacqmin D, et al (2025)

Virtual radiotherapy plan quality education: Perspectives from a global setting.

Physica medica : PM : an international journal devoted to the applications of physics to medicine and biology : official journal of the Italian Association of Biomedical Physics (AIFB), 137:105069 pii:S1120-1797(25)00179-6 [Epub ahead of print].

PURPOSE: Evaluation of treatment plan quality is a critical element of training for radiotherapy professionals. With the increased adoption of intensity modulated radiotherapy internationally, this training is crucial to address patient care inequity. We aim to evaluate learning outcomes from a 14-session remote training course targeting critical elements of plan quality with advanced modalities.

METHODS: The virtual training course was delivered to over 500 radiotherapy professionals in North Africa. Attendees completed online pre- and post-course knowledge assessments, and surveys of their confidence in core competencies. Paired t-tests, general linear regression, and ANOVA were used to evaluate learning outcomes.

RESULTS: On the pre-course knowledge assessment, attendees scored a mean of 3.97 ± 1.54 out of 10. After the course, remaining attendees' scores increased to a mean of 4.88 ± 1.86 (p < 0.001). Mean confidence scores increased from 2.28 ± 1.22 to 3.70 ± 0.76 out of 5. Confidence scores varied significantly with enrollees' years of experience, clinical role, and involvement in treatment planning (p < 0.05). However, pre-course knowledge scores only varied based on clinicians' current involvement in advanced treatment planning (p < 0.01). The improvement in knowledge score from baseline increased significantly with course attendance (p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS: This course produced positive overall learning outcomes, particularly with advanced treatment planning modalities. Attendees gained practical experience applying rigorous plan quality criteria. The study results support the crucial importance of continuing education and hands-on experience in the rapidly advancing technological environment of radiation oncology.

RevDate: 2025-09-03

Johnson T, Spieler BO, Toskich BB, et al (2025)

ACR-ABS-ACNM-ARS-SIR-SNMMI Practice Parameter for Radioembolization of Liver Malignancies.

American journal of clinical oncology pii:00000421-990000000-00327 [Epub ahead of print].

OBJECTIVES: The practice parameter was revised collaboratively by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), the American College of Nuclear Medicine (ACNM), the American Radium Society (ARS), the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). This document summarizes current evidence-based guidelines for the administration of Yttrium radioembolic therapy to the liver, including training requirements, evidence-based guidelines for administration, and safe practice for administration.

METHODS: This practice parameter was revised according to the process described under the heading The Process for Developing ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards on the ACR website (https://www.acr.org/ClinicalResources/Practice-Parameters-and-Technical-Standards) by the Committee on Practice Parameters-Interventional and Cardiovascular Radiology of the ACR Commission on Interventional and Cardiovascular, Committee on Practice Parameters and Technical Standards-Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging of the ACR Commission on Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and the Committee on Practice Parameters-Radiation Oncology of the ACR Commission on Radiation Oncology in collaboration with the ABS, the ACNM, the ARS, the SIR, and the SNMMI.

RESULTS: This review seeks not to be a comprehensive discussion of radiotherapy to the liver, but rather, seeks to provide a parameter for safe and effective therapy. We discuss the qualifications of physicians involved in this therapy, basic indications, contraindications, procedural work-up, safe-handling, and regulatory requirement for the administration of selective internal radiation therapy to patients that are likely to benefit. The goal of this document is not to define which patients are best treated by these therapies, as this is best determined for individual patients after multidisciplinary review. A consistent and evidence-based approach to therapy, however, would benefit all patients who are offered this therapy. This document seeks to provide a framework for current best practices for the administration of the 2 currently available radioembolization devices.

CONCLUSIONS: As Yttrium-90 radiotherapy to the liver occupies a growing role in the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancer, this review seeks to assist clinicians of all involved specialties to optimize the efficacy and safety of these procedures.

RevDate: 2025-09-02

Malik NH, Plastaras JP, Corradini S, et al (2025)

Reirradiation clinical practice in gastrointestinal abdominal malignancies: an international reirradiation collaborative group (ReCOG) systematic review.

Clinical and translational radiation oncology, 55:101033.

PURPOSE: Reirradiation in abdominal malignancies has grown more common with advanced radiotherapy techniques. However, clinical use and implementation varies, and there remains limited consensus on best practices for reirradiation. In this systematic review, a multidisciplinary team treating gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies within the Reirradiation Collaborative Group (ReCOG) convened to review published literature on reirradiation in the abdomen to offer insights into patient selection, radiotherapy planning, risk management, and assessing knowledge gaps for future development of guidelines.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: A systematic search of Cochrane Central, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, and PubMed up to August 30, 2024, was conducted as per Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Data on patient characteristics, radiation doses, dose constraints, treatment outcomes, and toxicities were extracted. Where feasible, pooled weighted analyses were performed.

RESULTS: Thirty-three studies involving 1,264 patients met inclusion criteria: 30 were retrospective and 3 prospective. The median number of patients reported per study was 26 (range 2-245). Of the reported tumor sites, 718 patients had liver tumors and 277 pancreas, with smaller numbers of mixed/lymph node targets. Reirradiation doses, fractionation schemes, and dose constraints varied widely; only half of the studies provided explicit organ-at-risk constraints. Three studies included patients treated with palliative intent. Median overall survival ranged from 5.9 to 44 months, with a pooled weighted median OS of 19.6 months across 20 studies that reported it. One-year local control rates ranged from 19 % to 93 %, with severe (grade ≥ 3) toxicities typically reported in 5-15 % of patients, although one study reported 25 % lethal RILD in liver reirradiation.

CONCLUSION: Reirradiation in abdominal malignancies appears to be able to achieve meaningful local control and survival in select patients, though heterogeneity in planning, dosing, and toxicity reporting remains a major challenge for establishing best practices. Standardized reporting of doses, constraints, and dose-volume relationships are needed to guide safe and effective reirradiation in this setting.

RevDate: 2025-09-02

Dadonaite B, Harari S, Larsen BB, et al (2025)

Spike mutations that affect the function and antigenicity of recent KP.3.1.1-like SARS-CoV-2 variants.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

SARS-CoV-2 is under strong evolutionary selection to acquire mutations in its spike protein that reduce neutralization by human polyclonal antibodies. Here we use pseudovirus-based deep mutational scanning to measure how mutations to the spike from the recent KP.3.1.1 SARS-CoV-2 strain affect cell entry, binding to ACE2 receptor, RBD up/down motion, and neutralization by human sera and clinically relevant antibodies. The spike mutations that most affect serum antibody neutralization sometimes differ between sera collected before versus after recent vaccination or infection, indicating these exposures shift the neutralization immunodominance hierarchy. The sites where mutations cause the greatest reduction in neutralization by post-vaccination or infection sera include receptor-binding domain (RBD) sites 475, 478 and 487, all of which have mutated in recent SARS-CoV-2 variants. Multiple mutations outside the RBD affect sera neutralization as strongly as any RBD mutations by modulating RBD up/down movement. Some sites that affect RBD up/down movement have mutated in recent SARS-CoV-2 variants. Finally, we measure how spike mutations affect neutralization by three clinically relevant SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: VYD222, BD55-1205, and SA55. Overall, these results illuminate the current constraints and pressures shaping SARS-CoV-2 evolution, and can help with efforts to forecast possible future antigenic changes that may impact vaccines or clinical antibodies.

RevDate: 2025-09-02
CmpDate: 2025-09-02

Willcox AC, Gobillot TA, Kikawa C, et al (2025)

Identification of AMOTL2 as an antiviral factor that enhances the human type I interferon response against Zika virus.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(36):e2507955122.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused multiple human outbreaks, with more recent epidemics associated with severe outcomes in infants. Today, ZIKV is endemic to many countries and presents a persistent threat for future epidemics. The host innate immune proteins that regulate ZIKV replication are incompletely defined. We developed a CRISPR knockout screen to identify host factors that impact ZIKV replication, resulting in the finding of angiomotin-like protein 2 (AMOTL2), a protein that inhibits ZIKV by regulating the host type I interferon (IFN) response. AMOTL2 affects IFN signaling by modulating STAT1 levels and activation in response to type I IFN. Thus, AMOTL2, which has largely been studied for its role in cancer, represents an antiviral protein that interacts with the IFN signaling pathway to promote downstream expression of IFN stimulated genes, resulting in restriction of ZIKV.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Nguyen E, Korolkova A, Ahmed A, et al (2025)

Participant Perspectives in an HIV Treatment Interruption Study in San Francisco, United States.

AIDS research and human retroviruses [Epub ahead of print].

HIV cure-related clinical research studies often include analytical treatment interruptions (ATIs), in which participants pause antiretroviral treatment (ART). During ATIs, researchers closely monitor laboratory values and adverse events. We assessed and compared the perspectives of two distinct groups of participants: HIV noncontrollers and controllers in a San Francisco-based ATI study focused on identifying biomarkers predicting HIV viral rebound. Data were collected from 2021 to 2024 over five study time points to assess motivations, understanding of the study, decisional regret, and partner protections. All participants (n = 16) endorsed the goal of helping advance HIV research as a motivator, about half were also driven by interest in their body's response to the ATI, and some indicated monetary compensation as a key motivator. Most participants (6 of 10 noncontrollers and 4 of 6 controllers) did not view personal health benefit as a primary study goal. All understood the option for an extended ATI if they had not met ART restart criteria after 28 days. At the study's onset, all sexually active participants (n = 14) were informed about the risk of transmission to sex partners and the need for partner protections during ATIs. Among noncontrollers, 2 of 5 reported using condoms, being abstinent or partner use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) during sexual activity. Among controllers, 3 of 5 reported sexual activity: one with a partner on PrEP, one with a partner on ART, and one using other protection methods. Decisional regret about study participation, measured on a scale of 0-100, was low among both noncontrollers (range 1.67-13.57), and controllers (range 8.33-10) during the ATI, and remained low following it (noncontroller M = 5.07, SD = 4.52; controller M = 10.00, SD = 11.31). Participants generally understood the study, highlighted the need for partner protection support during ATI, and reported low decisional regret.

