@article {pmid30659681,
year = {2019},
author = {Lindström, S and Brody, JA and Turman, C and Germain, M and Bartz, TM and Smith, EN and Chen, MH and Puurunen, M and Chasman, D and Hassler, J and Pankratz, N and Basu, S and Guan, W and Gyorgy, B and Ibrahim, M and Empana, JP and Olaso, R and Jackson, R and Braekkan, SK and McKnight, B and Deleuze, JF and O'Donnell, CJ and Jouven, X and Frazer, KA and Psaty, BM and Wiggins, KL and Taylor, K and Reiner, AP and Heckbert, SR and Kooperberg, C and Ridker, P and Hansen, JB and Tang, W and Johnson, AD and Morange, PE and Trégouët, DA and Kraft, P and Smith, NL and Kabrhel, C and , },
title = {A large-scale exome array analysis of venous thromboembolism.},
journal = {Genetic epidemiology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1002/gepi.22187},
pmid = {30659681},
issn = {1098-2272},
support = {ANR-10-IAHU//ICAN Institute for Cardiometabolism and Nutrition/ ; ANR-10-LABX-0013//GENMED Laboratory of Excellence on Medical Genomics/ ; DK063491//National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Diabetes Research Center/ ; R01HL116854//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL74745//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL35464//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL060739//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268200800007C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201700003I//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC55222//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC85083//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01-HC-25195//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC85079//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL080467//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201600018C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01CA67262//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL073410//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL043851//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC85082//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; U01HL080295//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201600001C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL120393//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL085251//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL59367//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC85086//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL053375//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201200036C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL068986//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL095080//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL034594//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL088521//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201800001C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL068986//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201700005I//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201700001I//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC85081//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201600002C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; N01HC85080//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201600003C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL040628//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL68639//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL103612//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL043201//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL087652//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL130114//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; P01CA055075//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HL099355//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01HL105756//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201600004C//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01CA50385//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; HHSN268201700002I//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; R01AG023629//US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging/ ; 5RC2HL102419//NIH American Recovery and Reinvestment Act/ ; P01CA87969//National Cancer Institute/ ; CA047988//National Cancer Institute/ ; UM1CA182913//National Cancer Institute/ ; R01CA49449//National Cancer Institute/ ; UL1TR000124//National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences/ ; },
abstract = {Although recent Genome-Wide Association Studies have identified novel associations for common variants, there has been no comprehensive exome-wide search for low-frequency variants that affect the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). We conducted a meta-analysis of 11 studies comprising 8,332 cases and 16,087 controls of European ancestry and 382 cases and 1,476 controls of African American ancestry genotyped with the Illumina HumanExome BeadChip. We used the seqMeta package in R to conduct single variant and gene-based rare variant tests. In the single variant analysis, we limited our analysis to the 64,794 variants with at least 40 minor alleles across studies (minor allele frequency [MAF] ~0.08%). We confirmed associations with previously identified VTE loci, including ABO, F5, F11, and FGA. After adjusting for multiple testing, we observed no novel significant findings in single variant or gene-based analysis. Given our sample size, we had greater than 80% power to detect minimum odds ratios greater than 1.5 and 1.8 for a single variant with MAF of 0.01 and 0.005, respectively. Larger studies and sequence data may be needed to identify novel low-frequency and rare variants associated with VTE risk.},
}

@article {pmid30659131,
year = {2019},
author = {Koh, WJ and Abu-Rustum, NR and Bean, S and Bradley, K and Campos, SM and Cho, KR and Chon, HS and Chu, C and Clark, R and Cohn, D and Crispens, MA and Damast, S and Dorigo, O and Eifel, PJ and Fisher, CM and Frederick, P and Gaffney, DK and Han, E and Huh, WK and Lurain, JR and Mariani, A and Mutch, D and Nagel, C and Nekhlyudov, L and Fader, AN and Remmenga, SW and Reynolds, RK and Tillmanns, T and Ueda, S and Wyse, E and Yashar, CM and McMillian, NR and Scavone, JL},
title = {Cervical Cancer, Version 3.2019, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.},
journal = {Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN},
volume = {17},
number = {1},
pages = {64-84},
doi = {10.6004/jnccn.2019.0001},
pmid = {30659131},
issn = {1540-1413},
abstract = {Cervical cancer is a malignant epithelial tumor that forms in the uterine cervix. Most cases of cervical cancer are preventable through human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, routine screening, and treatment of precancerous lesions. However, due to inadequate screening protocols in many regions of the world, cervical cancer remains the fourth-most common cancer in women globally. The complete NCCN Guidelines for Cervical Cancer provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of cervical cancer. This manuscript discusses guiding principles for the workup, staging, and treatment of early stage and locally advanced cervical cancer, as well as evidence for these recommendations. For recommendations regarding treatment of recurrent or metastatic disease, please see the full guidelines on NCCN.org.},
}

@article {pmid30659125,
year = {2019},
author = {Wierda, WG and Byrd, JC and Abramson, JS and Bilgrami, SF and Bociek, G and Brander, D and Brown, J and Chanan-Khan, AA and Chavez, JC and Coutre, SE and Davis, RS and Fletcher, CD and Hill, B and Kahl, BS and Kamdar, M and Kaplan, LD and Khan, N and Kipps, TJ and Ma, S and Malek, S and Mato, A and Mosse, C and Neppalli, VT and Shadman, M and Siddiqi, T and Stephens, D and Wagner, N and Dwyer, MA and Sundar, H},
title = {NCCN Guidelines Insights: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma, Version 2.2019.},
journal = {Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN},
volume = {17},
number = {1},
pages = {12-20},
doi = {10.6004/jnccn.2019.0002},
pmid = {30659125},
issn = {1540-1413},
abstract = {Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is generally characterized by an indolent disease course. Histologic transformation (also known as Richter's transformation) to more aggressive lymphomas, such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or Hodgkin lymphoma, occurs in approximately 2% to 10% of patients and is associated with a poor prognosis. These NCCN Guidelines Insights discuss the recommendations for the diagnosis and management of patients with histologic transformation.},
}

@article {pmid30657402,
year = {2017},
author = {Hershman, DL and Till, C and Wright, JD and Ramsey, S and Barlow, WE and Unger, JM},
title = {History of Diabetes and Survival Outcome Among Participants 65 Years or Older in SWOG Clinical Trials.},
journal = {JCO clinical cancer informatics},
volume = {1},
number = {1},
pages = {1-12},
doi = {10.1200/CCI.17.00040},
pmid = {30657402},
issn = {2473-4276},
abstract = {PURPOSE: Diabetes is common, increases with age, and may affect outcomes among people with cancer. Understanding the association between diabetes and cancer outcome is challenging, because patients with diabetes have increased all-cause mortality compared with patients without diabetes.

METHODS: We systematically examined the phase III trial database of SWOG to identify patients enrolled in trials during the period from 1999 to 2011. We linked the SWOG clinical records to Medicare claims data according to Social Security number, sex, and date of birth. Medicare claims were used to identify diabetes with at least 6 months of continuous Medicare coverage immediately before registration. Multivariable Cox regression was used to compare survival outcomes between patients with and without diabetes for each of 10 tumor cohorts. The primary outcome was overall survival. We also examined progression-free survival and cancer-free survival.

RESULTS: In total, 6,422 patients from 15 trials were ≥ 65.5 years of age, of whom 3,173 patients (49%) met the criteria for linkage to Medicare claims. Thirty percent (n = 952) had claims for diabetes before registration. Patients with diabetes were more likely to be black (P < .001), but no other differences in demographic characteristics were observed. In multivariable Cox regression, no association was found between baseline diabetes and overall or progression-free survival; in one case, patients with diabetes had marginally worse cancer-free survival (advanced non-small-cell lung cancer; P = .05). A global test found that baseline diabetes was associated with worse overall survival (P = .03) across the entire panel of analyses.

CONCLUSION: Diabetes is common among elderly patients enrolled in clinical trials. Unlike prior observational studies, among patients treated with uniform treatment regimens, and controlling for known prognostic factors, we did not observe an association between diabetes and progression-free or cancer-free survival.},
}

@article {pmid30657904,
year = {2019},
author = {McGuffin, SA and Bharadwaj, R and Gonzalez-Cuyar, LF and Schiffer, JT and Stacey, AW and Walter, RB and Duke, ER},
title = {In the Eye of the Beholder: A Conjunctival Lesion in a Woman With Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.},
journal = {Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America},
volume = {68},
number = {3},
pages = {525-529},
doi = {10.1093/cid/ciy394},
pmid = {30657904},
issn = {1537-6591},
}

@article {pmid30655571,
year = {2019},
author = {Matejcic, M and Saunders, EJ and Dadaev, T and Brook, MN and Wang, K and Sheng, X and Olama, AAA and Schumacher, FR and Ingles, SA and Govindasami, K and Benlloch, S and Berndt, SI and Albanes, D and Koutros, S and Muir, K and Stevens, VL and Gapstur, SM and Tangen, CM and Batra, J and Clements, J and Gronberg, H and Pashayan, N and Schleutker, J and Wolk, A and West, C and Mucci, L and Kraft, P and Cancel-Tassin, G and Sorensen, KD and Maehle, L and Grindedal, EM and Strom, SS and Neal, DE and Hamdy, FC and Donovan, JL and Travis, RC and Hamilton, RJ and Rosenstein, B and Lu, YJ and Giles, GG and Kibel, AS and Vega, A and Bensen, JT and Kogevinas, M and Penney, KL and Park, JY and Stanford, JL and Cybulski, C and Nordestgaard, BG and Brenner, H and Maier, C and Kim, J and Teixeira, MR and Neuhausen, SL and De Ruyck, K and Razack, A and Newcomb, LF and Lessel, D and Kaneva, R and Usmani, N and Claessens, F and Townsend, PA and Gago-Dominguez, M and Roobol, MJ and Menegaux, F and Khaw, KT and Cannon-Albright, LA and Pandha, H and Thibodeau, SN and Schaid, DJ and , and Wiklund, F and Chanock, SJ and Easton, DF and Eeles, RA and Kote-Jarai, Z and Conti, DV and Haiman, CA},
title = {Author Correction: Germline variation at 8q24 and prostate cancer risk in men of European ancestry.},
journal = {Nature communications},
volume = {10},
number = {1},
pages = {382},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-08293-z},
pmid = {30655571},
issn = {2041-1723},
abstract = {The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Manuela Gago-Dominguez, which was incorrectly given as Manuela G. Dominguez. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.},
}

@article {pmid30655443,
year = {2019},
author = {Martins, JP and Andoniou, CE and Fleming, P and Kuns, RD and Schuster, IS and Voigt, V and Daly, S and Varelias, A and Tey, SK and Degli-Esposti, MA and Hill, GR},
title = {Strain-specific antibody therapy prevents cytomegalovirus reactivation after transplantation.},
journal = {Science (New York, N.Y.)},
volume = {363},
number = {6424},
pages = {288-293},
doi = {10.1126/science.aat0066},
pmid = {30655443},
issn = {1095-9203},
abstract = {Cytomegalovirus infection is a frequent and life-threatening complication that significantly limits positive transplantation outcomes. We developed preclinical mouse models of cytomegalovirus reactivation after transplantation and found that humoral immunity is essential for preventing viral recrudescence. Preexisting antiviral antibodies decreased after transplant in the presence of graft-versus-host disease and were not replaced, owing to poor reconstitution of donor B cells and elimination of recipient plasma cells. Viral reactivation was prevented by the transfer of immune serum, without a need to identify and target specific antigenic determinants. Notably, serotherapy afforded complete protection, provided that the serum was matched to the infecting viral strain. Thus, we define the mechanisms for cytomegalovirus reactivation after transplantation and identify a readily translatable strategy of exceptional potency, which avoids the constraints of cellular therapies.},
}

@article {pmid30653559,
year = {2019},
author = {Olivier, M and Bouaoun, L and Villar, S and Robitaille, A and Cahais, V and Heguy, A and Byrnes, G and Le Calvez-Kelm, F and Torres-Mejía, G and Alvarado-Cabrero, I and Imani-Razavi, FS and Inés Sánchez, G and Jaramillo, R and Porras, C and Rodriguez, AC and Garmendia, ML and Soto, JL and Romieu, I and Porter, P and Guenthoer, J and Rinaldi, S and , },
title = {Molecular features of premenopausal breast cancers in Latin American women: Pilot results from the PRECAMA study.},
journal = {PloS one},
volume = {14},
number = {1},
pages = {e0210372},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0210372},
pmid = {30653559},
issn = {1932-6203},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: In Latin America (LA), there is a high incidence rate of breast cancer (BC) in premenopausal women, and the genomic features of these BC remain unknown. Here, we aim to characterize the molecular features of BC in young LA women within the framework of the PRECAMA study, a multicenter population-based case-control study of BC in premenopausal women.

METHODS: Pathological tumor tissues were collected from incident cases from four LA countries. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed centrally for ER, PR, HER2, Ki67, EGFR, CK5/6, and p53 protein markers. Targeted deep sequencing was done on genomic DNA extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissues and their paired blood samples to screen for somatic mutations in eight genes frequently mutated in BC. A subset of samples was analyzed by exome sequencing to identify somatic mutational signatures.