RevDate: 2025-09-02

Velloza J, Ortblad KF, CG Kemp (2025)

"Measuring the gap": advances and practical considerations in assessment of adoption, penetration, and sustainment of HIV prevention services.

Current opinion in HIV and AIDS pii:01222929-990000000-00184 [Epub ahead of print].

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Prior reviews have documented lack of consistency around implementation outcome measurement and gaps in assessing adoption, penetration or reach, and sustainment in HIV research. Our review sought to summarize approaches to measuring adoption, penetration, and sustainment in the HIV research literature, with a focus on the preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) field which is ripe for exploration as long-acting PrEP formulations become available and oral PrEP programs become increasingly sustained.

RECENT FINDINGS: Our literature search of adoption, penetration, and sustainment measurement in HIV research identified 250 manuscripts. We developed a conceptual heuristic of latent and manifest measures for HIV implementation research. Few PrEP studies measured adoption according to our heuristic and latent adoption measurements were often conflated with acceptability, while manifest measurements were conflated with penetration. Most PrEP studies measuring penetration focused on the client level, with fewer measuring penetration among organizations or providers. Sustainment measurement across studies was diverse and included mixed methods assessment at organization, provider, and client levels.

SUMMARY: Heterogeneity persists in operationalizing adoption, penetration, and sustainment. Future work is needed to develop and validate pragmatic and robust measures of these constructs that can be used in evolving HIV implementation contexts.

RevDate: 2025-09-04
CmpDate: 2025-09-02

Henderson V, Carnahan L, Cohn EB, et al (2025)

"The more I know, the more you know" Using culturally responsive marketing strategies to develop tools that increase awareness about clinical trials among Black communities.

BMC public health, 25(1):3003.

BACKGROUND: Ineffective dissemination of cancer research and information among the public contributes to cancer inequities. Dissemination rarely involves efforts to engage non-research audiences and end-users in developing effective messaging. Efforts to promote equity in clinical trial participation may benefit from marketing strategies traditionally applied in the business sector. Black Americans suffer the highest death rates from most cancers than any other race/ethnicity, yet only 5% of patients enrolled in cancer clinical trials are Black. Our team used a marketing strategy framework to create a culturally responsive public service announcement (PSA) video to increase awareness of clinical trials among Black audiences.

METHODS: We partnered with a marketing recruitment firm and a marketing agency to conduct six focus groups (n = 54) with social support networks of Black cancer survivors and Black community members. Maximum variation sampling was used to recruit a national sample of eligible participants that varied in age, education, geographic region, and gender. Focus groups were conducted over three phases that informed script development, script and storyline testing, and sought feedback on the PSA video post-production. We used the Marketing and Clinical Trials Reference Model to guide marketing strategies, data collection, video content development and production. We used rapid qualitative data analysis techniques to identify themes for each phase to guide PSA development.

RESULTS: Partnered with a film production company, we produced a 2-min PSA video that uses professional actors and storytelling and marketing techniques to describe clinical trials, provide relevant statistics, address barriers to participation expressed by participants, and provide credible resources to seek further information. We also produced 30 s and 60 s versions of the PSA to accommodate different marketing media outlets. Participants felt the videos were engaging and relatable and that the messaging was clear. The videos ignited meaningful discussions about clinical trial participation and motivated participants to share the information learned.

CONCLUSIONS: Using marketing communication strategies is a low-tech, pragmatic approach to effectively produce health information that is meaningful, can be tailored for specific audiences, and disseminated to broader audiences.

RevDate: 2025-09-04
CmpDate: 2025-08-31

Cimino PJ, Keiser DJ, Parrish AG, et al (2025)

C-terminal fusion partner activity contributes to the oncogenic functions of YAP1::TFE3.

Scientific reports, 15(1):32013.

YAP1 gene fusions are found in a multitude of human tumors and are the likely tumor-initiating events in these tumors. We have previously shown that YAP1 fusion proteins exert TEAD-dependent oncogenic YAP1 activity. However, the contributions of the C-terminal fusion partners to the oncogenic functions of YAP1 fusion proteins are understudied. Here, we expressed eight different YAP1 gene fusions in vivo. Tumors induced by YAP1::TFE3 displayed a significantly different histomorphology compared to tumors induced by other YAP1 fusions or activated non-fusion YAP1. To assess the extent to which TFE3 activity and the functional TFE3 domains (DNA binding: leucine zipper (LZ) and basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH); activation domain (AD)) contribute to the oncogenic functions of YAP1::TFE3, we generated several mutant variants and performed functional in vitro and in vivo assays. In vitro, mutation or deletion of the TFE3 DNA binding domains (LZ, bHLH) resulted in reduced TFE3 activity but increased YAP1 activity of YAP1::TFE3. In vivo, deletion of the LZ and bHLH domains did not result in a decrease in tumor incidence but induced the formation of more YAP1-like tumors that lacked prominent features of YAP1::TFE3-driven tumors. By contrast, loss of the TFE3 AD almost completely abrogated tumor formation. Our results suggest that the TFE3 domains significantly contribute to the oncogenic activity of YAP1::TFE3.

RevDate: 2025-09-01

Kazemian E, Mo Q, Matejcic M, et al (2025)

Genetic predisposition to persistent fatigue after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute pii:8245275 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Cancer-related fatigue (fatigue) is a common and persistent symptom after cancer treatment, yet the role of genetic susceptibility remains unclear.

METHODS: We leveraged data from a prospective cohort study, ColoCare Study (ie, five U.S. sites and Germany). Fatigue was assessed at five timepoints using the EORTC QLQ-C30 fatigue subscale and analyzed as (1) a binary summary measure of the trajectory from diagnosis into survivorship (defined as severe: yes, no), (2) a mean score across all time points, and (3) the highest (ie, worst) score across all time points. We genotyped samples using Infinium Global Diversity Array with imputation using the TOPMed reference panel to conduct a genome-wide analysis (GWAS). SuSiE was used to identify independent secondary signals. Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) using S-PrediXcan and MultiXcan were conducted to examine genetic regulation of gene expression. COLOC assessed whether variants identified in the GWAS influence gene expression through colocalization analysis.

RESULTS: Among 1,219 participants, 31.0% experienced severe fatigue over the course of their diagnosis. A locus near LINC02505 on chromosome 4 was associated with severe fatigue (rs6531463, OR = 3.25, p = 3.88 × 10-8). When modeling mean fatigue levels, significantly associated variants were identified in or near NEK10 and SLC4A7. Integrative analyses linked the predicted expression of NEK10 in liver tissue to risk of fatigue (p < 4.36 × 10-6). Colocalization analysis identified genetic loci and gene expression near NEK10 (posterior probabilities > 0.9).

CONCLUSIONS: This study identified novel genetic loci associated with fatigue in CRC patients and may be useful for identifying high-risk individuals for preventative strategies.

RevDate: 2025-09-04

Grivas P, Tagawa ST, Jain RK, et al (2025)

A plain language summary of the TROPHY-U-01 study (Cohort 2): use of sacituzumab govitecan after immunotherapy in people with metastatic urothelial cancer who cannot take cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Future oncology (London, England) [Epub ahead of print].

RevDate: 2025-08-31

Li R, Gagliano Taliun SA, Liao K, et al (2025)

Whole genome sequence-based association analysis of African American individuals with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

HGG advances pii:S2666-2477(25)00102-2 [Epub ahead of print].

In studies of individuals of primarily European genetic ancestry, common and low- frequency variants and rare coding variants have been found to be associated with the risk of bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ). However, less is known for individuals of other genetic ancestries or the role of rare non-coding variants in BD and SZ risk. We performed whole genome sequencing (∼27X) of African American individuals: 1,598 with BD, 3,295 with SZ, and 2,651 unaffected controls (InPSYght study). We increased power by incorporating 14,812 jointly called psychiatrically unscreened ancestry-matched controls from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program for a total of 17,463 controls (∼37X). To identify variants and sets of variants associated with BD and/or SZ, we performed single-variant tests, gene-based tests for singleton protein truncating variants, and rare and low-frequency variant annotation-based tests with conservation and universal chromatin states and sliding windows. We found suggestive evidence of BD association with single-variants on chromosome 18 and of lower BD risk associated with rare and low-frequency variants on chromosome 11 in a region with multiple BD GWAS loci, using a sliding window approach. We also found that chromatin and conservation state tests can be used to detect differential calling of variants in controls sequenced at different centers and to assess the effectiveness of sequencing metric covariate adjustments. Our findings reinforce the need for continued whole genome sequencing in additional samples of African American individuals and more comprehensive functional annotation of non-coding variants.

RevDate: 2025-08-30

Necchi A, Guerrero-Ramos F, Crispen PL, et al (2025)

TAR-200 plus cetrelimab versus cetrelimab monotherapy as neoadjuvant therapy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are ineligible for or decline neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy (SunRISe-4): interim analysis of a randomised, open-label phase 2 trial.

The Lancet. Oncology pii:S1470-2045(25)00358-4 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Effective treatments are needed for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer scheduled for radical cystectomy who are ineligible for or decline to receive neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy. We aimed to evaluate neoadjuvant TAR-200 plus cetrelimab (anti-PD-1) versus cetrelimab monotherapy in this setting.

METHODS: SunRISe-4 is a randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial being conducted at 109 investigative centres in ten countries worldwide. Eligible patients were aged 18 years or older, were newly diagnosed with histologically confirmed muscle-invasive bladder cancer (stage cT2-cT4 N0M0), had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1, were scheduled to undergo radical cystectomy, and were deemed ineligible for or declined platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned (5:3) in blocks of eight using an interactive web response system to receive four cycles of intravesical TAR-200 (225 mg gemcitabine) plus intravenous cetrelimab (360 mg) every 21 days or four cycles of intravenous cetrelimab (360 mg) monotherapy every 21 days. Randomisation was stratified by results of transurethral resection of bladder tumour (visibly complete vs incomplete and ≤3 cm) and tumour stage (cT2 vs cT3-4a at initial diagnosis). The primary endpoint was centrally confirmed pathological complete response in the efficacy-evaluable set. As this was a prespecified interim analysis and all patients had not completed treatment, efficacy-evaluable set was defined as all patients who had radical cystectomy or progressive disease or death before radical cystectomy. Safety was analysed in all patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04919512, and is ongoing.

FINDINGS: From July 7, 2022, to May 31, 2024, 196 patients were assessed for eligibility and 122 were randomly assigned (TAR-200 plus cetrelimab n=80, cetrelimab monotherapy n=42). 120 patients received at least one dose of study drug. Mean age was 70·7 years (SD 7·9); 102 (85%) participants were male, 18 (15%) were female, 81 (68%) were White, 28 (23%) were Asian, and 11 (9%) were other races. In the efficacy-evaluable set (TAR-200 plus cetrelimab n=53, cetrelimab monotherapy n=31), at a median follow up of 23·5 weeks (IQR 8·6-42·0), pathological complete response rates were 42% (22 of 53 patients; 95% CI 28-56) in the TAR-200 plus cetrelimab cohort and 23% (seven of 31 patients; 10-41) in the cetrelimab monotherapy cohort. In the safety set, at a median follow-up of 10·2 weeks (IQR 1·1-36·9), treatment-related adverse events occurred in 57 (72%) of 79 patients in the TAR-200 plus cetrelimab cohort and in 18 (44%) of 41 patients in the cetrelimab monotherapy cohort. Grade 3 or worse treatment-related adverse events occurred in nine (11%) patients in the TAR-200 plus cetrelimab cohort and two (5%) in the cetrelimab monotherapy cohort, the most common being haematuria (two [3%] in the TAR-200 plus cetrelimab cohort). Serious treatment-related adverse events occurred in nine (11%) patients in the TAR-200 plus cetrelimab cohort and one (2%) patient in the cetrelimab monotherapy cohort. In the TAR-200 plus cetrelimab cohort, seven (9%) patients had treatment-related adverse events leading to discontinuation of TAR-200 and six (8%) had treatment-related adverse events leading to discontinuation of cetrelimab; there were no treatment related deaths. In the cetrelimab monotherapy cohort, no patients discontinued due to treatment-related adverse events; there was one death from a treatment-related adverse event due to hyperglycaemic, hyperosmolar, non-ketotic syndrome.

INTERPRETATION: Neoadjuvant TAR-200 plus cetrelimab showed a high pathological complete response rate with a manageable safety profile. These results support continued investigation of TAR-200 in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer planned for radical cystectomy.

FUNDING: Johnson & Johnson.

RevDate: 2025-08-30

von Lilienfeld-Toal M, Khawaja F, Compagno F, et al (2025)

Community-acquired respiratory virus infections in patients with haematological malignancies or undergoing haematopoietic cell transplantation: updated recommendations from the 10th European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia.

The Lancet. Infectious diseases pii:S1473-3099(25)00365-2 [Epub ahead of print].

To update recommendations of the 4th European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia (ECIL-4) on community-acquired respiratory virus (CARV) infections published in 2013, we reviewed publications from between Jan 1, 2014, and June 30, 2024 on adenovirus, bocavirus, coronavirus, influenzavirus, metapneumovirus, parainfluenzavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rhinovirus in patients with haematological malignancies or undergoing haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), or both. In the current ECIL recommendations (ECIL-10), we outline a common approach to infection control, laboratory testing, and diagnosis for all CARVs (including SARS-CoV-2) and specific management and deferral strategies for CARVs other than SARS-CoV-2. For influenzavirus, seasonal inactivated-vaccines and early antivirals are recommended, whereas routine antiviral prophylaxis is discouraged for immunocompromised patients. For RSV, licensed vaccines can be considered according to local approval, despite scarce evidence for patients with haematological malignancies and those undergoing HCT. Passive immunisation with palivizumab or nirsevimab is recommended for children younger than 2 years, but data are insufficient for pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis, or treatment of older children and adults. Oral ribavirin or intravenous immunoglobulins, or a combination of the two, are recommended for patients undergoing HCT with severe immunodeficiency scores. For other CARVs, recommendations include only supportive care, improving immune functions, correcting hypogammaglobulinaemia, and judicious lowering of corticosteroids. We highlight unmet needs in immunisation and antivirals for reducing CARV-associated morbidity and mortality in patients with haematological malignancies and those undergoing HCT.

RevDate: 2025-08-30

Bhole S, Grimm LJ, Parikh JR, et al (2025)

Breast Imaging Staffing Shortages: Defining the Problem and Addressing Root Causes.

Journal of breast imaging pii:8244682 [Epub ahead of print].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the current perceptions of breast imaging staffing shortages and contributing factors among breast imaging radiologists.

METHODS: A survey assessing current perception of breast radiologists regarding breast imaging-specific staffing shortages and contributing factors was developed by the Patient Care and Delivery Committee of the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) and emailed to SBI active physician members. Bivariable analysis (chi-squared, t test) was performed between the survey demographics and survey response questions of interest.

RESULTS: There were 309 responses (response rate of 15.7%). Most respondents perceived their practices to be short-staffed for breast radiologists (79%, 239/302), US technologists (74%, 216/290), mammography technologists (70%, 211/301), and support staff (66%, 201/302). Of the respondents who indicated they were short-staffed for breast imaging radiologists, 92% (226/246) believed it was due to insufficient number of radiologists, 67% (164/246) thought it was due to increase in volume, and 63% (154/246) attributed it to both increase in volume and insufficient number of breast imaging radiologists. Practices were more likely to be short-staffed if they had more practice sites (mean, 8.2 ± 7.1 vs 6.4 ± 8.4; P = .002), had fewer breast imaging radiologists (mean, 10.1 ± 9.6 vs 11.3 ± 11.5; P = .009), and were academic practices (35.1% vs 25.7%; P = .028).

CONCLUSIONS: Most breast imaging radiologists perceive their current breast imaging practices to be short-staffed for radiologists, mammography technologists, US technologists, and support staff. Understanding contributing factors is crucial to addressing root causes and mitigating impact on patient care and burnout across breast imaging team members.

RevDate: 2025-08-30

Yu N, Panch S, Mepani K, et al (2025)

"Epitope-based matching for platelet transfusion overview: Is it time?"-Insights and future directions from the 2024 American Red Cross symposium on platelet component selection.

Transfusion [Epub ahead of print].

RevDate: 2025-09-02
CmpDate: 2025-08-29

Urgessa F, Jenkins I, Tsegaye A, et al (2025)

MicroRNAs as prognostic and predictive biomarkers among chronic myeloid leukemia patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Scientific reports, 15(1):31844.

Approximately 1.5 million people worldwide suffer from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). MicroRNAs (miRs) are important regulators of gene expression and offer an attractive option as biomarkers for cancer detection, diagnosis, and prognosis assessment in solid and liquid tumors. To assess miRs as prognostic and predictive biomarkers among CML patients at the Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from April 2021 to May 2023. Blood samples were collected from newly diagnosed CML patients before initiation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), imatinib treatment, and while on therapy. The expression level of miRs were determined using the NanoString platform. LIMMA analysis was used to identify differentially expressed miR between TKI response groups and disease phases. Fifty-two study participants were enrolled in the study. From each sample, 798 hsa-miRs included on the Nanostring assay were measured. Comparing TKI naive new CML patients (n = 14) with those progressed or had blast crisis (BC) on TKI therapy (n = 12), 97 miRs were differentially expressed (|log2FC|, FDR, and P-value at > 1, < 0.001, and < 0.0001, respectively). Most miRs showed upregulation in BC CML patients compared to new CML cases except miR-223-3p, miR-4454, miR-7975, and miR-630 which were downregulated in patients with BC. In addition, eight miRs were differentially expressed comparing poor molecular responder (n = 12) with good molecular responder (n = 28) patients (P < 0.05). MiR-223-3p, miR-4454, miR-7975, and miR-630 were commonly deregulated in BC and poor molecular response groups. MiRs have significant potential as prognostic and predictive biomarkers for CML patients. MiR-223-3p, miR-4454, miR-7975 and miR-630 could be considered as prognostic and predictive biomarkers for disease progression and treatment response if validated by other large studies.

RevDate: 2025-09-02
CmpDate: 2025-08-29

Sung K, Johnson MM, Dumm W, et al (2025)

Thrifty wide-context models of B cell receptor somatic hypermutation.

eLife, 14:.

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) is the diversity-generating process in antibody affinity maturation. Probabilistic models of SHM are needed for analyzing rare mutations, understanding the selective forces guiding affinity maturation, and understanding the underlying biochemical process. High-throughput data offers the potential to develop and fit models of SHM on relevant data sets. In this article, we model SHM using modern frameworks. We are motivated by recent work suggesting the importance of a wider context for SHM; however, assigning an independent rate to each k-mer leads to an exponential proliferation of parameters. Thus, using convolutions on 3-mer embeddings, we develop 'thrifty' models of SHM of various sizes; these can have fewer free parameters than a 5-mer model and yet have a significantly wider context. These offer a slight performance improvement over a 5-mer model, and other modern model elaborations worsen performance. We also find that a per-site effect is not necessary to explain SHM patterns given nucleotide context. Also, the two current methods for fitting an SHM model-on out-of-frame sequence data and on synonymous mutations-produce significantly different results, and augmenting out-of-frame data with synonymous mutations does not aid out-of-sample performance.