RESULTS: The majority of cases were positive for ER or PR (168/233; 72%), and 21% were triple-negative (TN), mainly of basal type. Most tumors were positive for Ki67 (189/233; 81%). In 126 sequenced cases, TP53 and PIK3CA were the most frequently mutated genes (32.5% and 21.4%, respectively), followed by AKT1 (9.5%). TP53 mutations were more frequent in HER2-enriched and TN IHC subtypes, whereas PIK3CA/AKT1 mutations were more frequent in ER-positive tumors, as expected. Interestingly, a higher proportion of G:C>T:A mutations was observed in TP53 in PRECAMA cases compared with TCGA and METABRIC BC series (27% vs 14%). Exome-wide mutational patterns in 10 TN cases revealed alterations in signal transduction pathways and major contributions of mutational signatures caused by altered DNA repair pathways.

CONCLUSIONS: These pilot results on PRECAMA tumors give a preview of the molecular features of premenopausal BC in LA. Although the overall mutation burden was as expected from data in other populations, mutational patterns observed in TP53 and exome-wide suggested possible differences in mutagenic processes giving rise to these tumors compared with other populations. Further -omics analyses of a larger number of cases in the near future will enable the investigation of relationships between these molecular features and risk factors.},
}

@article {pmid30653226,
year = {2019},
author = {Ramsey, SD and Unger, JM and Baker, LH and Little, RF and Loomba, R and Hwang, JP and Chugh, R and Konerman, MA and Arnold, K and Menter, AR and Thomas, E and Michels, RM and Jorgensen, CW and Burton, GV and Bhadkamkar, NA and Hershman, DL},
title = {Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, and HIV Infection Among Patients With Newly Diagnosed Cancer From Academic and Community Oncology Practices.},
journal = {JAMA oncology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.6437},
pmid = {30653226},
issn = {2374-2445},
abstract = {Importance: Universal screening of patients with newly diagnosed cancer for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV is not routine in oncology practice, and experts disagree about whether universal screening should be performed.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV infection among persons with newly diagnosed cancer.

Multicenter prospective cohort study of patients with newly diagnosed cancer (ie, identified within 120 days of cancer diagnosis) at 9 academic and 9 community oncology institutions affiliated with SWOG (formerly the Southwest Oncology Group) Cancer Research Network, a member of the National Clinical Trials Network, with enrollment from August 29, 2013, through February 15, 2017. The data analysis was conducted using data available through August 17, 2017.

Main Outcomes and Measures: The accrual goal was 3000 patients and the primary end point was the presence of HBV infection (previous or chronic), HCV infection, or HIV infection at enrollment. Patients with previous knowledge of infection as well as patients with unknown viral viral status were evaluated.

Results: Of 3092 registered patients, 3051 were eligible and evaluable. Median (range) age was 60.6 (18.2-93.7) years, 1842 (60.4%) were female, 553 (18.1%) were black, and 558 (18.3%) were Hispanic ethnicity. Screened patients had similar clinical and demographic characteristics compared with those registered. The observed infection rate for previous HBV infection was 6.5% (95% CI, 5.6%-7.4%; n = 197 of 3050 patients); chronic HBV, 0.6% (95% CI, 0.4%-1.0%; n = 19 of 3050 patients); HCV, 2.4% (95% CI, 1.9%-3.0%; n = 71 of 2990 patients); and HIV, 1.1% (95% CI, 0.8%-1.6%; n = 34 of 3045). Among those with viral infections, 8 patients with chronic HBV (42.1%; 95% CI, 20.3%-66.5%), 22 patients with HCV (31.0%; 95% CI, 20.5%-43.1%), and 2 patients with HIV (5.9%; 95% CI, 0.7%-19.7%) were newly diagnosed through the study. Among patients with infections, 4 patients with chronic HBV (21.1%; 95% CI, 6.1%-45.6%), 23 patients with HCV (32.4%; 95% CI, 21.8%-44.5%), and 7 patients with HIV (20.6%; 95% CI, 8.7%-37.9%) had no identifiable risk factors.

Conclusions and Relevance: Results of this study found that a substantial proportion of patients with newly diagnosed cancer and concurrent HBV or HCV are unaware of their viral infection at the time of cancer diagnosis, and many had no identifiable risk factors for infection. Screening patients with cancer to identify HBV and HCV infection before starting treatment may be warranted to prevent viral reactivation and adverse clinical outcomes. The low rate of undiagnosed HIV infection may not support universal screening of newly diagnosed cancer patients.},
}

@article {pmid30651320,
year = {2019},
author = {Barber, DL and Sakai, S and Kudchadkar, RR and Fling, SP and Day, TA and Vergara, JA and Ashkin, D and Cheng, JH and Lundgren, LM and Raabe, VN and Kraft, CS and Nieva, JJ and Cheever, MA and Nghiem, PT and Sharon, E},
title = {Tuberculosis following PD-1 blockade for cancer immunotherapy.},
journal = {Science translational medicine},
volume = {11},
number = {475},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1126/scitranslmed.aat2702},
pmid = {30651320},
issn = {1946-6242},
abstract = {Because of the well-established therapeutic benefit of boosting antitumor responses through blockade of the T cell inhibitory receptor PD-1, it has been proposed that PD-1 blockade could also be useful in infectious disease settings, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. However, in preclinical models, Mtb-infected PD-1-/- mice mount exaggerated TH1 responses that drive lethal immunopathology. Multiple cases of tuberculosis during PD-1 blockade have been observed in patients with cancer, but in humans little is understood about Mtb-specific immune responses during checkpoint blockade-associated tuberculosis. Here, we report two more cases. We describe a patient who succumbed to disseminated tuberculosis after PD-1 blockade for treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and we examine Mtb-specific immune responses in a patient with Merkel cell carcinoma who developed checkpoint blockade-associated tuberculosis and was successfully treated for the infection. After anti-PD-1 administration, interferon-γ-producing Mtb-specific CD4 T cells became more prevalent in the blood, and a tuberculoma developed a few months thereafter. Mtb-specific TH17 cells, CD8 T cells, regulatory T cells, and antibody abundance did not change before the appearance of the granuloma. These results are consistent with the murine model data and suggest that boosting TH1 function with PD-1 blockade may increase the risk or severity of tuberculosis in humans.},
}

@article {pmid30649998,
year = {2019},
author = {Kerr, KF and Brown, MD and Marsh, TL and Janes, H},
title = {Assessing the Clinical Impact of Risk Models for Opting Out of Treatment.},
journal = {Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {272989X18819479},
doi = {10.1177/0272989X18819479},
pmid = {30649998},
issn = {1552-681X},
abstract = {Decision curves are a tool for evaluating the population impact of using a risk model for deciding whether to undergo some intervention, which might be a treatment to help prevent an unwanted clinical event or invasive diagnostic testing such as biopsy. The common formulation of decision curves is based on an opt-in framework. That is, a risk model is evaluated based on the population impact of using the model to opt high-risk patients into treatment in a setting where the standard of care is not to treat. Opt-in decision curves display the population net benefit of the risk model in comparison to the reference policy of treating no patients. In some contexts, however, the standard of care in the absence of a risk model is to treat everyone, and the potential use of the risk model would be to opt low-risk patients out of treatment. Although opt-out settings were discussed in the original decision curve paper, opt-out decision curves are underused. We review the formulation of opt-out decision curves and discuss their advantages for interpretation and inference when treat-all is the standard.},
}

@article {pmid30649061,
year = {2019},
author = {Hua, S and Scott, JM and Hanna, DB and Haberlen, SA and Shah, SJ and Hodis, HN and Landay, AL and Lazar, JM and Kizer, JR and Yu, B and Post, WS and Anastos, K and Kaplan, RC and Clish, CB and Qi, Q},
title = {Plasma acylcarnitines and progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis in HIV infection.},
journal = {AIDS (London, England)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1097/QAD.0000000000002142},
pmid = {30649061},
issn = {1473-5571},
abstract = {OBJECTIVE: To evaluate plasma acylcarnitine profiles and their relationships with progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis among individuals with and without HIV-infection.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort studies of 499 HIV-positive and 206 HIV-negative individuals from the Women's Interagency HIV Study and the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

METHODS: Twenty-four acylcarnitine species were measured in plasma samples of participants at baseline. Carotid artery plaque was assessed using repeated B-mode carotid artery ultrasound imaging in 2004-2013. We examined the associations of individual and aggregate short-chain (C2-C7), medium-chain (C8-C14) and long-chain acylcarnitines (C16-C26) with incident carotid artery plaque over 7 years.

RESULTS: Among 24 acylcarnitine species, C8- and C20:4-carnitines showed significantly lower levels comparing HIV-positive to HIV-negative individuals (FDR adjusted P < 0.05); and C20- and C26-carnitines showed significantly higher levels in HIV-positive using ART than those without ART (FDR adjusted P < 0.05). In the univariate analyses, higher aggregated short-chain and long-chain acylcarnitine scores were associated with increased risk of carotid artery plaque (RRs=1.22 [95% CI 1.02-1.45] and 1.20 [1.02-1.41] per SD increment, respectively). The association for the short-chain acylcarnitine score remained significant (RR = 1.23 [1.05-1.44]) after multivariate adjustment (including traditional CVD risk factors). This association was more evident in HIV-positive individuals without persistent viral suppression (RR = 1.37 [1.11-1.69]) compared to those with persistent viral suppression during follow-up (RR = 1.03 [0.76-1.40]) or HIV-negative individuals (RR = 1.02 [0.69-1.52]).

CONCLUSIONS: In two HIV cohorts, plasma levels of most acylcarnitines were not significantly different between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. However, higher levels of aggregated short-chain acylcarnitines were associated with progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis.},
}

@article {pmid30648524,
year = {2019},
author = {Navarro, SL and Herrero, M and Martinez, H and Zhang, Y and Ladd, J and Lo, E and Shelley, D and Randolph, TW and Lampe, JW and Lampe, PD},
title = {Differences in serum biomarkers between combined glucosamine and chondroitin versus celecoxib in a randomized, double-blind trial in osteoarthritis patients.},
journal = {Anti-inflammatory & anti-allergy agents in medicinal chemistry},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.2174/1871523018666190115094512},
pmid = {30648524},
issn = {1875-614X},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, e.g., celecoxib, are commonly used for inflammatory conditions, but can be associated with adverse effects. Combined glucosamine hydrochloride plus chondroitin sulfate (GH+CS) are commonly used for joint pain and have no known adverse effects. Evidence from in vitro, animal and human studies suggests that GH+CS have anti-inflammatory activity, among other mechanisms of action.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the effects of GH+CS versus celecoxib on a panel of 20 serum proteins involved in inflammation and other metabolic pathways.

METHODS: Samples were from a randomized, parallel, double-blind trial of pharmaceutical grade 1500 mg GH + 1200 mg CS (n=96) versus 200 mg celecoxib daily (n=93) for 6-months in knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Linear mixed models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, baseline serum protein values, and rescue medicine use assessed the intervention effects of each treatment arm adjusting for multiple testing.

RESULTS: All serum proteins except WNT16 were lower after treatment with GH+CS, while about half increased after celecoxib. Serum IL-6 was significantly reduced (by 9%, P=0.001) after GH+CS, and satisfied the FDR<0.05 threshold. CCL20, CSF3, and WNT16 increased after celecoxib (by 7%, 9% and 9%, respectively, P<0.05), but these serum proteins were no longer statistically significant after controlling for multiple testing.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study using samples from a previously conducted trial in OA patients, demonstrate that GH+CS reduces circulating IL-6, an inflammatory cytokine, but is otherwise comparable to celecoxib with regard to effects on other circulating protein biomarkers.},
}

@article {pmid30646272,
year = {2018},
author = {Issaka, RB and Inadomi, JM},
title = {Low-Value Colorectal Cancer Screening: Too Much of a Good Thing?.},
journal = {JAMA network open},
volume = {1},
number = {8},
pages = {e185445},
doi = {10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.5445},
pmid = {30646272},
issn = {2574-3805},
}

@article {pmid30646210,
year = {2019},
author = {Goddard, ET and Bassale, S and Schedin, T and Jindal, S and Johnston, J and Cabral, E and Latour, E and Lyons, TR and Mori, M and Schedin, PJ and Borges, VF},
title = {Association Between Postpartum Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Metastasis and the Clinical Features Underlying Risk.},
journal = {JAMA network open},
volume = {2},
number = {1},
pages = {e186997},
doi = {10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.6997},
pmid = {30646210},
issn = {2574-3805},
abstract = {Importance: In women 45 years or younger, breast cancer diagnosis after childbirth increases the risk for metastasis and death, yet limited data exist to define this window of risk and associated prognostic factors.

Objective: To assess the window of elevated risk for metastasis following a postpartum breast cancer (PPBC) diagnosis and whether clinical prognostic factors are associated with the increased risk.

This multicenter cohort study conducted using cases from the Colorado Young Women's Breast Cancer Cohort diagnosed between January 1, 1981, and December 31, 2014, included 701 women 45 years or younger with stage I to III invasive breast cancer for whom parity data, including time of last childbirth, were available. Data analysis was conducted from July 1 to September 30, 2017. This study involved a tertiary care academic hospital-based breast center and its regional affiliates with cases from the greater Rocky Mountain region.

Exposures: Primary exposures were prior childbirth or no childbirth, time between most recent childbirth and breast cancer diagnosis, and time between breast cancer diagnosis and metastasis.

Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was distant metastasis-free survival.

Results: A total of 701 women 45 years or younger from the greater Rocky Mountain states region were included in the analysis; mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 37.9 (5.1) years. Breast cancer diagnosis within 10 years after parturition was associated with elevated risk for metastasis, particularly in women with stage I or II disease. In addition, women with PPBC diagnosed within 10 years of a completed pregnancy that was estrogen receptor-positive showed distant metastasis-free survival similar to that of nulliparous patients with estrogen receptor-negative cancer, and women with estrogen receptor-negative PPBC had further reduced metastasis-free survival. Moreover, women with PPBC had increased lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement. In addition, tumor-associated Ki67 positivity identified 129 patients with luminal B cancer in the cohort that, independent of parity status, had poorer prognosis compared with patients with luminal A cancer, although it did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions and Relevance: Diagnosis of PPBC within 10 years post partum appears to be associated with an increased risk for metastasis. This increased risk was highest in stages I and II cancer at diagnosis and present in both patients with estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative cancer, persisting in estrogen receptor-positive cases for up to 15 years after diagnosis. Postpartum breast cancer diagnoses were not associated with increased Ki67 index but were associated with increased lymphovascular invasion and lymph node involvement compared with breast cancer in nulliparous patients.},
}

@article {pmid30646114,
year = {2018},
author = {Unger, JM and Moseley, A and Symington, B and Chavez-MacGregor, M and Ramsey, SD and Hershman, DL},
title = {Geographic Distribution and Survival Outcomes for Rural Patients With Cancer Treated in Clinical Trials.},
journal = {JAMA network open},
volume = {1},
number = {4},
pages = {e181235},
doi = {10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.1235},
pmid = {30646114},
issn = {2574-3805},
abstract = {Importance: Studies showing that patients with cancer from rural areas have worse outcomes than their urban counterparts have relied on cancer population data and did not account for differences in access to care. Clinical trial patients receive protocol-directed care by design, so large clinical trial databases are ideal for examining the impact of rural vs urban residency on outcomes.

Objective: To compare the geographic distribution and survival outcomes for rural vs urban patients with cancer treated in clinical trials.

In this comparative effectiveness retrospective cohort analysis, 36 995 patients from all 50 states enrolled in 44 phase 3 and phase 2/3 SWOG (formerly the Southwest Oncology Group) treatment trials from January 1, 1986, to December 31, 2012, were examined. Seventeen different cancer-specific analysis cohorts were constructed. Data through January 30, 2018, were analyzed.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Rural vs urban residency was defined using the Rural-Urban Continuum Codes developed by the US Department of Agriculture. Multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate the association of residency with overall survival, progression-free survival, and cancer-specific survival, controlling for major disease-specific prognostic factors and demographic variables and stratifying by study. Different definitions of rurality were examined. The distribution of rural vs urban patients by geographic region was described.

Results: Overall, 27.7% of patients were 65 years or older (range across 17 cohort analyses, 7.8%-74.5%), 40.3% were female in the non-sex-specific analyses (range across 17 cohort analyses, 28.1%-45.9%), and 10.8% were black (range across 17 cohort analyses, 1.9%-22.4%). Overall, 19.4% of patients (7184 of 36 995) were from rural locations. Rural patients were more likely to be aged 65 years or older (rural, 30.7% aged ≥65 years vs urban, 27.0% aged ≥65 years; difference, 3.7%; 95% CI, 2.5%-4.9%; P < .001), were less likely to be black (rural, 5.4% vs urban, 12.1%; difference, 6.7%; 95% CI, 6.1%-7.3%; P < .001), were similar with respect to sex (rural, 40.4% female vs urban, 39.7% female; difference, 0.6%; 95% CI, -1.4% to 2.6%; P = .53), and were well represented within major US geographic regions (West, Midwest, South, and Northeast). Clinical prognostic factors were similar. In multivariable regression, rural patients with adjuvant-stage estrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer had worse overall survival (hazard ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.06-1.51; P = .008) and cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.04-1.52; P = .02). No other statistically significant differences for overall, progression-free, or cancer-specific survival were found. Results were consistent regardless of the definition of rurality.

Conclusions and Relevance: Rural and urban patients with uniform access to cancer care through participation in a SWOG clinical trial had similar outcomes. This finding suggests that improving access to uniform treatment strategies for patients with cancer may help resolve the disparity in cancer outcomes between rural and urban patients.},
}

@article {pmid30646111,
year = {2018},
author = {Makarov, DV and Ciprut, S and Walter, D and Kelly, M and Gold, HT and Zhou, XH and Sherman, SE and Braithwaite, RS and Gross, C and Zeliadt, S},
title = {Association Between Guideline-Discordant Prostate Cancer Imaging Rates and Health Care Service Among Veterans and Medicare Recipients.},
journal = {JAMA network open},
volume = {1},
number = {4},
pages = {e181172},
doi = {10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.1172},
pmid = {30646111},
issn = {2574-3805},
abstract = {Importance: Prostate cancer imaging rates appear to vary by health care setting. With the recent extension of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, the government has provided funds for veterans to seek care outside the Veterans Health Administration (VA). It is important to understand the difference in imaging rates and subsequent differences in patterns of care in the VA vs a traditional fee-for-service setting such as Medicare.

Objective: To assess the association between prostate cancer imaging rates and a VA vs fee-for-service health care setting.

This cohort study included data for men who received a diagnosis of prostate cancer from January 1, 2004, through March 31, 2008, that were collected from the VA Central Cancer Registry, linked to administrate claims and Medicare utilization records, and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database. Three distinct nationally representative cohorts were constructed (use of VA only, use of Medicare only, and dual use of VA and Medicare). Men older than 85 years at diagnosis and men without high-risk features but missing any tumor risk characteristic (prostate-specific antigen, Gleason grade, or clinical stage) were excluded. Analysis of the data was completed from March 2016 to February 2018.

Exposures: Patient utilization of different health care delivery systems.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Rates of prostate cancer imaging were analyzed by health care setting (Medicare only, VA and Medicare, and VA only) among patients with low-risk prostate cancer and patients with high-risk prostate cancer.

Results: Of 98 867 men with prostate cancer (77.4% white; mean [SD] age, 70.26 [7.48] years) in the study cohort, 57.3% were in the Medicare-only group, 14.5% in the VA and Medicare group, and 28.1% in the VA-only group. Among men with low-risk prostate cancer, the Medicare-only group had the highest rate of guideline-discordant imaging (52.5%), followed by the VA and Medicare group (50.9%) and the VA-only group (45.9%) (P < .001). Imaging rates for men with high-risk prostate cancer were not significantly different among the 3 groups. Multivariable analysis showed that individuals in the VA and Medicare group (risk ratio [RR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.76-0.98) and VA-only group (RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.67-0.92) were less likely to receive guideline-discordant imaging than those in the Medicare-only group.

Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this study suggest that patients with prostate cancer who use Medicare rather than the VA for health care could experience more utilization of health care services without an improvement in the quality of care.},
}

@article {pmid30644821,
year = {2019},
author = {Jagannathan, S and Ogata, Y and Gafken, PR and Tapscott, SJ and Bradley, RK},
title = {Quantitative proteomics reveals key roles for post-transcriptional gene regulation in the molecular pathology of FSHD.},
journal = {eLife},
volume = {8},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.7554/eLife.41740},
pmid = {30644821},
issn = {2050-084X},
support = {P01NS069539//National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/ ; FSHS-22014-01//FSH Society/ ; P30 CA015704//National Institutes of Health/ ; },
abstract = {DUX4 is a transcription factor whose misexpression in skeletal muscle causes facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). While DUX4's transcriptional activity has been extensively characterized, the DUX4-induced proteome remains undescribed. Here, we report concurrent measurement of RNA and protein levels in DUX4-expressing cells via RNA-seq and quantitative mass spectrometry. DUX4 transcriptional targets were robustly translated, confirming the likely clinical relevance of proposed FSHD biomarkers. However, a multitude of mRNAs and proteins exhibited discordant expression changes upon DUX4 expression. Our dataset revealed unexpected proteomic, but not transcriptomic, dysregulation of diverse molecular pathways, including Golgi apparatus fragmentation, as well as extensive post-transcriptional buffering of stress response genes. Key components of RNA degradation machineries, including UPF1, UPF3B, and XRN1, exhibited suppressed protein, but not mRNA, levels, explaining the build-up of aberrant RNAs that characterizes DUX4-expressing cells. Our results provide a resource for the FSHD community and illustrate the importance of post-transcriptional processes to DUX4-induced pathology.},
}

@article {pmid30643251,
year = {2019},
author = {Liu, M and Jiang, Y and Wedow, R and Li, Y and Brazel, DM and Chen, F and Datta, G and Davila-Velderrain, J and McGuire, D and Tian, C and Zhan, X and , and , and Choquet, H and Docherty, AR and Faul, JD and Foerster, JR and Fritsche, LG and Gabrielsen, ME and Gordon, SD and Haessler, J and Hottenga, JJ and Huang, H and Jang, SK and Jansen, PR and Ling, Y and Mägi, R and Matoba, N and McMahon, G and Mulas, A and Orrù, V and Palviainen, T and Pandit, A and Reginsson, GW and Skogholt, AH and Smith, JA and Taylor, AE and Turman, C and Willemsen, G and Young, H and Young, KA and Zajac, GJM and Zhao, W and Zhou, W and Bjornsdottir, G and Boardman, JD and Boehnke, M and Boomsma, DI and Chen, C and Cucca, F and Davies, GE and Eaton, CB and Ehringer, MA and Esko, T and Fiorillo, E and Gillespie, NA and Gudbjartsson, DF and Haller, T and Harris, KM and Heath, AC and Hewitt, JK and Hickie, IB and Hokanson, JE and Hopfer, CJ and Hunter, DJ and Iacono, WG and Johnson, EO and Kamatani, Y and Kardia, SLR and Keller, MC and Kellis, M and Kooperberg, C and Kraft, P and Krauter, KS and Laakso, M and Lind, PA and Loukola, A and Lutz, SM and Madden, PAF and Martin, NG and McGue, M and McQueen, MB and Medland, SE and Metspalu, A and Mohlke, KL and Nielsen, JB and Okada, Y and Peters, U and Polderman, TJC and Posthuma, D and Reiner, AP and Rice, JP and Rimm, E and Rose, RJ and Runarsdottir, V and Stallings, MC and Stančáková, A and Stefansson, H and Thai, KK and Tindle, HA and Tyrfingsson, T and Wall, TL and Weir, DR and Weisner, C and Whitfield, JB and Winsvold, BS and Yin, J and Zuccolo, L and Bierut, LJ and Hveem, K and Lee, JJ and Munafò, MR and Saccone, NL and Willer, CJ and Cornelis, MC and David, SP and Hinds, DA and Jorgenson, E and Kaprio, J and Stitzel, JA and Stefansson, K and Thorgeirsson, TE and Abecasis, G and Liu, DJ and Vrieze, S},
title = {Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.},
journal = {Nature genetics},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1038/s41588-018-0307-5},
pmid = {30643251},
issn = {1546-1718},
abstract = {Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders1. They are heritable2,3 and etiologically related4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts6-11. In sample sizes up to 1.2 million individuals, we discovered 566 genetic variants in 406 loci associated with multiple stages of tobacco use (initiation, cessation, and heaviness) as well as alcohol use, with 150 loci evidencing pleiotropic association. Smoking phenotypes were positively genetically correlated with many health conditions, whereas alcohol use was negatively correlated with these conditions, such that increased genetic risk for alcohol use is associated with lower disease risk. We report evidence for the involvement of many systems in tobacco and alcohol use, including genes involved in nicotinic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic neurotransmission. The results provide a solid starting point to evaluate the effects of these loci in model organisms and more precise substance use measures.},
}

@article {pmid30643249,
year = {2019},
author = {Gu, Z and Churchman, ML and Roberts, KG and Moore, I and Zhou, X and Nakitandwe, J and Hagiwara, K and Pelletier, S and Gingras, S and Berns, H and Payne-Turner, D and Hill, A and Iacobucci, I and Shi, L and Pounds, S and Cheng, C and Pei, D and Qu, C and Newman, S and Devidas, M and Dai, Y and Reshmi, SC and Gastier-Foster, J and Raetz, EA and Borowitz, MJ and Wood, BL and Carroll, WL and Zweidler-McKay, PA and Rabin, KR and Mattano, LA and Maloney, KW and Rambaldi, A and Spinelli, O and Radich, JP and Minden, MD and Rowe, JM and Luger, S and Litzow, MR and Tallman, MS and Racevskis, J and Zhang, Y and Bhatia, R and Kohlschmidt, J and Mrózek, K and Bloomfield, CD and Stock, W and Kornblau, S and Kantarjian, HM and Konopleva, M and Evans, WE and Jeha, S and Pui, CH and Yang, J and Paietta, E and Downing, JR and Relling, MV and Zhang, J and Loh, ML and Hunger, SP and Mullighan, CG},
title = {PAX5-driven subtypes of B-progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.},
journal = {Nature genetics},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1038/s41588-018-0315-5},
pmid = {30643249},
issn = {1546-1718},
abstract = {Recent genomic studies have identified chromosomal rearrangements defining new subtypes of B-progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), however many cases lack a known initiating genetic alteration. Using integrated genomic analysis of 1,988 childhood and adult cases, we describe a revised taxonomy of B-ALL incorporating 23 subtypes defined by chromosomal rearrangements, sequence mutations or heterogeneous genomic alterations, many of which show marked variation in prevalence according to age. Two subtypes have frequent alterations of the B lymphoid transcription-factor gene PAX5. One, PAX5alt (7.4%), has diverse PAX5 alterations (rearrangements, intragenic amplifications or mutations); a second subtype is defined by PAX5 p.Pro80Arg and biallelic PAX5 alterations. We show that p.Pro80Arg impairs B lymphoid development and promotes the development of B-ALL with biallelic Pax5 alteration in vivo. These results demonstrate the utility of transcriptome sequencing to classify B-ALL and reinforce the central role of PAX5 as a checkpoint in B lymphoid maturation and leukemogenesis.},
}

@article {pmid30642457,
year = {2019},
author = {Horn, L and Bauml, J and Forde, PM and Davis, KL and Myall, NJ and Sasane, M and Dalal, A and Culver, K and Wozniak, AJ and Baik, CS and Mutebi, A and Zhang, P and Wakelee, HA and Johnson, BE},
title = {Real-world treatment patterns and survival of patients with BRAF V600-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.},
journal = {Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands)},
volume = {128},
number = {},
pages = {74-90},
doi = {10.1016/j.lungcan.2018.12.003},
pmid = {30642457},
issn = {1872-8332},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Clinical outcomes data on BRAF-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated in routine practice is limited. To address this gap, we described treatment patterns and survival in a cohort of these patients evaluated/treated at 7 US academic cancer centers during 2009-2016.

METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review. Patients with BRAF V600-mutated metastatic NSCLC were selected. Current/previous participants in BRAF-related trials were excluded. Onset of metastatic NSCLC defined a patient's index date, which had to occur ≥6 months before the chart review date. Analyses were descriptive, including Kaplan-Meier analyses for overall survival (OS).

RESULTS: The study included 72 patients. At index, median age (range) was 65 (44-90) years; 61.1% were female. Fifty-two patients received ≥1 line of systemic therapy for metastatic disease. Platinum-based doublet chemotherapy was the most common first-line (1 L) regimen (76.9% of 1 l recipients); no patient received 1 l targeted therapy (TT) with a BRAF/MEK inhibitor. In total, 20 patients received TT in any treatment line (2 l or later). At time of review, 38 patients were deceased. Median (95%CI) OS from index for all patients was 31.0 (14.5, 63.8) months. Median (95%CI) OS was 56.5 (13.4, 89.1) months from index for TT recipients and 27.2 (10.6, 64.6) months in patients not treated with TT.

CONCLUSION: Survival time in BRAF V600-mutated metastatic NSCLC patients studied here was higher than expected based on indirect comparisons with historical NSCLC cohorts for whom no oncogenic driver (BRAF or otherwise) was present. TT recipients had a numerically longer OS from metastatic onset than patients receiving usual care, further highlighting the importance of TT in BRAF V600-mutant NSCLC.},
}

@article {pmid30530817,
year = {2018},
author = {Mostaghel, EA},
title = {Alternative Acts: Oncogenic Splicing of Steroidogenic Enzymes in Prostate Cancer.},
journal = {Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-3410},
pmid = {30530817},
issn = {1078-0432},
support = {P01 CA163227/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; P50 CA097186/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; },
abstract = {Castration-resistant prostate cancer is characterized by loss of the androgen inactivation enzyme HSD17B2, emphasizing the importance of intratumoral androgens in tumor progression. Inactive isoforms generated by alternative splicing destabilize the wild-type enzyme, adding steroidogenesis to other prostate cancer drivers that undergo oncogenic splicing, highlighting aberrant splicing as a therapeutic target.See related article by Gao et al.},
}

@article {pmid30639324,
year = {2018},
author = {Chen, H and Huffman, JE and Brody, JA and Wang, C and Lee, S and Li, Z and Gogarten, SM and Sofer, T and Bielak, LF and Bis, JC and Blangero, J and Bowler, RP and Cade, BE and Cho, MH and Correa, A and Curran, JE and de Vries, PS and Glahn, DC and Guo, X and Johnson, AD and Kardia, S and Kooperberg, C and Lewis, JP and Liu, X and Mathias, RA and Mitchell, BD and O'Connell, JR and Peyser, PA and Post, WS and Reiner, AP and Rich, SS and Rotter, JI and Silverman, EK and Smith, JA and Vasan, RS and Wilson, JG and Yanek, LR and , and , and Redline, S and Smith, NL and Boerwinkle, E and Borecki, IB and Cupples, LA and Laurie, CC and Morrison, AC and Rice, KM and Lin, X},
title = {Efficient Variant Set Mixed Model Association Tests for Continuous and Binary Traits in Large-Scale Whole-Genome Sequencing Studies.},
journal = {American journal of human genetics},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.12.012},
pmid = {30639324},
issn = {1537-6605},
abstract = {With advances in whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technology, more advanced statistical methods for testing genetic association with rare variants are being developed. Methods in which variants are grouped for analysis are also known as variant-set, gene-based, and aggregate unit tests. The burden test and sequence kernel association test (SKAT) are two widely used variant-set tests, which were originally developed for samples of unrelated individuals and later have been extended to family data with known pedigree structures. However, computationally efficient and powerful variant-set tests are needed to make analyses tractable in large-scale WGS studies with complex study samples. In this paper, we propose the variant-set mixed model association tests (SMMAT) for continuous and binary traits using the generalized linear mixed model framework. These tests can be applied to large-scale WGS studies involving samples with population structure and relatedness, such as in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. SMMATs share the same null model for different variant sets, and a virtue of this null model, which includes covariates only, is that it needs to be fit only once for all tests in each genome-wide analysis. Simulation studies show that all the proposed SMMATs correctly control type I error rates for both continuous and binary traits in the presence of population structure and relatedness. We also illustrate our tests in a real data example of analysis of plasma fibrinogen levels in the TOPMed program (n = 23,763), using the Analysis Commons, a cloud-based computing platform.},
}

@article {pmid30638028,
year = {2019},
author = {McKinnon, LR and Achilles, S and Bradshaw, CS and Burgener, A and Crucitti, T and Fredricks, DN and Jaspan, HB and Kaul, R and Kaushic, C and Klatt, N and Kwon, DS and Marrazzo, JM and Masson, L and McClelland, S and Ravel, J and van de Wijgert, JHHM and Vodstrcil, LA and Tachedjian, G},
title = {The evolving facets of bacterial vaginosis: implications for HIV transmission.},
journal = {AIDS research and human retroviruses},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1089/AID.2018.0304},
pmid = {30638028},
issn = {1931-8405},
abstract = {Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common yet poorly understood vaginal condition that has become a major focus of HIV transmission and immunology research. Varied terminologies are used by clinicians and researchers to describe microbial communities that reside in the female reproductive tract, which is driven in part by microbial genetic and metabolic complexity, evolving diagnostic and molecular techniques, and multidisciplinary perspectives of clinicians, epidemiologists, microbiologists, and immunologists who all appreciate the scientific importance of understanding mechanisms that underlie "BV". This Perspectives article aims to clarify the varied terms used to describe the cervicovaginal microbiota and its "non-optimal" state, under the overarching term of BV. The ultimate goal is to move toward language standardization in future literature that facilitates a better understanding of the impact of BV on female reproductive tract immunology and risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV.},
}

@article {pmid30635626,
year = {2019},
author = {Hoang, VT and Verma, D and Godavarthy, PS and Llavona, P and Steiner, M and Gerlach, K and Michels, BE and Bohnenberger, H and Wachter, A and Oellerich, T and Müller-Kuller, U and Weissenberger, E and Voutsinas, JM and Oehler, VG and Farin, HF and Zörnig, M and Krause, DS},
title = {The transcriptional regulator FUBP1 influences disease outcome in murine and human myeloid leukemia.},
journal = {Leukemia},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1038/s41375-018-0358-8},
pmid = {30635626},
issn = {1476-5551},
support = {2015.039.1//Wilhelm Sander-Stiftung (Wilhelm Sander Foundation)/ ; },
abstract = {The transcriptional regulator far upstream element binding protein 1 (FUBP1) acts as an oncoprotein in solid tumor entities and plays a role in the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells. However, its potential function in leukemia is unknown. In murine models of chronic (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) induced by BCR-ABL1 and MLL-AF9, respectively, knockdown of Fubp1 resulted in prolonged survival, decreased numbers of CML progenitor cells, decreased cell cycle activity and increased apoptosis. Knockdown of FUBP1 in CML and AML cell lines recapitulated these findings and revealed enhanced DNA damage compared to leukemia cells expressing wild type FUBP1 levels. FUBP1 was more highly expressed in human CML compared to normal bone marrow cells and its expression correlated with disease progression. In AML, higher FUBP1 expression in patient leukemia cells was observed with a trend toward correlation with shorter overall survival. Treatment of mice with AML with irinotecan, known to inhibit topoisomerase I and FUBP1, significantly prolonged survival alone or in combination with cytarabine. In summary, our data suggest that FUBP1 acts as cell cycle regulator and apoptosis inhibitor in leukemia. We demonstrated that FUBP1 might play a role in DNA repair, and its inhibition may improve outcome in leukemia patients.},
}

@article {pmid30630975,
year = {2019},
author = {Monaco, F and Scott, BL and Chauncey, TR and Petersen, FB and Storer, BE and Baron, F and Flowers, ME and Deeg, HJ and Maloney, DG and Storb, R and Sandmaier, BM},
title = {Total body irradiation dose escalation decreases risk of progression and graft rejection after hematopoietic cell transplantation for myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative neoplasms.},
journal = {Haematologica},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3324/haematol.2018.199398},
pmid = {30630975},
issn = {1592-8721},
abstract = {A nonmyeloablative regimen of fludarabine and 200 cGy total body irradiation combined with post-grafting immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil and a calcineurin inhibitor facilitates allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation from HLA-matched related or unrelated donors in older patients and/or those with comorbidities. However, outcomes of prior studies have been disappointing in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or myeloproliferative neoplasms due to high incidences of progression or graft failure (together termed hematopoietic cell transplantation-failure). We hypothesized that escalating the total body irradiation dose may improve the outcomes and subsequently performed a phase II total body irradiation dose-escalation trial. Patients with median age 66 years were enrolled in two arms to receive nonmyeloablative conditioning followed by hematopoietic cell transplantation with total body irradiation dose escalation for excessive hematopoietic cell transplantation-failure: Arm A: myeloproliferative neoplasm/myelodysplastic syndrome low-risk (n=36) and Arm B: myelodysplastic syndrome high-risk/chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (n=41). Total body irradiation dose levels were: Level-1 (300 cGy), Level-2 (400 cGy), or Level-3 (450 cGy). Patients received intravenous fludarabine 30 mg/m2 x3 days. Total body irradiation was administered on day 0 followed by infusion of peripheral blood stem cells from HLA-matched related (n=30) or unrelated (n=47) donors. Post-grafting immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil and cyclosporine was administered. The primary endpoint was day 200 hematopoietic cell transplant failure, with the objective of reducing the incidence to <20%. Primary endpoint was reached on Arm A at dose Level-1 (300 cGy total body irradiation) with a cumulative incidence of day 200 hematopoietic cell transplant failure of 11%, and on Arm B at dose Level-3 (450 cGy) with a cumulative incidence of day 200 hematopoietic cell transplant failure of 9%. Increasing the total body irradiation dose leads to a higher success rate with nonmyeloablative conditioning by reducing relapse and rejection. Further studies are necessary to decrease nonrelapse mortality, especially among patients with high-risk disease. Trial registered under ClinicalTrials.gov No. NCT00397813 .},
}

@article {pmid30629903,
year = {2019},
author = {Greenlee, H and Shi, Z},
title = {Implementing Integrative Oncology: Hopes and Challenges.},
journal = {Journal of oncology practice},
volume = {15},
number = {1},
pages = {17-18},
doi = {10.1200/JOP.18.00755},
pmid = {30629903},
issn = {1935-469X},
}

@article {pmid30629898,
year = {2019},
author = {Lyman, GH},
title = {Febrile Neutropenia: An Ounce of Prevention or a Pound of Cure.},
journal = {Journal of oncology practice},
volume = {15},
number = {1},
pages = {27-29},
doi = {10.1200/JOP.18.00750},
pmid = {30629898},
issn = {1935-469X},
}

@article {pmid30629263,
year = {2019},
author = {Stoddard, BL and Fox, KR},
title = {Editorial: Preprints, citations and Nucleic Acids Research.},
journal = {Nucleic acids research},
volume = {47},
number = {1},
pages = {1-2},
doi = {10.1093/nar/gky1229},
pmid = {30629263},
issn = {1362-4962},
}

@article {pmid30629220,
year = {2019},
author = {Reeves, KW and Santana, MD and Manson, JE and Hankinson, SE and Zoeller, RT and Bigelow, C and Sturgeon, SR and Spiegelman, D and Tinker, L and Luo, J and Chen, B and Meliker, J and Bonner, MR and Cote, ML and Cheng, TD and Calafat, AM},
title = {Urinary Phthalate Biomarker Concentrations and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk.},
journal = {Journal of the National Cancer Institute},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/jnci/djz002},
pmid = {30629220},
issn = {1460-2105},
abstract = {Background: Growing laboratory and animal model evidence supports the potentially carcinogenic effects of some phthalates, chemicals used as plasticizers in a wide variety of consumer products, including cosmetics, medications, and vinyl flooring. However, prospective data on whether phthalates are associated with human breast cancer risk are lacking.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study within the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) prospective cohort (N = 419 invasive cases and 838 controls). Controls were matched 2:1 to cases on age, enrollment date, follow-up time, and WHI study group. We quantified thirteen phthalate metabolites and creatinine in two or three urine samples per participant over one to three years. Multivariable conditional logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI) for breast cancer risk associated with each phthalate biomarker over up to 19 years of follow-up.

Results: Overall, we did not observe statistically significant positive associations between phthalate biomarkers and breast cancer risk in multivariable analyses (e.g. 4th vs 1st quartile of diethylhexyl phthalate OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.91 - 1.17). Results were generally similar in analyses restricted to disease subtypes, to non-users of postmenopausal hormone therapy, stratified by body mass index, or to cases diagnosed within three, five, or ten years.