RevDate: 2025-08-29

Dahlberg A, F Milano (2025)

Targeted GVL through HLA mismatch in double cord blood transplant.

Blood advances, 9(17):4470-4471.

RevDate: 2025-09-02

Mout L, Moreno-Rodriguez T, Grillo G, et al (2025)

Genetic and Epigenetic Reprogramming of Transposable Elements Drives ecDNA-Mediated Metastatic Prostate Cancer.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.

Extrachromosomal DNAs (ecDNAs), which replicate and segregate in a non-Mendelian manner, serve as vectors for accelerated tumor evolution. By integrating chromatin accessibility, whole-genome sequencing, and Hi-C-based genome topology data from a cohort of metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) cases, we show that epigenetically activated repeat DNA, amplified in ecDNAs, drive oncogene overexpression. Specifically, we identify a subgroup of mCRPCs (20%) characterized by clusters of accessible LINE1 repeat DNA elements flanking the androgen receptor (AR) gene. These LINE1 elements are co-amplified with AR and provide binding sites for prostate-lineage transcription factors, including AR, FOXA1 and HOXB13. Accessible LINE1 elements establish novel 3D chromatin interactions with the AR gene, forging a new regulatory plexus driving AR overexpression and confers resistance to androgen signaling inhibitors. Our findings indicate how tumor evolution is driven by the convergence of genetic and epigenetic alterations on repeat DNA, activating and amplifying them to allow oncogene overexpression.

RevDate: 2025-09-02

Ralph DK, Bakis AG, Galloway J, et al (2025)

Inference of germinal center evolutionary dynamics via simulation-based deep learning.

ArXiv.

B cells and the antibodies they produce are vital to health and survival, motivating research on the details of the mutational and evolutionary processes in the germinal centers (GCs) from which mature B cells arise. It is known that B cells with higher affinity for their cognate antigen (Ag) will, on average, tend to have more offspring. However the exact form of this relationship between affinity and fecundity, which we call the "affinity-fitness response function", is not known. Here we use deep learning and simulation-based inference to learn this function from a unique experiment that replays a particular combination of GC conditions many times. All code is freely available at https://github.com/matsengrp/gcdyn, while datasets and inference results can be found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15022130.

RevDate: 2025-08-29

Nieto C, Kadan-Lottick NS, Ross WL, et al (2025)

Increasing Physical Activity in Children During Cancer Treatment: A Qualitative Study of Parents' Perspectives.

Pediatric blood & cancer [Epub ahead of print].

This qualitative study explored barriers, facilitators, and preferences for promoting physical activity (PA) in children undergoing cancer therapy by interviewing 36 parents of children aged 4-15 years, on-therapy or less than 1 year post-therapy at three hospitals. Key barriers included safety concerns, risk of infection, and treatment side effects. Facilitators included social support and oncologist recommendations for PA. Parents preferred interventions that were flexible, varied, gamified, low-burden, and tailored to the child. Parents also expressed a desire for family involvement, connection to other parents, online social media groups, and activity trackers. These findings can inform PA interventions for children undergoing cancer therapy.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Sandmaier BM (2025)

Profile of a Pioneer: Rainer F. Storb.

Transplantation and cellular therapy, 31(9):599-604.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Boothby AB, Ruiz Lopez JN, Hegerova L, et al (2025)

Addition of ADAMTS13 Testing to Cryptogenic Stroke Evaluation: Index Case and Single-Center Screening Initial Experience.

Blood advances pii:547021 [Epub ahead of print].

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Galarza Fortuna GM, Peres LC, Nazarenko E, et al (2025)

Safety and Efficacy of BCMA directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy for the Treatment of Plasma Cell Leukemia.

Blood advances pii:547019 [Epub ahead of print].

Despite significant therapeutic advances in multiple myeloma (MM), outcomes in patients with plasma cell leukemia (PCL) remain dismal. We conducted a multicenter retrospective analysis of patients with PCL treated with the B-cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA)-directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (CAR-T) products idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) and ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel). We identified 34 patients, 19 patients received ide-cel and 15 received cilta-cel. With a median follow-up of 11.9 months, the overall median progression free survival (mPFS) was 9.0 months (95% CI 4-15 months) and the median overall survival (mOS) was 13.0 months (95% CI 8-not estimable (NE) months). The 1-year cumulative incidence of progression or death was 72% and the 1-year cumulative incidence of death was 47%. Patients receiving cilta-cel had a longer mPFS (19.0 months vs 6.0 months) and mOS (>23 months (NE) vs 9.0 months) compared to those treated with ide-cel. Similarly, the 1-year cumulative incidence of disease progression or death was 37.5% (95% CI 17.4%-68.5%) with cilta-cel, while all patients treated with ide-cel progressed or died within 12 months of infusion. Rates of hematological and non-hematological toxicities were similar between those patients treated with cilta-cel and ide-cel and consistent with those reported in patients with MM. In this first multicenter study evaluating patients with PCL treated with standard of care CAR-T products, we show that CAR-T is safe, feasible, and associated with improved outcomes compared to historical standards.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Hall K, Lazaryan A, Der Laan MV, et al (2025)

Efficacy and Safety of Belumosudil as Compared with Best Available Therapy for the Treatment of cGVHD in the US.

Blood advances pii:546987 [Epub ahead of print].

Belumosudil was FDA-approved in the United States (US) for the treatment of relapsed/refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) based on a randomized phase II trial comparing two belumosudil doses. The efficacy and safety of belumosudil versus the best available therapy (BAT) have not been studied. Applying rigorous statistical methodology to real-world data, this study estimated the efficacy of belumosudil versus BAT in cGVHD patients whose disease failed to respond to 2-5 prior lines of therapy (LOTs). Retrospective data between March 2015 and 2024 was collected across 8 US sites on 196 patients contributing 113 belumosudil and 245 BAT LOTs. The primary outcome was 6-month overall response rate (ORR), defined as the proportion of complete or partial responses based on 2014 NIH consensus criteria, physician assessment, or corticosteroid dose taper of ≥ 50% without cGVHD progression. Death, relapse, and beginning a new LOT were considered a lack of response. Targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) was used to estimate the 6-month ORR following belumosudil versus BAT (38.7% versus 26.8%, respectively, or 44.2% improvement with belumosudil (one-sided 95% confidence interval (CI): [4.4%, ∞); p: 0.031)). TMLE was also used to estimate 1-year failure-free survival (FFS) when treated with belumosudil (61.2%) or BAT (47.8%), a 13.5% difference (95% CI: [1.5%, 100.0%), p: 0.032). Descriptive assessment of safety showed adverse events recorded in 27% of belumosudil and 36% of BAT LOTs. Findings demonstrated that belumosudil improved clinical outcomes versus BAT in cGVHD patients with 2-5 prior LOTs, and safety was consistent with belumosudil's established profile.

RevDate: 2025-08-30

Han Z, Li T, You J, et al (2025)

Varying-Coefficient Additive Models with Density Responses and Functional Auto-Regressive Error Process.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland), 27(8):.

In many practical applications, data collected over time often exhibit autocorrelation, which, if unaccounted for, can lead to biased or misleading statistical inferences. To address this issue, we propose a varying-coefficient additive model for density-valued responses, incorporating a functional auto-regressive (FAR) error process to capture serial dependence. Our estimation procedure consists of three main steps, utilizing spline-based methods after mapping density functions into a linear space via the log-quantile density transformation. First, we obtain initial estimates of the bivariate varying-coefficient functions using a B-spline series approximation. Second, we estimate the error process from the residuals using spline smoothing techniques. Finally, we refine the estimates of the additive components by adjusting for the estimated error process. We establish theoretical properties of the proposed method, including convergence rates and asymptotic behavior. The effectiveness of our approach is further demonstrated through simulation studies and applications to real-world data.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Friedland BA, Browne EN, Roberts ST, et al (2025)

Higher acceptability of the monthly dapivirine ring versus daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa in the REACH trial.

Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) pii:00126334-990000000-00703 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective for HIV prevention, yet use has been inconsistent in adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). We compared PrEP to the dapivirine vaginal ring (ring) among AGYW in MTN-034 (REACH).

METHODS: We randomized 247 16-21-yr-old AGYW (South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe) to the sequence of using the ring and oral PrEP for 6m each (February 2019-September 2021). Participants rated overall product acceptability (1, dislike very much to 5, like very much) after 3m and 6m, and product characteristics/use attributes after 3m. We compared proportions of participants rating each product a "5" (binomial model with generalized estimating equations). We assessed associations between product characteristics/use attribute ratings at 3m and overall acceptability after 6m (Chi-square).

RESULTS: 65% and 41% of participants rated the ring versus PrEP a "5" (adjusted risk difference [aRD] 24%, 95% CI: 15%, 32%; p<0.001). For both products, high overall acceptability was associated with "excellent" self-rated adherence (ring, p< 0.001; PrEP, p = 0.03), product appearance (ring, p = 0.005; PrEP, p < 0.001), and ease of use (ring, p = 0.001; PrEP, p = 0.003). Not worrying about/or experiencing side effects were also associated with high acceptability of oral PREP.