Conclusions: In the first prospective analysis of phthalates and postmenopausal breast cancer, phthalate biomarker concentrations did not result in an increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer.},
}

@article {pmid30629092,
year = {2019},
author = {Unger, JM and Hershman, DL and Fleury, ME and Vaidya, R},
title = {Association of Patient Comorbid Conditions With Cancer Clinical Trial Participation.},
journal = {JAMA oncology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.5953},
pmid = {30629092},
issn = {2374-2445},
abstract = {Importance: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Friends of Cancer Research, and the US Food and Drug Administration recently recommended modernizing criteria related to comorbidities routinely used to exclude patients from cancer clinical trials. The goal was to design clinical trial eligibility such that trial results better reflect real-world cancer patient populations, to improve clinical trial participation, and to increase patient access to new treatments in trials. Yet despite the assumed influence of comorbidities on trial participation, the relationship between patients' comorbidity profile at diagnosis and trial participation has not been explicitly examined using patient-level data.

Objectives: To investigate the association between comorbidities, clinical trial decision-making, and clinical trial participation; and to estimate the potential impact of reducing comorbidity exclusion criteria on trial participation, to provide a benchmark for changing criteria.

A national survey was embedded within a web-based cancer treatment-decision tool accessible on multiple cancer-oriented websites. Participants must have received a diagnosis of breast, lung, colorectal, or prostate cancer. In total, 5499 surveyed patients who made a treatment decision within the past 3 months were analyzed using logistic regression analysis and simulations.

Exposures: Cancer diagnosis and 1 or more of 18 comorbidities.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Patient discussion of a clinical trial with their physician (yes vs no); if a trial was discussed, the offer of trial participation (yes vs no); and, if trial participation was offered, trial participation (yes vs no).

Results: Of the 5499 patients who participated in the survey, 3420 (62.6%) were women and 2079 (37.8%) were men (mean [SD] age, 56.63 [10.05] years). Most patients (65.6%; n = 3610) had 1 or more comorbidities. The most common comorbid condition was hypertension (35.0%; n = 1924). Compared with the absence of comorbidities, the presence of 1 or more comorbidities was associated with a decreased risk of trial discussions (44.1% vs 37.2%; OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.75-0.97; P = .02), trial offers (21.7% vs 15.7%; OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.70-0.96; P = .02), and trial participation (11.3% vs 7.8%; OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.61-0.94; P = .01). The removal of the ASCO-recommended comorbidity restrictions could generate up to 6317 additional patient trial registrations every year.

Conclusions and Relevance: Independent of sociodemographic variables, the presence of comorbidities is adversely associated with trial discussions, trial offers, and trial participation itself. Updating trial eligibility criteria could provide an opportunity for several thousand more patients with well-managed comorbidities to participate in clinical trials each year.},
}

@article {pmid30628928,
year = {2019},
author = {Fries, CA and Lawson, SD and Wang, LC and Spencer, JR and Roth, M and Rickard, RF and Gorantla, VS and Davis, MR},
title = {Composite Graft Pretreatment With Hydrogen Sulfide Delays the Onset of Acute Rejection.},
journal = {Annals of plastic surgery},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1097/SAP.0000000000001693},
pmid = {30628928},
issn = {1536-3708},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Vascularized composite allotransplantation can reconstruct devastating tissue loss by replacing like-with-like tissues, most commonly in the form of hand or face transplantation. Unresolved technical and ethical challenges have meant that such transplants remain experimental treatments. The most significant barrier to expansion of this field is the requirement for systemic immunosuppression, its toxicity and effect on longevity.Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been shown experimentally to ameliorate the ischemia reperfusion injury associated with composite tissue autotransplantation, which has been linked to acute rejection in solid organ transplantation. In this protocol, a large-animal model was used to evaluate the effect of H2S on acute rejection after composite tissue allotransplantation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A musculocutaneous flap model in SLA-mismatched swine was used to evaluate acute rejection of allotransplants in 2 groups: control animals (n = 8) and a treatment group in which the allografts were pretreated with hydrogen sulfide (n = 8). Neither group was treated with systemic immunosuppression. Acute rejection was graded clinically and histopathologically by an independent, blinded pathologist. Data were analyzed by t tests with correction for multiple comparisons by the Holm-Šídák method.

RESULTS: Clinically, H2S-treated tissue composites showed a delay in the onset of rejection that was statistically significant from postoperative day 6. Histopathologically, this difference between groups was also apparent, although evidence of a difference in groups disappeared beyond day 10.

CONCLUSIONS: Targeted hydrogen sulfide treatment of vascularized composite allografts immediately before transplantation can delay acute rejection. This may, in turn, reduce or obviate the requirement for systemic immunosuppression.},
}

@article {pmid30628507,
year = {2019},
author = {Estey, E},
title = {'Looking beyond survival to define therapeutic value in acute myeloid leukemia'.},
journal = {Leukemia & lymphoma},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {1-3},
doi = {10.1080/10428194.2018.1543886},
pmid = {30628507},
issn = {1029-2403},
}

@article {pmid30627300,
year = {2018},
author = {Lange, JM and Gulati, R and Leonardson, AS and Lin, DW and Newcomb, LF and Trock, BJ and Carter, HB and Cooperberg, MR and Cowan, JE and Klotz, LH and Etzioni, R},
title = {ESTIMATING AND COMPARING CANCER PROGRESSION RISKS UNDER VARYING SURVEILLANCE PROTOCOLS.},
journal = {The annals of applied statistics},
volume = {12},
number = {3},
pages = {1773-1795},
doi = {10.1214/17-AOAS1130},
pmid = {30627300},
issn = {1932-6157},
abstract = {Outcomes after cancer diagnosis and treatment are often observed at discrete times via doctor-patient encounters or specialized diagnostic examinations. Despite their ubiquity as endpoints in cancer studies, such outcomes pose challenges for analysis. In particular, comparisons between studies or patient populations with different surveillance schema may be confounded by differences in visit frequencies. We present a statistical framework based on multistate and hidden Markov models that represents events on a continuous time scale given data with discrete observation times. To demonstrate this framework, we consider the problem of comparing risks of prostate cancer progression across multiple active surveillance cohorts with different surveillance frequencies. We show that the different surveillance schedules partially explain observed differences in the progression risks between cohorts. Our application permits the conclusion that differences in underlying cancer progression risks across cohorts persist after accounting for different surveillance frequencies.},
}

@article {pmid30626941,
year = {2019},
author = {Silva, DA and Yu, S and Ulge, UY and Spangler, JB and Jude, KM and Labão-Almeida, C and Ali, LR and Quijano-Rubio, A and Ruterbusch, M and Leung, I and Biary, T and Crowley, SJ and Marcos, E and Walkey, CD and Weitzner, BD and Pardo-Avila, F and Castellanos, J and Carter, L and Stewart, L and Riddell, SR and Pepper, M and Bernardes, GJL and Dougan, M and Garcia, KC and Baker, D},
title = {De novo design of potent and selective mimics of IL-2 and IL-15.},
journal = {Nature},
volume = {565},
number = {7738},
pages = {186-191},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-018-0830-7},
pmid = {30626941},
issn = {1476-4687},
abstract = {We describe a de novo computational approach for designing proteins that recapitulate the binding sites of natural cytokines, but are otherwise unrelated in topology or amino acid sequence. We use this strategy to design mimics of the central immune cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) that bind to the IL-2 receptor βγc heterodimer (IL-2Rβγc) but have no binding site for IL-2Rα (also called CD25) or IL-15Rα (also known as CD215). The designs are hyper-stable, bind human and mouse IL-2Rβγc with higher affinity than the natural cytokines, and elicit downstream cell signalling independently of IL-2Rα and IL-15Rα. Crystal structures of the optimized design neoleukin-2/15 (Neo-2/15), both alone and in complex with IL-2Rβγc, are very similar to the designed model. Neo-2/15 has superior therapeutic activity to IL-2 in mouse models of melanoma and colon cancer, with reduced toxicity and undetectable immunogenicity. Our strategy for building hyper-stable de novo mimetics could be applied generally to signalling proteins, enabling the creation of superior therapeutic candidates.},
}

@article {pmid30625217,
year = {2019},
author = {Burnett-Hartman, AN and Hua, X and Rue, TC and Golchin, N and Kessler, L and Rowhani-Rahbar, A},
title = {Risk interval analysis of emergency room visits following colonoscopy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.},
journal = {PloS one},
volume = {14},
number = {1},
pages = {e0210262},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0210262},
pmid = {30625217},
issn = {1932-6203},
abstract = {BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Prior studies suggest that colonoscopy may exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms. Thus, our study aimed to determine risk of emergency room (ER) visits associated with colonoscopy among IBD patients and evaluate potential modifiers of this risk.

METHODS: The study population included IBD patients in the Multi-Payer Claims Database who were >20 years old and had a colonoscopy from 2007-2010. We used a self-controlled risk interval design and mixed-effects Poisson regression models to calculate risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) comparing the incidence of ER visits in the 1-4 weeks following colonoscopy (risk interval) to the incidence of ER visits in the 7-10 weeks after colonoscopy (control interval). We also conducted stratified analyses by patient characteristics, bowel preparation type, and medication.

RESULTS: There were 212,205 IBD patients with at least 1 colonoscopy from 2007-2010, and 3,699 had an ER visit during the risk and/or control interval. The risk of an ER visit was higher in the 4-week risk interval following colonoscopy compared to the control interval (RR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.17-1.32). The effect was strongest in those <41 years old (RR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.21-2.11), in women (RR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.21-1.44), and in those with sodium phosphate bowel preparation (RR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.02-4.29). Patients using immunomodulators had no increased risk of ER visits (RR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.35-1.59).

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there is an increased risk of ER visits following colonoscopy among IBD patients, but that immunomodulators and mild bowel preparation agents may mitigate this risk.},
}

@article {pmid30624309,
year = {2019},
author = {Peebles, K and Velloza, J and Balkus, JE and Scott McClelland, R and Barnabas, RV},
title = {High Global Burden and Costs of Bacterial Vaginosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.},
journal = {Sexually transmitted diseases},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000972},
pmid = {30624309},
issn = {1537-4521},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection among women of reproductive age and is associated with important adverse health outcomes. Estimates of the burden of BV and associated costs are needed to inform research priorities.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of global BV prevalence among reproductive-aged women in the general population. We searched PubMed and Embase, and used random effects models to estimate BV prevalence by global regions. We estimated the direct medical costs of treating symptomatic BV. Assuming a causal relationship, we also estimated the potential costs of BV-associated preterm births and HIV cases in the United States.

RESULTS: General population prevalence of BV is high globally, ranging from 23% to 29% across regions (Europe and Central Asia: 23%; East Asia and Pacific: 24%; Latin America and Caribbean: 24%; Middle East and North Africa: 25%; sub-Saharan Africa: 25%; North America 27%; South Asia: 29%). Within North America, Black and Hispanic women have significantly higher (33% and 31%, respectively) prevalence compared to other racial groups (White: 23%; Asian: 11%) (p<0.01).The estimated annual global economic burden of treating symptomatic BV is $4.8 (95% CI: $3.7, $6.1) billion. The US economic burden of BV is nearly tripled when including costs of BV-associated preterm births and HIV cases.

CONCLUSIONS: BV prevalence is high globally, with a concomitant high economic burden and marked racial disparities in prevalence. Research to determine the etiology of BV and corresponding prevention and sustainable treatment strategies are urgently needed to reduce the burden of BV among women. Additionally, the exceptionally high cost of BV-associated sequelae highlights the need for research to understand potential causal linkages between BV and adverse health outcomes.},
}

@article {pmid30624099,
year = {2019},
author = {Bennett, B and Workman, T and Smith, MN and Griffith, WC and Thompson, B and Faustman, EM},
title = {Longitudinal, Seasonal, and Occupational Trends of Multiple Pesticides in House Dust.},
journal = {Environmental health perspectives},
volume = {127},
number = {1},
pages = {17003},
doi = {10.1289/EHP3644},
pmid = {30624099},
issn = {1552-9924},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Children are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure and can suffer lasting health effects. Because children of farmworkers are exposed to a variety of pesticides throughout development, it is important to explore temporal patterns of coexposures.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to characterize the pesticide co-exposures, determine how they change over time, and assess differences between farmworker and nonfarmworker households.

METHODS: Dust collected from 40 farmworker and 35 nonfarmworker households in the Yakima Valley of the State of Washington in 2005 and then again in 2011 was analyzed for 99 pesticides. Eighty-seven pesticides representing over 28 classes were detected. Pesticides were grouped into classes using U.S. EPA pesticide chemical classifications, and trends in concentrations were analyzed at the class level.

RESULTS: Levels of organophosphates, pyridazinones, and phenols significantly decreased between 2005 and 2011 in both farmworker and nonfarmworker households. Levels of anilides, 2,6-dinitroanilines, chlorophenols, triclosan, and guanidines significantly increased in both farmworker and nonfarmworker households in 2011 vs. 2005. Among farmworkers alone, there were significantly lower levels of N-methyl carbamates and neonicotinoids in 2011.