CONCLUSIONS: The dapivirine ring was highly acceptable to substantially more individuals than oral PrEP, although a significant minority rated oral PrEP highly, even after using the ring. As has been found in the contraceptive field, offering AGYW a choice of PrEP products is likely to increase the use of any HIV prevention method in this vulnerable population.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Duong VA, Pan E, Dabral P, et al (2025)

Metaproteomic Analysis to Assess the Impact of Storage Media on Human Gut Microbiome in Fecal Samples.

Proteomics [Epub ahead of print].

The human gut microbiome is a diverse community of microorganisms residing in the gastrointestinal tract. The storage condition of fecal samples may impact the taxonomic and protein compositions of microbiomes in these samples. Here, we performed a mass spectrometry-based metaproteomic study to assess the impact of storage media on human gut microbiome in fecal samples. We evaluated FDA-authorized OMNIgene·GUT (OG), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and RNALater (RNAL) buffers and identified 38,185 microbial peptides corresponding to 7348 microbial proteins, which matched 16 phyla, 20 classes, 50 orders, 104 families, 332 genera, and 453 species. We found a high similarity among the fecal microbiomes preserved in OG, PBS, and RNAL in terms of the identification of proteins, taxa, and functional annotations. Both alpha and beta diversity suggested the high similarity among samples stored in the three media. Nonetheless, we also found some notable differences among buffers regarding the abundances of a few taxon groups. A partial human proteome (over 400 proteins) was identified in the fecal samples, with most of these proteins associated with the membrane and extracellular regions. The findings indicate the similarity among microbiomes in the fecal samples stored in OG, PBS, and RNAL regarding proteome profile, taxa, and functional capacity. SUMMARY: This study thoroughly analyzed and compared the metaproteomes of fecal samples preserved at -80°C in PBS, RNALater, and OMNIgene·GUT Dx buffers, offering novel insights into the effectiveness of these buffers in maintaining the stability and composition of the human gut microbiome. We found a high similarity in the identification and quantification of proteins, taxa, and functional annotations across the three buffers, with notable quantitative differences highlighting subtle yet important variations in preservation efficacy. The unique datasets and findings could offer valuable revelations into the impact of fecal sample preservation on translational and clinical analyses of the human gut microbiome.

RevDate: 2025-08-28
CmpDate: 2025-08-28

Ebadi M, Reddi S, Senyshyn L, et al (2025)

Effect of fecal microbiota transplantation on gut microbiota functional profile in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Gut microbes, 17(1):2551882.

Intestinal dysbiosis has been associated with both the effectiveness and toxicity of immunotherapy in cancer patients, inspiring multiple trials investigating fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in these patients. FMT restores microbial community structures damaged by antibiotics and enriches the microbiota with beneficial bacteria. However, the precise mechanism through which FMT exerts its effects and provides clinical benefits remains incompletely understood. Efforts to date have primarily focused on characterizing taxonomic changes following FMT. We hypothesized that FMT may also modify the functional pathways and metabolic capabilities of the gut microbiota, with possible clinical impact. To investigate this, we conducted a study involving 17 patients with blood disorders who received prophylactic FMT from one of the three healthy donors shortly after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). By analyzing shotgun metagenomic profiles of the baseline, pre-FMT, and post-FMT gut microbiota, we demonstrate that FMT effectively restored pathways that had been depleted following HCT. However, it did not significantly reduce pathways that had expanded, indicating that FMT operates primarily through a restorative mechanism, reestablishing lost functional capabilities in the microbiota rather than suppressing overactive pathways. These findings highlight the potential for optimizing FMT protocols and identifying patient populations where FMT may be particularly beneficial.

RevDate: 2025-08-27
CmpDate: 2025-08-28

Craig E, Keyes TJ, Sarno J, et al (2025)

Annotation-free discovery of disease-relevant cells in single-cell datasets.

Science advances, 11(35):eadv5019.

In single-cell datasets, patient labels indicating disease status (e.g., "sick" or "not sick") are typically available, but individual cell labels indicating which of a patient's cells are associated with their disease state are generally unknown. To address this, we introduce mixture modeling for multiple-instance learning (MMIL), an expectation-maximization approach that trains cell-level binary classifiers using only patient-level labels. Applied to primary samples from patients with acute leukemia, MMIL accurately separates leukemia from nonleukemia baseline cells, including rare minimal residual disease (MRD) cells; generalizes across tissues and treatment time points; and identifies biologically relevant features with accuracy approaching that of a hematopathologist. MMIL can also incorporate cell labels when they are available, creating a robust framework for leveraging both labeled and unlabeled cells. MMIL provides a flexible modeling framework for cell classification, especially in scenarios with unknown gold-standard cell labels.

RevDate: 2025-08-27

Ezzat D, Uddin MM, Xue L, et al (2025)

Clonal Hematopoiesis and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Older Women.

Journal of the American College of Cardiology pii:S0735-1097(25)07388-7 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is an emerging aging-related risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, previous studies suggest that CHIP's relevance to CVD may diminish with advancing age.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to test the association of CHIP and its key subtypes with incident CVD in an older population.

METHODS: Participants in the Women's Health Initiative Long Life Study completed study assessments in 2012-2013 and underwent high-coverage sequencing (median depth 4,580×). The co-primary exposures were composite CHIP and TET2 CHIP. DNMT3A, ASXL1, JAK2, and non-DNMT3A CHIP were examined as secondary exposures. The primary outcome was incident coronary heart disease. Secondary outcomes were incident heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), ischemic stroke, venous thromboembolism, and cardiovascular death. Multivariable-adjusted Cox models tested associations between CHIP and incident CVD.

RESULTS: Among 6,677 women (median age 80 years; median follow-up 10.1 years), 2,176 (32.6%) had any CHIP. TET2 CHIP was independently associated with incident coronary heart disease (aHR: 1.36 [95% CI: 1.05-1.77]; P = 0.02), whereas composite CHIP was not (aHR: 1.07 [95% CI: 0.89-1.28]; P = 0.49). Secondarily, TET2 CHIP was associated with HFpEF (aHR: 1.40 [95% CI: 1.03-1.90]; P = 0.03), ASXL1 CHIP with HFrEF (aHR: 3.16 [95% CI: 1.53-6.55]; P = 0.002), and JAK2 CHIP with ischemic stroke (aHR: 2.49 [95% CI: 1.17-5.30]; P = 0.02), venous thromboembolism (aHR: 2.71 [95% CI: 1.11-6.65]; P = 0.03), and cardiovascular death (aHR: 2.62 [95% CI: 1.68-4.11]; P < 0.001). No other significant associations were observed for composite or DNMT3A CHIP.

CONCLUSIONS: In an older female cohort, key CHIP subtypes (TET2, ASXL1, and JAK2) were associated with incident CVD, with associations that appeared to differ by CVD outcome. These findings suggest that CHIP remains associated with cardiovascular health into later life. (Women's Health Initiative [WHI]; NCT00000611).

RevDate: 2025-08-27

Lai Y-T, Dingens AS, DeMouth M, et al (2025)

Fostemsavir analog BMS-818251 has enhanced viral neutralization potency and similar escape mutation profile.

Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy [Epub ahead of print].

BMS-818251, a fostemsavir analog, is a next-generation HIV-1 attachment inhibitor with enhanced potency and a similar resistance profile. By using ex vivo viral outgrowth assays with HIV+ donor samples, we demonstrate here that BMS-818251 exhibits superior viral suppression compared to temsavir, the active form of fostemsavir. To map potential resistance pathways, we employed deep mutational scanning and pseudotyped virus neutralization assays to identify escape mutations within the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env). These mutations were largely clustered around the BMS-818251 binding site, with key resistance mutations reducing drug-binding affinity. Several of the enriched mutations, such as S375I/N, M426L, and M475I, have been previously observed in fostemsavir-treated patients, highlighting their clinical relevance. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed reduced binding affinity as the primary mechanism of resistance, though with notable exceptions, such as R429G, suggesting additional factors to influence viral escape. Ex vivo Env sequencing confirmed selection of resistance mutations under BMS-818251 pressure, reinforcing the predictive value of deep mutational scanning for in vivo resistance monitoring. Compared to fostemsavir, BMS-818251 achieved more effective viral suppression at lower concentrations, even in donor samples harboring preexisting resistance mutations. These findings support the continued development of BMS-818251 as a promising alternative to fostemsavir, with potential benefits for patients with multidrug-resistant HIV-1.

RevDate: 2025-08-29

Westover T, Walsh MP, Abdelhamed S, et al (2025)

Genomic landscape and clonal architecture in pediatric myeloid neoplasms with chromosome 7 deletions.

Blood neoplasia, 2(2):100093.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

O'Connor TM, Garza T, Alam U, et al (2025)

The feasibility of passively tracking children's TV viewing and mobile device use in naturalistic settings.

Behaviour & information technology [Epub ahead of print].

Research on children's technology and digital media (TDM) is hampered by a lack of robust approaches for assessing TDM use. This study assessed the feasibility of passively measuring children's TV screens and mobile devices (TDM) in a naturalistic setting. In the three-day feasibility study, FLASH-TV was set up on one to two TVs the child (5-12 year olds) typically used in the home (n=20). Children's mobile device use was assessed with either the Chronicle App or ScreenTime screenshots. Parents completed three TDM diaries. An exit interview with the parent explored their perceptions of the assessments and the child's TDM use report. Complete data were obtained on 86.7% of days for passive assessment of TV viewing and 84.3% of days for mobile device use. Fifteen parents reviewed complete TDM use reports for their child, with most stating the reports appeared correct for TV (80%) and mobile device (80%). Almost two-thirds had no concerns about having the FLASH-TV installed in their home, while some reported issues about feeling observed. Parents described high burden and frustration with the TDM diaries. Data provided preliminary evidence that passive measurement is feasible for assessing children's TV and mobile device use, with reduced burden for parents.