CONCLUSIONS: We observed significant reductions in the concentrations of many pesticides over time in both farmworker and nonfarmworker households. Although nonfarmworker households generally had lower concentrations of pesticides, it is important to note that in comparison with NHANES participants, nonfarmworkers and their families still had significantly higher concentrations of urinary pesticide metabolites. This finding highlights the importance of detailed longitudinal exposure monitoring to capture changes in agricultural and residential pesticide use over time. This foundation provides an avenue to track longitudinal pesticide exposures in an intervention or regulatory context. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3644.},
}

@article {pmid30623732,
year = {2019},
author = {Westling, T and Juraska, M and Seaton, KE and Tomaras, GD and Gilbert, PB and Janes, H},
title = {Methods for comparing durability of immune responses between vaccine regimens in early-phase trials.},
journal = {Statistical methods in medical research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {962280218820881},
doi = {10.1177/0962280218820881},
pmid = {30623732},
issn = {1477-0334},
abstract = {The ability to produce a long-lasting, or durable, immune response is a crucial characteristic of many highly effective vaccines. A goal of early-phase vaccine trials is often to compare the immune response durability of multiple tested vaccine regimens. One parameter for measuring immune response durability is the area under the mean post-peak log immune response profile. In this paper, we compare immune response durability across vaccine regimens within and between two phase I trials of DNA-primed HIV vaccine regimens, HVTN 094 and HVTN 096. We compare four estimators of this durability parameter and the resulting statistical inferences for comparing vaccine regimens. Two of these estimators use the trapezoid rule as an empirical approximation of the area under the marginal log response curve, and the other two estimators are based on linear and nonlinear models for the marginal mean log response. We conduct a simulation study to compare the four estimators, provide guidance on estimator selection, and use the nonlinear marginal mean model to analyze immunogenicity data from the two HIV vaccine trials.},
}

@article {pmid30622541,
year = {2018},
author = {Cassady, K and Martin, PJ and Zeng, D},
title = {Regulation of GVHD and GVL Activity via PD-L1 Interaction With PD-1 and CD80.},
journal = {Frontiers in immunology},
volume = {9},
number = {},
pages = {3061},
doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2018.03061},
pmid = {30622541},
issn = {1664-3224},
abstract = {Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a curative therapy for hematological malignancies (i.e. leukemia and lymphoma), because graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) activity mediated by alloreactive T cells can eliminate residual malignant cells and prevent relapse. However, the same alloreactive T cells also mediate a severe side effect, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and prevention of GVHD while preserving GVL activity remains an elusive goal. The immune checkpoint molecule PD-L1 and its interaction with PD-1 receptor in regulating cancer immunity is under intensive and wide-spread study, but knowledge about this interaction in regulating GVHD and GVL activity is very limited. In this review, we summarize the literature exploring how PD-L1 interaction with its receptors PD-1 and CD80 regulate GVHD and GVL activities, how PD-L1 signaling regulates T cell metabolic profiles, and how a differential role of PD-L1 interaction with PD-1, CD80 or both may provide a novel avenue to prevent GVHD while preserving strong GVL effects.},
}

@article {pmid30622367,
year = {2019},
author = {Schumacher, FR and Olama, AAA and Berndt, SI and Benlloch, S and Ahmed, M and Saunders, EJ and Dadaev, T and Leongamornlert, D and Anokian, E and Cieza-Borrella, C and Goh, C and Brook, MN and Sheng, X and Fachal, L and Dennis, J and Tyrer, J and Muir, K and Lophatananon, A and Stevens, VL and Gapstur, SM and Carter, BD and Tangen, CM and Goodman, PJ and Thompson, IM and Batra, J and Chambers, S and Moya, L and Clements, J and Horvath, L and Tilley, W and Risbridger, GP and Gronberg, H and Aly, M and Nordström, T and Pharoah, P and Pashayan, N and Schleutker, J and Tammela, TLJ and Sipeky, C and Auvinen, A and Albanes, D and Weinstein, S and Wolk, A and Håkansson, N and West, CML and Dunning, AM and Burnet, N and Mucci, LA and Giovannucci, E and Andriole, GL and Cussenot, O and Cancel-Tassin, G and Koutros, S and Beane Freeman, LE and Sorensen, KD and Orntoft, TF and Borre, M and Maehle, L and Grindedal, EM and Neal, DE and Donovan, JL and Hamdy, FC and Martin, RM and Travis, RC and Key, TJ and Hamilton, RJ and Fleshner, NE and Finelli, A and Ingles, SA and Stern, MC and Rosenstein, BS and Kerns, SL and Ostrer, H and Lu, YJ and Zhang, HW and Feng, N and Mao, X and Guo, X and Wang, G and Sun, Z and Giles, GG and Southey, MC and MacInnis, RJ and FitzGerald, LM and Kibel, AS and Drake, BF and Vega, A and Gómez-Caamaño, A and Szulkin, R and Eklund, M and Kogevinas, M and Llorca, J and Castaño-Vinyals, G and Penney, KL and Stampfer, M and Park, JY and Sellers, TA and Lin, HY and Stanford, JL and Cybulski, C and Wokolorczyk, D and Lubinski, J and Ostrander, EA and Geybels, MS and Nordestgaard, BG and Nielsen, SF and Weischer, M and Bisbjerg, R and Røder, MA and Iversen, P and Brenner, H and Cuk, K and Holleczek, B and Maier, C and Luedeke, M and Schnoeller, T and Kim, J and Logothetis, CJ and John, EM and Teixeira, MR and Paulo, P and Cardoso, M and Neuhausen, SL and Steele, L and Ding, YC and De Ruyck, K and De Meerleer, G and Ost, P and Razack, A and Lim, J and Teo, SH and Lin, DW and Newcomb, LF and Lessel, D and Gamulin, M and Kulis, T and Kaneva, R and Usmani, N and Singhal, S and Slavov, C and Mitev, V and Parliament, M and Claessens, F and Joniau, S and Van den Broeck, T and Larkin, S and Townsend, PA and Aukim-Hastie, C and Gago-Dominguez, M and Castelao, JE and Martinez, ME and Roobol, MJ and Jenster, G and van Schaik, RHN and Menegaux, F and Truong, T and Koudou, YA and Xu, J and Khaw, KT and Cannon-Albright, L and Pandha, H and Michael, A and Thibodeau, SN and McDonnell, SK and Schaid, DJ and Lindstrom, S and Turman, C and Ma, J and Hunter, DJ and Riboli, E and Siddiq, A and Canzian, F and Kolonel, LN and Le Marchand, L and Hoover, RN and Machiela, MJ and Cui, Z and Kraft, P and Amos, CI and Conti, DV and Easton, DF and Wiklund, F and Chanock, SJ and Henderson, BE and Kote-Jarai, Z and Haiman, CA and Eeles, RA and , and , and , and , and , and , and , and , and , },
title = {Author Correction: Association analyses of more than 140,000 men identify 63 new prostate cancer susceptibility loci.},
journal = {Nature genetics},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1038/s41588-018-0330-6},
pmid = {30622367},
issn = {1546-1718},
abstract = {In the version of this article initially published, the name of author Manuela Gago-Dominguez was misspelled as Manuela Gago Dominguez. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF version of the article.},
}

@article {pmid30619245,
year = {2018},
author = {Yang, J and Jing, L and James, EA and Gebe, JA and Koelle, DM and Kwok, WW},
title = {A Novel Approach of Identifying Immunodominant Self and Viral Antigen Cross-Reactive T Cells and Defining the Epitopes They Recognize.},
journal = {Frontiers in immunology},
volume = {9},
number = {},
pages = {2811},
doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2018.02811},
pmid = {30619245},
issn = {1664-3224},
abstract = {Infection and vaccination can lead to activation of autoreactive T cells, including the activation of cross-reactive T cells. However, detecting these cross-reactive T cells and identifying the non-self and self-antigen epitopes is difficult. The current study demonstrates the utility of a novel approach that effectively accomplishes both. We utilized surface expression of CD38 on newly activated CD4 memory T cells as a strategy to identify type 1 diabetes associated autoreactive T cells activated by influenza vaccination in healthy subjects. We identified an influenza A matrix protein (MP) specific CD4+ T cell clone that cross-recognizes an immunodominant epitope from Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) protein. The sequences of the MP and GAD65 peptides are rather distinct, with only 2 identical amino acids within the HLA-DR binding region. This result suggests that activation of autoreactive T cells by microbial infection under certain physiological conditions can occur amongst peptides with minimum amino acid sequence homology. This novel strategy also provides a new research pathway in which to examine activation of autoreactive CD4+ T cells after vaccination or natural infection.},
}

@article {pmid30617281,
year = {2019},
author = {Skapek, SX and Ferrari, A and Gupta, AA and Lupo, PJ and Butler, E and Shipley, J and Barr, FG and Hawkins, DS},
title = {Rhabdomyosarcoma.},
journal = {Nature reviews. Disease primers},
volume = {5},
number = {1},
pages = {1},
doi = {10.1038/s41572-018-0051-2},
pmid = {30617281},
issn = {2056-676X},
abstract = {Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children and represents a high-grade neoplasm of skeletal myoblast-like cells. Decades of clinical and basic research have gradually improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of RMS and helped to optimize clinical care. The two major subtypes of RMS, originally characterized on the basis of light microscopic features, are driven by fundamentally different molecular mechanisms and pose distinct clinical challenges. Curative therapy depends on control of the primary tumour, which can arise at many distinct anatomical sites, as well as controlling disseminated disease that is known or assumed to be present in every case. Sophisticated risk stratification for children with RMS incorporates various clinical, pathological and molecular features, and that information is used to guide the application of multifaceted therapy. Such therapy has historically included cytotoxic chemotherapy as well as surgery, ionizing radiation or both. This Primer describes our current understanding of RMS epidemiology, disease susceptibility factors, disease mechanisms and elements of clinical care, including diagnostics, risk-based care of newly diagnosed and relapsed disease and the prevention and management of late effects in survivors. We also outline potential opportunities to further translate new biological insights into improved clinical outcomes.},
}

@article {pmid30617275,
year = {2019},
author = {Erzurumluoglu, AM and Liu, M and Jackson, VE and Barnes, DR and Datta, G and Melbourne, CA and Young, R and Batini, C and Surendran, P and Jiang, T and Adnan, SD and Afaq, S and Agrawal, A and Altmaier, E and Antoniou, AC and Asselbergs, FW and Baumbach, C and Bierut, L and Bertelsen, S and Boehnke, M and Bots, ML and Brazel, DM and Chambers, JC and Chang-Claude, J and Chen, C and Corley, J and Chou, YL and David, SP and de Boer, RA and de Leeuw, CA and Dennis, JG and Dominiczak, AF and Dunning, AM and Easton, DF and Eaton, C and Elliott, P and Evangelou, E and Faul, JD and Foroud, T and Goate, A and Gong, J and Grabe, HJ and Haessler, J and Haiman, C and Hallmans, G and Hammerschlag, AR and Harris, SE and Hattersley, A and Heath, A and Hsu, C and Iacono, WG and Kanoni, S and Kapoor, M and Kaprio, J and Kardia, SL and Karpe, F and Kontto, J and Kooner, JS and Kooperberg, C and Kuulasmaa, K and Laakso, M and Lai, D and Langenberg, C and Le, N and Lettre, G and Loukola, A and Luan, J and Madden, PAF and Mangino, M and Marioni, RE and Marouli, E and Marten, J and Martin, NG and McGue, M and Michailidou, K and Mihailov, E and Moayyeri, A and Moitry, M and Müller-Nurasyid, M and Naheed, A and Nauck, M and Neville, MJ and Nielsen, SF and North, K and Perola, M and Pharoah, PDP and Pistis, G and Polderman, TJ and Posthuma, D and Poulter, N and Qaiser, B and Rasheed, A and Reiner, A and Renström, F and Rice, J and Rohde, R and Rolandsson, O and Samani, NJ and Samuel, M and Schlessinger, D and Scholte, SH and Scott, RA and Sever, P and Shao, Y and Shrine, N and Smith, JA and Starr, JM and Stirrups, K and Stram, D and Stringham, HM and Tachmazidou, I and Tardif, JC and Thompson, DJ and Tindle, HA and Tragante, V and Trompet, S and Turcot, V and Tyrrell, J and Vaartjes, I and van der Leij, AR and van der Meer, P and Varga, TV and Verweij, N and Völzke, H and Wareham, NJ and Warren, HR and Weir, DR and Weiss, S and Wetherill, L and Yaghootkar, H and Yavas, E and Jiang, Y and Chen, F and Zhan, X and Zhang, W and Zhao, W and Zhao, W and Zhou, K and Amouyel, P and Blankenberg, S and Caulfield, MJ and Chowdhury, R and Cucca, F and Deary, IJ and Deloukas, P and Di Angelantonio, E and Ferrario, M and Ferrières, J and Franks, PW and Frayling, TM and Frossard, P and Hall, IP and Hayward, C and Jansson, JH and Jukema, JW and Kee, F and Männistö, S and Metspalu, A and Munroe, PB and Nordestgaard, BG and Palmer, CNA and Salomaa, V and Sattar, N and Spector, T and Strachan, DP and , and van der Harst, P and Zeggini, E and Saleheen, D and Butterworth, AS and Wain, LV and Abecasis, GR and Danesh, J and Tobin, MD and Vrieze, S and Liu, DJ and Howson, JMM},
title = {Meta-analysis of up to 622,409 individuals identifies 40 novel smoking behaviour associated genetic loci.},
journal = {Molecular psychiatry},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1038/s41380-018-0313-0},
pmid = {30617275},
issn = {1476-5578},
support = {SP/09/002//British Heart Foundation (BHF)/ ; RG/13/13/30194//British Heart Foundation (BHF)/ ; 268834//EC | European Research Council (ERC)/ ; },
abstract = {Smoking is a major heritable and modifiable risk factor for many diseases, including cancer, common respiratory disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Fourteen genetic loci have previously been associated with smoking behaviour-related traits. We tested up to 235,116 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) on the exome-array for association with smoking initiation, cigarettes per day, pack-years, and smoking cessation in a fixed effects meta-analysis of up to 61 studies (up to 346,813 participants). In a subset of 112,811 participants, a further one million SNVs were also genotyped and tested for association with the four smoking behaviour traits. SNV-trait associations with P < 5 × 10-8 in either analysis were taken forward for replication in up to 275,596 independent participants from UK Biobank. Lastly, a meta-analysis of the discovery and replication studies was performed. Sixteen SNVs were associated with at least one of the smoking behaviour traits (P < 5 × 10-8) in the discovery samples. Ten novel SNVs, including rs12616219 near TMEM182, were followed-up and five of them (rs462779 in REV3L, rs12780116 in CNNM2, rs1190736 in GPR101, rs11539157 in PJA1, and rs12616219 near TMEM182) replicated at a Bonferroni significance threshold (P < 4.5 × 10-3) with consistent direction of effect. A further 35 SNVs were associated with smoking behaviour traits in the discovery plus replication meta-analysis (up to 622,409 participants) including a rare SNV, rs150493199, in CCDC141 and two low-frequency SNVs in CEP350 and HDGFRP2. Functional follow-up implied that decreased expression of REV3L may lower the probability of smoking initiation. The novel loci will facilitate understanding the genetic aetiology of smoking behaviour and may lead to the identification of potential drug targets for smoking prevention and/or cessation.},
}