RevDate: 2025-08-27

Lu G, Han F, Wang Y, et al (2025)

Src Reduces Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Generation and Resolves Acute Organ Damage.

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) [Epub ahead of print].

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are key factors mediating acute inflammatory injury. However, the underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets remain unclear. Previous results suggest Src may be involved in regulating the NETs formation. Here, Src is found activated in the NETs model in vitro, in the murine- and human-derived neutrophils (acute pancreatitis and sepsis). Moreover, p-Src expression correlates with the clinical prognosis of acute pancreatitis and sepsis patients. Meanwhile, the inhibition of Src activity (gene silencing or inhibitors) inhibits NETs formation in vitro. Mechanistically, Src directly activates RAF1 by regulating phosphorylation at the Ser 621 site and mediates the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, thereby affecting the intracellular ROS production. Alternatively, Src activates the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway by mediating PKC phosphorylation. In vivo, neutrophil Src - specific defect significantly reduces acute inflammatory response, organ damage, and the NETs formation in damaged tissue. Eventually, Src inhibitors are used and validated their pharmacological effects. These results identify Src as a key mediator in intracellular ROS production, NETs formation, and acute organ injury. Hence, Src inhibition may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for treating acute organ injury.

RevDate: 2025-08-27

Kendra KL, Bellasea SL, Eroglu Z, et al (2025)

Publisher Correction: Anti-PD-1 therapy in unresectable desmoplastic melanoma: the phase 2 SWOG S1512 trial.

RevDate: 2025-08-26

Oehler VG, RB Walter (2025)

Biology-Directed Therapy for Myeloid/Lymphoid Neoplasms with FGFR1 Rearrangements.

NEJM evidence, 4(9):EVIDe2500196.

RevDate: 2025-08-26

Orellana MA, Pike M, Katz R, et al (2025)

Risk Factors Impacting Endometrial Thickness Visibility and Information Availability in Black Patients.

Journal of women's health (2002) [Epub ahead of print].

Background: Black patients experience worse endometrial cancer outcomes compared to white patients. Endometrial thickness (ET) measures from transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) are used in diagnostic triage to determine if further endometrial tissue sampling is needed. However, recent work suggests that TVUS may disproportionately underdiagnose Black patients and those over 60 years old, contributing to Black patients' lower survival. Our study aimed to identify risk factors that impact ET measurement quality [visibility, missing data] from TVUS and result in nondiagnostic TVUS results. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted in a cohort of Black patients undergoing hysterectomy from 2014 to 2020. ET visibility documentation was categorized as visible or "compromised" (partially visible or nonvisible). The presence or absence of endometrial information was also assessed. Results: Of 2,705 patients with ultrasound information, 78% (N = 1,838) had documented ET visibility. Of those with visibility, 1,301 (71%) had complete ET visibility. Among those with compromised visibility (n = 537), 271 (50.5%) had partially visible ET, while 266 (49.5%) had nonvisible ET. Significant risk factors associated with compromised visibility included an enlarged uterus (OR: 2.89, 95% CI: 2.32-3.61) and fibroids (OR: 3.78, 95% CI: 1.94-7.39). Of 2,032 patients with ultrasound reports, 9.5% (N = 194) lacked endometrial information. Fibroids (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.19-2.76) and enlarged uterus (OR: 2.61, 95% CI: 1.53-4.45) were also significantly associated with missing endometrial information. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a substantial proportion of TVUS examinations may not yield definitive data for diagnostic triage in Black women, potentially contributing to diagnostic delays and worse survival. Improved diagnostic approaches are needed in this population.

RevDate: 2025-08-26

Nagana Gowda GA, Zhu W, Pascua V, et al (2025)

Identification and Distribution of the Dietary Antioxidant Ergothioneine in Humans and Animal Models Combining NMR, RANSY, and MS Methods.

Analytical chemistry [Epub ahead of print].

Ergothioneine (ERG), a unique, naturally occurring antioxidant of dietary origin, is gaining increasing attention due to its crucial roles in human health and diseases. Despite its significance, ERG is rarely detected in biospecimens by mass spectrometry (MS) and, to date, has not been characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, two widely used analytical techniques in metabolomics. In this study, we investigated human plasma, whole blood (WB), and red blood cells (RBC), as well as mouse blood and tissues, combining NMR, LC-MS, and ratio analysis techniques. The results demonstrate the ability of simple 1D [1]H NMR to routinely identify and quantify ERG in various biological samples. The levels of ERG vary widely and depend on the type of biological sample, with human RBC exhibiting remarkably high concentrations, often exceeding 1.5 mM. The average levels of ERG in human plasma, WB, and RBC were in ratios of 1:70:140, respectively. Moreover, ERG levels showed a linear correlation between plasma and WB (R[2] = 0.59), plasma and RBC (R[2] = 0.75), and WB and RBC (R[2] = 0.98). In mice, ERG levels exhibit a distinct whole-body distribution, with average levels in the mouse skeletal muscle, brain, heart, kidney, and liver in ratios of 0:1:10:35:45, respectively. The demonstration of surprisingly high levels of ERG in biological samples using [1]H NMR opens new avenues for its analysis using both NMR and MS methods to explore its roles in human health and diseases, as part of routine global or targeted metabolomics studies.

RevDate: 2025-08-26
CmpDate: 2025-08-26

Bhatt NS, Voutsinas J, Winters M, et al (2025)

Work Status, Absenteeism, Presenteeism, and Quality of Life in Young Adult Cancer Survivors.

JAMA network open, 8(8):e2528882.

IMPORTANCE: Current literature lacks information on the association between the work status and performance of young adult cancer survivors and their quality of life (QOL).

OBJECTIVE: To assess self-reported work status, missed time at work (absenteeism), and performance (presenteeism) and their associations with QOL among young adult cancer survivors.

This cross-sectional survey study was performed from October 18, 2020, to September 17, 2022, at a single cancer center in Seattle, Washington. Participants included young adult cancer survivors (aged 18 to 39 years at diagnosis) who were 1 year or more from completion of cancer therapy. Data were analyzed from May 1, 2023, to February 1, 2025.

EXPOSURES: Cancer therapy.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Unemployment rate compared with the age-, sex-, and calendar year-matched general population; standardized absolute and relative absenteeism and presenteeism scores; standardized scores for domains of anxiety, depression, physical function, fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain, social role, and cognition; and adjusted linear regressions to study factors associated with higher QOL scores.

RESULTS: A total of 198 survivors, with a median age at diagnosis of 31 (IQR, 26-35) years and a median age at survey of 39 (IQR, 35-44) years were included (142 [71.7%] female). The unemployment rate (14 [7.1%]) did not differ from that of the general population (4.7%) (P = .13). Compared with employed survivors, unemployed survivors reported significantly higher depression scores (coefficient, 5.11; 95% CI, 0.92-9.30) and lower scores for satisfaction with social roles and activities (coefficient, -6.59; 95% CI, -11.34 to -1.84) and physical function (coefficient, -6.63; 95% CI, -11.38 to -1.87). Higher absolute presenteeism score was associated with lower scores for anxiety (coefficient, -0.19; 95% CI, -0.26 to -0.11), depression (coefficient, -0.17; 95% CI, -0.24 to -0.10), fatigue (coefficient, -0.20; 95% CI, -0.30 to -0.10), pain interference (coefficient, -0.11; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.02), and sleep disturbance (coefficient, -0.12; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.03) and higher scores for physical function (coefficient, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.008-0.17), cognitive function (coefficient, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.11-0.27), and satisfaction in social roles and activities scores (coefficient, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.08-0.24). Additionally, a higher absolute absenteeism score was associated with a higher anxiety (coefficient, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.004-0.07) and lower cognitive function (coefficient, -0.04; 95% CI, -0.07 to -0.004).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cross-sectional study of young adult cancer survivors, associations were found between survivors' self-reported work status and performance and their QOL affecting their mental, physical, and social health. These findings call for the development of effective communication strategies with employers to balance work expectations with survivors' treatment-related complications to achieve better performance and in turn higher QOL.

RevDate: 2025-08-25

Naik A, Kanzaria A, Chen X, et al (2025)

Digital pathology and image analysis of p53 biomarker in lymphomas using two algorithms: correlation with genotype and visual inspection.

Journal of clinical pathology pii:jcp-2025-210280 [Epub ahead of print].

p53 immunohistochemistry (IHC) is widely used as a rapid surrogate for detecting TP53 mutations, with TP53 mutations being a key biomarker for poor outcomes in lymphomas. We developed two algorithms using digital quantification tools to assess p53 expression from whole slide images of 77 lymphoma samples. An experienced pathologist visually evaluated the p53 slides, classifying cases as likely wild-type or mutated TP53 genotype. We correlated the results of the algorithms and visual inspection with the actual TP53 genotype. For cases with p53 overexpression (likely missense mutations), the algorithms achieved 86.7% sensitivity and 98.2% specificity (visual inspection: 80% and 95.2%). For cases with reduced p53 expression (likely 'other' mutations), the algorithms showed 92.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity (visual inspection: 40% and 95.8%). This study demonstrates that combining digital pathology with digital quantification tools-based algorithms can reliably predict TP53 genotype from p53 IHC patterns, with comparable or slightly superior performance to an experienced pathologist.

RevDate: 2025-08-28

Tran-Kiem C, Perofsky AC, Lessler J, et al (2025)

Characterizing the informativeness of pathogen genome sequence datasets about transmission between population groups.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences.

Pathogen genome analysis helps characterize transmission between population groups. The information carried by pathogen sequences comes from the accumulation of mutations within their genomes; thus, that the pace at which mutations accumulate should determine the granularity of transmission processes that pathogen sequences can characterize. Here, we investigate how the complex interplay between mutation, transmission, population mixing and sampling impacts the power of phylogeographic studies. First, we develop a conceptual probabilistic framework to quantify the ability of pairs of sequences in capturing migration history. This allows us to comprehensively explore the space of possible phylogeographic analyses by explicitly considering the pace at which mutations accumulate and the pace at which migration events occur. Using this framework, we identify a pathogen-intrinsic limit in the mixing scale at which their sequence data remains informative, with faster mutating pathogens enabling finer spatial characterization. Secondly, we perform a simulation study exploring a range of assumptions regarding sequencing intensity. We find that sample size further imposes a limit on the characterization of mixing processes. This work highlights inherent horizons of observability for population mixing processes that depend on the interaction between evolution, transmission, mixing and sampling. Such considerations are important for the design of phylogeographic studies.

RevDate: 2025-08-27

Huang TJ, Liu Z, IW McKeague (2025)

Post-selection inference for high-dimensional mediation analysis with survival outcomes.

Scandinavian journal of statistics, theory and applications, 52(2):756-776.

It is of substantial scientific interest to detect mediators that lie in the causal pathway from an exposure to a survival outcome. However, with high-dimensional mediators, as often encountered in modern genomic data settings, there is a lack of powerful methods that can provide valid post-selection inference for the identified marginal mediation effect. To resolve this challenge, we develop a post-selection inference procedure for the maximally selected natural indirect effect using a semiparametric efficient influence function approach. To this end, we establish the asymptotic normality of a stabilized one-step estimator that takes the selection of the mediator into account. Simulation studies show that our proposed method has good empirical performance. We further apply our proposed approach to a lung cancer dataset and find multiple DNA methylation CpG sites that might mediate the effect of cigarette smoking on lung cancer survival.

RevDate: 2025-08-25
CmpDate: 2025-08-26

Ferris RL, Leidner RS, Chung CH, et al (2025)

Efficacy and safety of one-time autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cell therapy in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Journal for immunotherapy of cancer, 13(8):.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has a high recurrence rate after first-line immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. The presence of a high density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in HNSCC tumors was shown to be associated with improved clinical outcomes. One-time autologous TIL cell therapy was evaluated in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC.

METHODS: C-145-03 (NCT03083873) was a phase 2 study of TIL in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC assigned to 1 of 4 treatment cohorts: cohort 1, non-cryopreserved TIL; cohort 2, cryopreserved lifileucel (22-day manufacturing); cohort 3, cryopreserved lifileucel (16-day manufacturing); cohort 4, cryopreserved LN-145-S1 programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) selected. Patients underwent tumor resection for TIL generation. After preparative non-myeloablative lymphodepletion, patients received a single infusion of TIL followed by interleukin-2 (IL-2) infusion(s). The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR) per Response Evaluation Criteria for Solid Tumors (RECIST) V.1.1. Secondary endpoints were investigator-assessed duration of response (DOR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival, overall survival, and incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events.

RESULTS: Overall, 53 patients received TIL: cohort 1 (n=8), cohort 2 (n=17), cohort 3 (n=16), cohort 4 (n=12). Median age was 57 years and most patients were males (87%; 46/53) with stage IV disease (98%; 52/53). Patients had a median of two prior lines of systemic therapy; 87% (46/53) of patients had prior anti-PD-1/programmed cell death ligand-1 therapy and 72% (38/53) had prior chemotherapy. The ORR was 11% (6/53) with six patients achieving partial response (cohort 1, n=3; cohort 2, n=1; cohort 4, n=2). At median follow-up of 17.9 months, the median DOR was 7.6 months. The DCR was 76% (40/53); 64% (34/53) of patients had stable disease. The safety profile was consistent with known toxicities associated with non-myeloablative lymphodepletion and IL-2 administration.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the feasibility of consistently generating sufficient TIL from HNSCC tumors. Results from this study suggest TIL cell therapy may serve as a potential treatment option for patients with HNSCC and support further development, including TIL cell therapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors or other agents or with other TIL products.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03083873.

RevDate: 2025-08-25

Bolier M, Pluimakers VG, Broer L, et al (2025)

Genetic Contribution to Treatment-Related Dyslipidemia in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: Findings from the CCSS, SJLIFE, and DCCSS-LATER Cohorts.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology pii:764323 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND Dyslipidemia can occur as a long-term side effect of childhood cancer treatment. The difference in prevalence among children receiving comparable treatment suggests a role for genetic variation. We conducted the first genome-wide association study on dyslipidemia in a large childhood cancer survivor cohort, using three additional cohorts for replication. METHODS Discovery analysis was performed in the Original Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) cohort (N=4,332). Replication analyses were carried out in the CCSS Expansion cohort (N=2,212), the St Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE, N=2,829), and the DCCSS-LATER Cohort (N=1,814). In the CCSS cohorts, dyslipidemia was defined as Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) grade 2 self-reported high cholesterol or high triglycerides, whereas in SJLIFE and DCCSS-LATER, it was assessed by serum lipid measurements. Association analysis was performed in the entire cohort and stratified by cancer treatment. RESULTS The initial discovery analysis yielded one genome-wide significant (p<5x10-8) and 16 suggestive (p<5x10-6) loci associated with dyslipidemia risk. Of these, one genome-wide significant and eight suggestive loci with biological plausibility were selected for replication analysis, but none replicated. Additionally, treatment-stratified analysis revealed six significant (p<5x10-8) loci, none of which replicated in meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS Further research with clinically assessed data and larger sample sizes is needed to explore the genetic contributions to dyslipidemia risk in childhood cancer survivors. IMPACT The establishment of larger, internationally collaborative consortia of childhood cancer survivors is critical for generating more robust findings, which will help the identification of those survivors at risk for dyslipidemia and subsequently cardiovascular disease.

RevDate: 2025-08-24

Kenny A, van Duijn J, Dintwe O, et al (2025)

Corrigendum to 'Immune correlates analysis of the Imbokodo (HVTN 705/HPX2008) efficacy trial of a mosaic HIV-1 vaccine regimen evaluated in Southern African people assigned female sex at birth: a two-phase case-control study'. EBioMedicine 2024;108: 105320.

RevDate: 2025-08-24

Weis AM, Bauer KM, Tang WW, et al (2025)

A capsular polysaccharide from a healthy human microbiota member activates a Lag-3-NK cell axis to restrain colon cancer and augment immunotherapy.

Cell reports, 44(9):116172 pii:S2211-1247(25)00943-X [Epub ahead of print].

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing globally, making identification of preventative measures necessary. Transplantation of the microbiota from CRC and non-CRC patients into mice demonstrates that non-diseased individuals possess organisms that reduce tumor formation and highlights Bacteriodes uniformis as protective. B. uniformis is reduced in humans with CRC, and proactive treatment with B. uniformis slows tumor growth in mice. Natural killer (NK) cells, but not T cells, are required for B. uniformis-mediated protection. CRC is recalcitrant to immunotherapies; however, addition of B. uniformis restores response to α-CTLA-4 treatment in an NK cell-dependent manner. We report that high Lag-3 expression is associated with greater survival in CRC patients and that B. uniformis-mediated protection is reliant on Lag-3 in innate cells. Induction of NK cell activity and reduced tumor growth is dependent on a specific B. uniformis capsular polysaccharide. Thus, healthy individuals possess tumor suppressor microbes that prevent cancer development and can be harnessed therapeutically.

RevDate: 2025-08-23

O'Connor TE, Lin C, Roloff GW, et al (2025)

The impact of social determinants of health on outcomes of brexucabtagene autoleucel in adults with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Bone marrow transplantation [Epub ahead of print].

Brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel) is a chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cell therapy approved for adults with relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). We studied the impact of social determinants of health (SDoH) on outcomes of adults with B-ALL receiving brexu-cel. This retrospective analysis included adults (≥18 years) with R/R B-ALL treated with brexu-cel between 2021 and 2023. Cox proportional hazards models evaluated the association of race, ethnicity, and SDoH with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). 189 patients received brexu-cel and 57% were male. 55% were non-Hispanic White, 30% Hispanic, 7% non-Hispanic Black, 6% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 2% other/unknown. 43% were referred from private/community-based practices and 35% lived 50 miles or greater from the CAR T center. Health insurance included public (47%) and private (41%). 31% had a high social deprivation index (SDI, 76-99th percentile). Black race was associated with worse OS (HR 3.48; 95% CI 1.01-12.03). There was no difference in PFS (HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.50-2.10) or OS (HR 1.43; 95% CI 0.56-3.65) in Hispanic patients. Outcomes appear independent of SDoH and SDoH did not impact OS. We observed comparable outcomes to non-Hispanic patients.

RevDate: 2025-08-23
CmpDate: 2025-08-23

Yang J, Roy I, H Hunter (2025)

Prehabilitation for muscle wasting in cancer: do definitions matter?.

Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 33(9):807.

Frailty in older patients with cancer has been associated with functional impairments, decline in quality of life, and increased risk of mortality. There is growing interest in prehabilitation interventions designed to optimize function prior to cancer treatment to mitigate functional decline and to optimize post-treatment outcomes. This review aims to describe the heterogeneity in muscle wasting definitions, modalities used for body composition analysis, and functional outcomes investigated in exercise prehabilitation trials in cancer patients. Defining muscle loss among patients with cancer is needed to better diagnose, treat, and prevent functional decline. Utilization of a consensus on definitions for muscle wasting syndromes is critical to evaluate the efficacy of prehabilitation and exercise interventions in cancer care.