@article {pmid30617132,
year = {2019},
author = {Haab, BB and Staal, B and Barnett, D and Hsueh, P and He, Z and Gao, CF and Partyka, K and Hurd, MW and Singhi, AD and Drake, RR and Huang, Y and Liu, Y and Brand, RE and Maitra, A},
title = {The sTRA Plasma Biomarker: Blinded Validation of Improved Accuracy over CA19-9 in Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis.},
journal = {Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-3310},
pmid = {30617132},
issn = {1078-0432},
abstract = {PURPOSE: The CA19-9 biomarker is elevated in a substantial group of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but not enough to be reliable for the detection or diagnosis of the disease. We hypothesized that a glycan called sTRA is a biomarker for PDAC that improves upon CA19-9.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We examined sTRA and CA19-9 expression and secretion in panels of cell lines, patient-derived xenografts, and primary tumors. We developed candidate biomarkers from sTRA and CA19-9 in a training set of 147 plasma samples and used the panels to make case/control calls, based on predetermined thresholds, in a 50-sample validation set and a blinded, 147-sample test set.

RESULTS: The sTRA glycan was produced and secreted by pancreatic tumors and models that did not produce and secrete CA19-9. Two biomarker panels improved upon CA19-9 in the training set, one optimized for specificity, which included CA19-9 and two versions of the sTRA assay, and another optimized for sensitivity, which included two sTRA assays. Both panels achieved statistical improvement (p < 0.001) over CA19-9 in the validation set, and the specificity-optimized panel achieved statistical improvement (p < 0.001) in the blinded set: 95% specificity and 54% sensitivity (75% accuracy), compared to 97%/30% (65% accuracy). Unblinding produced further improvements and revealed independent, complementary contributions from each marker.

CONCLUSIONS: sTRA is a validated serological biomarker of PDAC that yields improved performance over CA19-9. The new panels may enable surveillance for PDAC among people with elevated risk, or improved differential diagnosis among patients with suspected pancreatic cancer.},
}

@article {pmid30617130,
year = {2019},
author = {Ramchandren, R and Advani, RH and Ansell, SM and Bartlett, NL and Chen, R and Connors, JM and Feldman, T and Forero, A and Friedberg, JW and Gopal, AK and Gordon, LI and Kuruvilla, J and Savage, KJ and Younes, A and Engley, G and Manley, TJ and Fenton, K and Straus, DJ},
title = {Brentuximab Vedotin Plus Chemotherapy in North American Patients with Newly Diagnosed Stage III or IV Hodgkin Lymphoma.},
journal = {Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-2435},
pmid = {30617130},
issn = {1078-0432},
abstract = {PURPOSE: To evaluate safety and efficacy outcomes for subjects on the ECHELON-1 study treated in North America (NA).

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: ECHELON-1 is a global, open-label, randomized phase 3 study comparing doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine in combination with brentuximab vedotin (A+AVD) versus ABVD (AVD+bleomycin) as frontline therapy in subjects with Stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL; NCT01712490). Subjects were randomized 1:1 to receive A+AVD or ABVD intravenously on Days 1 and 15 of each 28‑day cycle for up to 6 cycles.

RESULTS: The NA subgroup consisted of 497 subjects in the A+AVD (n=250) and ABVD (n=247) arms. Similar to the primary analysis based on the intent-to-treat population, the primary endpoint (modified progression-free survival [PFS] per independent review) demonstrated an improvement among subjects who received A+AVD compared with ABVD (HR=0.60; P=.012). For PFS, the risk of progression or death was also reduced (HR=0.50; P=.002). Subsequent anticancer therapies were lower in the A+AVD arm. Grade 3 or 4 adverse events (AEs) were more common, but there were fewer study discontinuations due to AEs in the A+AVD arm as compared to ABVD. Noted differences between arms included higher rates of febrile neutropenia (20% vs. 9%) and peripheral neuropathy (80% vs. 56%), but lower rates of pulmonary toxicity (3% vs. 10%) in subjects treated with A+AVD versus ABVD.

CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy benefit and manageable toxicity profile observed in the NA subgroup of ECHELON-1 support A+AVD as a frontline treatment option for Stage III or IV cHL patients.},
}

@article {pmid30616442,
year = {2019},
author = {Stone, SA and Han, CJ and Senn, T and Korde, LA and Allott, K and Reding, S and Whittington, D and Reding, KW},
title = {Sex Hormones in Women With Elevated Breast Cancer Risk Undergoing Weight Loss.},
journal = {Western journal of nursing research},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {193945918820672},
doi = {10.1177/0193945918820672},
pmid = {30616442},
issn = {1552-8456},
abstract = {Sedentary lifestyles and obesity are known risk factors for breast cancer. Elevated estrogen levels correlate with obesity and, independently, with increased breast cancer risk. Lifestyle interventions that reduce obesity may mitigate this risk, potentially via estrogen pathways. In a 6-month lifestyle intervention, overweight/obese women with high breast cancer risk were randomized to control (n = 7) or intervention (n = 6) and analyzed for sex hormone levels. Serum and urine hormones were evaluated by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) were reduced by 12.1% and 50.8%, respectively, at 9 months in the intervention group, which differed from controls (p = .043 and .020). This contrasted with a 73.3% increase in urine E1 at 6 months in the intervention group (p = .035). These results suggest that a lifestyle intervention led to a favorable estrogen profile in relation to breast cancer risk.},
}

@article {pmid30616390,
year = {2019},
author = {Andersen, MR and Sweet, E and Hager, S and Gaul, M and Dowd, F and Standish, LJ},
title = {Effects of Vitamin D Use on Health-Related Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Patients in Early Survivorship.},
journal = {Integrative cancer therapies},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {1534735418822056},
doi = {10.1177/1534735418822056},
pmid = {30616390},
issn = {1552-695X},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Vitamin D supplements may prevent recurrence, prolong survival, and improve mood for women with breast cancer, although evidence for these effects is preliminary.

METHODS: This report describes vitamin D supplement use by 553 breast cancer patient/survivors (193 who used a naturopathic oncology [NO] provider and 360 who did not) participating in a matched cohort study of breast cancer outcomes.

RESULTS: We found that more than half of breast cancer patients reported using vitamin D supplements. Women who received care from NO providers in early survivorship may be more likely to use vitamin D supplements (P < .05). Approximately 30% of breast cancer patients with blood levels recorded in their medical chart were potentially vitamin D deficient (<30 ng/mL). Vitamin D supplement use at study enrollment was associated with higher levels of self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at enrollment (P < .05) and predicted better HRQOL at 6-month follow-up (P < .05). Sufficient blood levels of vitamin D recorded between enrollment and follow-up were also associated with better HRQOL at follow-up (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D supplementation by breast cancer patients is common both during and after treatment for breast cancer, but deficiency may also be common. NO and conventional providers may be able to promote vitamin D sufficiency through vitamin D supplementation and by encouraging healthy solar exposure. Further studies should be undertaken examining whether vitamin D supplementation and higher blood levels might improve HRQOL among women with breast cancer in early survivorship.},
}

@article {pmid30616376,
year = {2019},
author = {Molina, Y and Ulrich, A and Greer, AC and Primbas, A and Wandell, G and Sanchez, H and Bain, C and Konda, KA and Clark, JL and De la Grecca, R and Villarán, MV and Pasalar, S and Lama, JR and Duerr, AC},
title = {Impact of pre-diagnosis awareness of HIV-related stigma and dispositional coping on linkage to HIV care among newly diagnosed HIV+ Peruvian patients.},
journal = {AIDS care},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {1-9},
doi = {10.1080/09540121.2018.1563282},
pmid = {30616376},
issn = {1360-0451},
abstract = {A substantial body of literature has characterized how psychosocial factors, including HIV-related stigma and coping, are associated with HIV testing and HIV care utilization post-diagnosis. Less is known about if certain psychosocial characteristics pre-diagnosis may also predict linkage to care among individuals who receive an HIV-positive diagnosis. We examined if pre-diagnosis awareness/perception about HIV-related stigma and dispositional coping styles predicted linkage to HIV care within three months post-diagnosis with a secondary analysis of 604 patients from a randomized controlled trial (Sabes Study). Awareness/perception about HIV-related stigma, dispositional maladaptive and adaptive coping were measured before patients underwent an HIV test. Linkage to care was measured as receipt of care within three months of receiving the diagnosis. After adjusting for covariates, individuals who reported greater dispositional maladaptive coping pre-diagnosis had lower odds of linking to care, OR = 0.82, 95%CI [0.67, 1.00], p = .05. There was also a non-significant inverse association between dispositional adaptive coping pre-diagnosis and linkage to care. These preliminary data suggest the need for further longitudinal research and highlight the potential utility of pre-diagnosis psychosocial assessment and tailored counseling when providing positive HIV diagnosis results.},
}

@article {pmid30333223,
year = {2019},
author = {Himbert, C and Ose, J and Nattenmüller, J and Warby, CA and Holowatyj, AN and Böhm, J and Lin, T and Haffa, M and Gigic, B and Hardikar, S and Scherer, D and Zielske, L and Schrotz-King, P and Kölsch, T and Siegel, EM and Shibata, D and Ulrich, A and Schneider, M and Hursting, SD and Kauczor, HU and Ulrich, CM},
title = {Body Fatness, Adipose Tissue Compartments, and Biomarkers of Inflammation and Angiogenesis in Colorectal Cancer: The ColoCare Study.},
journal = {Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology},
volume = {28},
number = {1},
pages = {76-82},
doi = {10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-0654},
pmid = {30333223},
issn = {1538-7755},
support = {R01 CA189184/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; U01 CA206110/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; R35 CA197627/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; R01 CA207371/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; R01 CA211705/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; P30 CA042014/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Adiposity has been linked to both risk and prognosis of colorectal cancer; however, the impact of different fat areas [visceral (VFA) vs. subcutaneous fat area (SFA)] is unclear. We investigated associations between adiposity and biomarkers of inflammation and angiogenesis among patients with colorectal cancer.

METHODS: Preoperative serum samples and computed tomography scans were obtained from 188 patients diagnosed with primary invasive stage I-IV colorectal cancer enrolled in the ColoCare Study. Adiposity was assessed by area-based quantification of VFA, SFA, and VFA:SFA ratio on spinal levels L3/L4 and L4/L5. Circulating levels of inflammation (CRP, SAA, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1) and angiogenesis (VEGF-A and VEGF-D) were assessed from patient sera on the Meso Scale Discovery platform. Partial correlations and regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, and tumor stage, were performed.

RESULTS: VFA was moderately correlated with CRP and SAA (CRP: L3/L4 and L4/L5:r = 0.21, P = 0.01; SAA: L3/L4:r = 0.17, P = 0.04). The correlation between SFA and the measured biomarkers were weak (r ≤ 0.13, not significant). The ratio of VFA:SFA at L3/L4 was moderately correlated with VEGF-A (r = 0.28, P = 0.0008) and SAA (r = 0.24, P = 0.006), and less so with CRP (r = 0.18, P = 0.04) and sICAM-1 (r = 0.18, P = 0.04). Similar correlations were found for the VFA:SFA ratio at L4/L5.

CONCLUSIONS: We observed an association between visceral adiposity and biomarkers of inflammation and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. In particular, the VFA:SFA ratio was correlated with circulating levels of the proangiogenic biomarker VEGF-A.

IMPACT: Our findings support a direct association of visceral adipose tissue with inflammatory and angiogenic processes, which play fundamental roles in the development and progression of colorectal cancer.},
}

@article {pmid30615169,
year = {2019},
author = {Hightow-Weidman, LB and Magnus, M and Beauchamp, G and Hurt, CB and Shoptaw, S and Emel, L and Piwowar-Manning, E and Mayer, KH and Nelson, LE and Wilton, L and Watkins, P and Whitfield, D and Fields, SD and Wheeler, D},
title = {Incidence and Correlates of STIs among Black Men who have Sex with Men Participating in the HPTN 073 PrEP Study.},
journal = {Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/cid/ciy1141},
pmid = {30615169},
issn = {1537-6591},
abstract = {Background: HPTN 073 assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for Black men who have sex with men (BMSM). The purpose of this analysis was to characterize the relationship between PrEP uptake and use, and incident STIs among participants enrolled in HPTN 073.