RevDate: 2025-08-23

Shetty NS, Gaonkar M, Pampana A, et al (2025)

Association of Pathogenic/Likely Pathogenic Inherited Cardiomyopathy Variants With Heart Failure: A TOPMed Multiancestry Analysis.

Mayo Clinic proceedings pii:S0025-6196(25)00095-3 [Epub ahead of print].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of pathogenic/likely pathogenic inherited cardiomyopathy variants and their association with heart failure in the (TOPMed) TransOmic for Precision of Medicine cohorts.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using the TOPMed cohorts, including multi-ancestry US adults (≥18 years of age) with sequencing data, was conducted. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic inherited cardiomyopathy variant carrier status was determined based on ClinVar variants classified with two or more stars of evidence. Individuals without pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants were used as the reference group. The primary outcome was heart failure , adjudicated by an expert panel. Cox proportional hazards models assessed the association between carrier status and heart failure risk, adjusting for sex, study cohort, coronary artery disease, and genetic ancestry. Age was used as the timescale to account for the effect of variants since birth, and interval censoring was used to handle the uncertainty in the timing of heart failure events.

RESULTS: Among 30,977 individuals (median age, 61.0 years; 71.3% female; 37.0% non-European ancestry), 229 (0.7%) were identified as pathogenic/likely pathogenic inherited cardiomyopathy variant carriers. There were 3,298 events of heart failure (35 in carriers and 3,263 in non-carriers). The heart failure incidence rate was higher in variant carriers (2.06 per 1000 person-years) compared with noncarriers (1.40 per 1000 person-years), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.68 (95% CI, 1.29-2.22).

CONCLUSION: Approximately 1 in 140 US adults carry a cardiomyopathy variant, which increases heart failure risk. Targeted genetic screening may facilitate early identification and preventive interventions to reduce heart failure risk in carriers.

RevDate: 2025-08-23

Vu K, Sánchez H, Cabello R, et al (2025)

Sexual behaviors and access to HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic among cisgender men who have sex with men in Lima, Peru.

BMC public health, 25(1):2888.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted sexual behaviors, access to health services, and other factors related to HIV vulnerability among sexual and gender minority populations globally. This study investigates such changes among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lima, Peru.

METHODS: We analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey that was conducted initially in 2018–2019 (‘pre-pandemic’ period, n = 382) and then repeated in 2020–2021 (‘mid-pandemic’ period, n = 387). The survey asked about participants’ sexual behaviors in the previous three months, including attendance of sex-on-premises venues (SOPVs) and the use of online platforms to meet partners, as well as their knowledge and behaviors related to HIV testing and prevention. We assessed for differences in sexual behaviors and HIV testing/prevention knowledge between the mid-pandemic period and the pre-pandemic period using robust Poisson regression, including in multivariable models adjusting for age and educational attainment. The mid-pandemic survey included additional questions asking about access to HIV services and changes in perceived health status during the pandemic, which we analyzed descriptively.

RESULTS: Participants in the mid-pandemic period were significantly less likely to report they had attended an SOPV, met a sex partner online, engaged in group sex, or had three or more partners in the past three months. However, the prevalence of other HIV-related sexual risk behaviors, including condomless anal sex and substance use in a sexual context, was unchanged compared to pre-pandemic. Among mid-pandemic survey participants, SOPV attendance and meeting a partner online were both associated with a range of sexual risk behaviors, similar to the relationship observed between these behaviors during the pre-pandemic period.

CONCLUSIONS: We observed relatively modest differences in the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors during, versus prior to, the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings underscore the importance of minimizing disruptions to HIV prevention and sexual health services for vulnerable populations such as MSM in Peru.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-23886-8.

RevDate: 2025-08-22

Nazha A, Elemento O, Ahuja S, et al (2025)

Artificial Intelligence in Hematology.

Blood pii:546859 [Epub ahead of print].

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its sub-discipline, machine learning (ML), have the potential to revolutionize healthcare, including hematology. The diagnosis and treatment of hematologic disorders depend on the integration of diverse data sources, such as imaging, pathology, omics, and laboratory parameters. The increasing volume and complexity of patient data have made clinical decision-making more challenging. AI/ML hold significant potential for enhancing diagnostic accuracy, risk stratification, and treatment response prediction through advanced modeling techniques. Generative AI, a recent advancement within the broader field of AI, is poised to have a profound impact on healthcare and hematology. Generative AI can enhance the development of novel therapeutic strategies, improve diagnostic workflows by generating high-fidelity images or pathology reports, and facilitate more personalized approaches to patient management. Its ability to augment clinical decision-making and streamline research represents a significant leap forward in the field. However, despite this potential, few AI/ML tools have been fully implemented in clinical practice due to challenges related to data quality, equity, advanced infrastructure, and the establishment of robust evaluation metrics. Despite its promise, AI implementation in hematology faces critical challenges, including bias, data quality issues, and a lack of regulatory frameworks and safety standards that keep pace with rapid technological advancements. In this review, we provide an overview of the current state of AI/ML in hematology as of 2025, identify existing gaps, and offer insights into future developments.

RevDate: 2025-08-22
CmpDate: 2025-08-22

Hill JA, Pergam SA, Halasa NB, et al (2025)

A Network for Advancing Prevention and Treatment of Infections Among Immunocompromised Individuals.

JAMA network open, 8(8):e2528383 pii:2837934.

IMPORTANCE: Immunocompromised individuals are a large and growing population who are at increased risk for infectious diseases. There has and continues to be a lack of focus on clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of therapies for infectious diseases in immunocompromised patients. The establishment of a US-based clinical trial network to improve the study and subsequent implementation of therapies and strategies to treat and prevent infections in immunocompromised individuals would address this gap in research infrastructure and jumpstart public and private investment.

OBSERVATIONS: A national interdisciplinary meeting was convened on September 10, 2024, in Bethesda, Maryland, to discuss the outsized impact of infectious diseases in immunocompromised individuals and to identify the primary gaps and opportunities for clinical trials in this population. Approaches to achieve this goal include obtaining dedicated funding and support through public-private partnerships to establish alignment and feasibility for high-priority areas of research. This article outlines the relevance of this work; ongoing efforts to collaborate with the National Institutes of Health, US Congress, industry, and philanthropy to obtain funding for mutually beneficial outcomes; the network structure; and perspectives from clinicians, regulatory agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, and patients.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: There is a dearth of evidence to support the use of many therapies for infectious diseases in immunocompromised individuals, which has substantial impact at the individual and societal level. A multipronged approach to improve integration of, and funding for, rigorous research in this population into the core priorities of the public and private sectors could address important public health gaps by developing evidence-based guidance to protect a vulnerable community.

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RJR Experience and Expertise

Researcher

Robbins holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in the life sciences. He served as a tenured faculty member in the Zoology and Biological Science departments at Michigan State University. He is currently exploring the intersection between genomics, microbial ecology, and biodiversity — an area that promises to transform our understanding of the biosphere.

Educator

Robbins has extensive experience in college-level education: At MSU he taught introductory biology, genetics, and population genetics. At JHU, he was an instructor for a special course on biological database design. At FHCRC, he team-taught a graduate-level course on the history of genetics. At Bellevue College he taught medical informatics.

Administrator

Robbins has been involved in science administration at both the federal and the institutional levels. At NSF he was a program officer for database activities in the life sciences, at DOE he was a program officer for information infrastructure in the human genome project. At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, he served as a vice president for fifteen years.

Technologist

Robbins has been involved with information technology since writing his first Fortran program as a college student. At NSF he was the first program officer for database activities in the life sciences. At JHU he held an appointment in the CS department and served as director of the informatics core for the Genome Data Base. At the FHCRC he was VP for Information Technology.

Publisher

While still at Michigan State, Robbins started his first publishing venture, founding a small company that addressed the short-run publishing needs of instructors in very large undergraduate classes. For more than 20 years, Robbins has been operating The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, a web site dedicated to the digital publishing of critical works in science, especially classical genetics.

Speaker

Robbins is well-known for his speaking abilities and is often called upon to provide keynote or plenary addresses at international meetings. For example, in July, 2012, he gave a well-received keynote address at the Global Biodiversity Informatics Congress, sponsored by GBIF and held in Copenhagen. The slides from that talk can be seen HERE.

Facilitator

Robbins is a skilled meeting facilitator. He prefers a participatory approach, with part of the meeting involving dynamic breakout groups, created by the participants in real time: (1) individuals propose breakout groups; (2) everyone signs up for one (or more) groups; (3) the groups with the most interested parties then meet, with reports from each group presented and discussed in a subsequent plenary session.

Designer

Robbins has been engaged with photography and design since the 1960s, when he worked for a professional photography laboratory. He now prefers digital photography and tools for their precision and reproducibility. He designed his first web site more than 20 years ago and he personally designed and implemented this web site. He engages in graphic design as a hobby.

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Cancer is the generic name for more than 100 diseases in which cells begin to grow and divide in an uncontrolled manner. Usually, when cells get too old or damaged, they die and new cells take their place. Cancer begins when genetic changes impair this orderly process so that some cells start to grow uncontrollably. The Emperor of All Maladies is a "biography" of cancer — from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. This is a must read book for anyone with an interest in cancer. R. Robbins

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Collection of publications by R J Robbins

Reprints and preprints of publications, slide presentations, instructional materials, and data compilations written or prepared by Robert Robbins. Most papers deal with computational biology, genome informatics, using information technology to support biomedical research, and related matters.

Research Gate page for R J Robbins

ResearchGate is a social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a study by Nature and an article in Times Higher Education , it is the largest academic social network in terms of active users.

Curriculum Vitae for R J Robbins

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Curriculum Vitae for R J Robbins

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