Methods: 226 HIV-uninfected BMSM were enrolled in three US cities; all participants received client-centered care coordination (C4) and were offered daily oral PrEP. Participants were followed for 12 months with STI testing (rectal and urine NAAT for gonorrhea and chlamydia, RPR for syphilis) conducted at baseline, week 26 and week 52. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between STI incidence and PrEP uptake. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) evaluated associations between age, PrEP acceptance, sexual behaviors, and incident STI cases.

Results: Baseline STI prevalence was 14.2%. Men <25 were more likely to have a baseline STI (25.3% vs. 6.7%; OR 4.39; 95% CI: 1.91, 10.11). Sixty participants (26.5%) acquired ≥1 STI during follow-up; the incidence rate was 34.2 cases per 100 person-years (95% CI: 27.4, 42.9). In adjusted analyses, baseline STI diagnosis (OR 4.23, 95% CI: 1.82, 9.87; p<0.001) and additional C4 time (OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.06; p=0.027) were associated with having an incident STI. STI incidence was not associated with PrEP acceptance or adherence.

Discussion: While we found higher rates of STIs in younger BMSM, the overall rates of STI in this trial were lower than in prior PrEP trials with no increase over time. BMSM with STIs at PrEP initiation may require additional interventions targeting STI acquisition risk.},
}

@article {pmid30615138,
year = {2019},
author = {Galldiks, N and Langen, KJ and Albert, NL and Chamberlain, M and Soffietti, R and Kim, MM and Law, I and Le Rhun, E and Chang, S and Schwarting, J and Combs, SE and Preusser, M and Forsyth, P and Pope, W and Weller, M and Tonn, JC},
title = {PET Imaging in Patients with Brain Metastasis - Report of the RANO/PET Group.},
journal = {Neuro-oncology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/neuonc/noz003},
pmid = {30615138},
issn = {1523-5866},
abstract = {Brain metastases (BM) from extracranial cancer are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Effective local treatment options are stereotactic radiotherapy, including radiosurgery or fractionated external beam radiotherapy, and surgical resection. The use of systemic treatment for intracranial disease control also is improving. BM diagnosis, treatment planning and follow-up is most often based on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, anatomic imaging modalities including standard MRI have limitations in accurately characterizing post-therapeutic reactive changes and treatment response. Molecular imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) characterize specific metabolic and cellular features of metastases, potentially providing clinically relevant information supplementing anatomic MRI. Here, the RANO working group provides recommendations for the use of PET imaging in the clinical management of patients with BM based on evidence from studies validated by histology and/or clinical outcome.},
}

@article {pmid30615119,
year = {2019},
author = {Spearman, P and Tomaras, GD and Montefiori, DC and Huang, Y and Elizaga, ML and Ferrari, G and Alam, SM and Isaacs, A and Ahmed, H and Hural, J and McElrath, MJ and Ouedraogo, L and Pensiero, M and Butler, C and Kalams, SA and Overton, ET and Barnett, SW and , and , },
title = {Rapid Boosting of HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibody Responses in Humans Following a Prolonged Immunologic Rest.},
journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/infdis/jiz008},
pmid = {30615119},
issn = {1537-6613},
abstract = {Background: Durability and breadth of HIV-1-specific immune responses elicited through vaccination are important considerations in the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine. Responses to HIV-1 envelope subunit protein (Env) immunization in humans are often described as short-lived.

Methods: We identified 16 healthy volunteers who had received priming with an HIV-1 subtype B Env protein vaccine given with MF59 adjuvant 5-17 years previously, and administered three booster immunizations with a heterologous subtype C trimeric gp140 protein vaccine. We enrolled 20 healthy unprimed volunteers and administered the same vaccination regimen.

Results: Binding antibodies and neutralizing antibodies to Tier 1 viral isolates were detected in the majority of previously-primed subjects. Remarkably, a single dose of protein boosted binding and neutralizing antibody titers in 100% of primed subjects following this prolonged immunologic rest period, and CD4+ T cell responses were boosted in 75% of primed individuals.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate that HIV-1 protein immunogens can elicit durable memory T and B cell responses, and that strong Tier 1 virus neutralizing responses can be elicited by a single booster dose of protein following a long immunologic rest period. However, we found no evidence that cross-clade boosting led to a significantly broadened neutralizing antibody response.},
}

@article {pmid30614525,
year = {2019},
author = {Margolis, KL and Buchner, DM and LaMonte, MJ and Zhang, Y and Di, C and Rillamas-Sun, E and Hunt, J and Ikramuddin, F and Li, W and Marshall, S and Rosenberg, D and Stefanick, ML and Wallace, R and LaCroix, AZ},
title = {Hypertension Treatment and Control and Risk of Falls in Older Women.},
journal = {Journal of the American Geriatrics Society},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/jgs.15732},
pmid = {30614525},
issn = {1532-5415},
support = {R01HL105065//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; //National Institutes of Health/ ; HHSN268201600018C//U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/ ; HHSN268201600001C//U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/ ; HHSN268201600002C//U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/ ; HHSN268201600003C//U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/ ; HHSN268201600004C//U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/ ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: A lower risk of falls is commonly cited as a reason to treat hypertension conservatively in older individuals. We examined the effect of hypertension treatment and control status and measured blood pressure (BP) level on the risk of falls in older women.

DESIGN/SETTING: Prospective cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 5971 women (mean age 79 years; 50.4% white, 33.1% black, 16.5% Hispanic/Latina) enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative and Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health study.

MEASUREMENTS: BP was measured by trained nurses, and hypertension treatment was assessed by medication inventory. Participants mailed in monthly calendars to self-report falls for 1 year.

RESULTS: Overall, 70% of women had hypertension at baseline (53% treated and controlled, 12% treated and uncontrolled, 5% untreated). There were 2582 women (43%) who reported falls in the 1 year of surveillance. Compared with nonhypertensive women, when adjusted for fall risk factors and lower limb physical function, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for falls was 0.82 (confidence interval [CI] = 0.74-0.92) in women with treated controlled hypertension (p = .0008) and 0.73 (CI = 0.62-0.87) in women with treated uncontrolled hypertension (p = .0004). Neither measured systolic nor diastolic BP was associated with falls in the overall cohort. In women treated with antihypertensive medication, higher diastolic BP was associated with a lower risk of falls in a model adjusted for fall risk factors (IRR = 0.993 per mm Hg; 95% CI = 0.987-1.000; p = .04). The only class of antihypertensive medication associated with an increased risk of falls compared with all other types of antihypertensive drugs was β-blockers.

CONCLUSION: Women in this long-term research study with treated hypertension had a lower risk of falls compared with nonhypertensive women. Diastolic BP (but not systolic BP) is weakly associated with fall risk in women on antihypertensive treatment (<1% decrease in risk per mm Hg increase). J Am Geriatr Soc, 2019.},
}

@article {pmid30614479,
year = {2019},
author = {Martins, F and Sykiotis, GP and Maillard, M and Fraga, M and Ribi, C and Kuntzer, T and Michielin, O and Peters, S and Coukos, G and Spertini, F and Thompson, JA and Obeid, M},
title = {New therapeutic perspectives to manage refractory immune checkpoint-related toxicities.},
journal = {The Lancet. Oncology},
volume = {20},
number = {1},
pages = {e54-e64},
doi = {10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30828-3},
pmid = {30614479},
issn = {1474-5488},
abstract = {Immune checkpoint inhibitors are reshaping the prognosis of many cancer and are progressively becoming the standard of care in the treatment of many tumour types. Immunotherapy is bringing new hope to patients, but also a whole new spectrum of toxicities for healthcare practitioners to manage. Oncologists and specialists involved in the pluridisciplinary management of patients with cancer are increasingly confronted with the therapeutic challenge of treating patients with severe and refractory immune-related adverse events. In this Personal View, we summarise the therapeutic strategies that have been used to manage such toxicities resulting from immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. On the basis of current knowledge about their pathogenesis, we discuss the use of new biological and non-biological immunosuppressive drugs to treat severe and steroid refractory immune-related adverse events. Depending on the immune infiltrate type that is predominant, we propose a treatment algorithm for personalised management that goes beyond typical corticosteroid use. We propose a so-called shut-off strategy that aims at inhibiting key inflammatory components involved in the pathophysiological processes of immune-related adverse events, and limits potential adverse effects of drug immunosuppression on tumour response. This approach develops on current guidelines and challenges the step-by-step increase approach to drug immunosuppression.},
}

@article {pmid30613635,
year = {2018},
author = {Kennedy, LC and Gadi, V},
title = {Dasatinib in breast cancer: Src-ing for response in all the wrong kinases.},
journal = {Annals of translational medicine},
volume = {6},
number = {Suppl 1},
pages = {S60},
doi = {10.21037/atm.2018.10.26},
pmid = {30613635},
issn = {2305-5839},
}

@article {pmid30611192,
year = {2019},
author = {Bajema, KL and Bassett, IV and Coleman, SM and Ross, D and Freedberg, KA and Wald, A and Drain, PK},
title = {Subclinical tuberculosis among adults with HIV: clinical features and outcomes in a South African cohort.},
journal = {BMC infectious diseases},
volume = {19},
number = {1},
pages = {14},
doi = {10.1186/s12879-018-3614-7},
pmid = {30611192},
issn = {1471-2334},
support = {T32 AI007044//National Institutes of Health/ ; R24 TW007988//Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows Program at Vanderbilt University/ ; T32 AI007433//National Institutes of Health (US)/ ; P30 AI060354//Harvard University Center for AIDS Research/ ; K23 AI108293//National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/ ; R01AI058736//National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/ ; R01 MH090326//National Institute of Mental Health/ ; },
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Subclinical tuberculosis is an asymptomatic disease phase with important relevance to persons living with HIV. We describe the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and risk of mortality for HIV-infected adults with subclinical tuberculosis.

METHODS: Untreated adults with HIV presenting for outpatient care in Durban, South Africa were screened for tuberculosis-related symptoms and had sputum tested by acid-fast bacilli smear and tuberculosis culture. Active tuberculosis and subclinical tuberculosis were defined as having any tuberculosis symptom or no tuberculosis symptoms with culture-positive sputum. We evaluated the association between tuberculosis disease category and 12-month survival using Cox regression, adjusting for age, sex, and CD4 count.

RESULTS: Among 654 participants, 96 were diagnosed with active tuberculosis disease and 28 with subclinical disease. The median CD4 count was 68 (interquartile range 39-161) cells/mm3 in patients with active tuberculosis, 136 (72-312) cells/mm3 in patients with subclinical disease, and 249 (125-394) cells/mm3 in those without tuberculosis disease (P < 0.001). The proportion of smear positive cases did not differ significantly between the subclinical (29%) and active tuberculosis groups (14%, P 0.08). Risk of mortality was not increased in individuals with subclinical tuberculosis relative to no tuberculosis (adjusted hazard ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.26-2.73).

CONCLUSIONS: Nearly one-quarter of tuberculosis cases among HIV-infected adults were subclinical, which was characterized by an intermediate degree of immunosuppression. Although there was no significant difference in survival, anti-tuberculous treatment of subclinical cases was common.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT01188941 (August 26, 2010).},
}

@article {pmid30610225,
year = {2019},
author = {Cuadrado, A and Rojo, AI and Wells, G and Hayes, JD and Cousin, SP and Rumsey, WL and Attucks, OC and Franklin, S and Levonen, AL and Kensler, TW and Dinkova-Kostova, AT},
title = {Therapeutic targeting of the NRF2 and KEAP1 partnership in chronic diseases.},
journal = {Nature reviews. Drug discovery},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1038/s41573-018-0008-x},
pmid = {30610225},
issn = {1474-1784},
abstract = {The transcription factor NF-E2 p45-related factor 2 (NRF2; encoded by NFE2L2) and its principal negative regulator, the E3 ligase adaptor Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1), are critical in the maintenance of redox, metabolic and protein homeostasis, as well as the regulation of inflammation. Thus, NRF2 activation provides cytoprotection against numerous pathologies including chronic diseases of the lung and liver; autoimmune, neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders; and cancer initiation. One NRF2 activator has received clinical approval and several electrophilic modifiers of the cysteine-based sensor KEAP1 and inhibitors of its interaction with NRF2 are now in clinical development. However, challenges regarding target specificity, pharmacodynamic properties, efficacy and safety remain.},
}

@article {pmid30608515,
year = {2019},
author = {Weiss, NS},
title = {Observational Studies That Seek to Emulate a Randomized Trial of Screening to Reduce the Incidence of Cancer: Do They Address the Question to Which We'd Like to Have an Answer?.},
journal = {American journal of epidemiology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/aje/kwy286},
pmid = {30608515},
issn = {1476-6256},
abstract = {Some forms of cancer screening have the potential to reduce cancer incidence, if the screening modality can identify not only a malignancy but a treatable pre-malignant condition (such as a colon polyp) as well. Cohort studies of the efficacy of these forms of screening in reducing the incidence of cancer face many challenges, notably the difficulty in distinguishing whether a test performed in a given individual was screening or diagnostic in nature. Downward bias in the estimated efficacy of screening resulting from misclassification of test indication is a particular problem in cohort studies that seek to gauge cancer incidence beginning at the time of screening (and a corresponding point in time among unscreened persons). The downward bias is accentuated in those cohort studies that have sought to mimic the "intention-to-treat" analytic approach used in randomized trials, in which initially unscreened persons are retained in this category even if later they themselves undergo screening.},
}

@article {pmid30608197,
year = {2018},
author = {Lemaitre, RN and McKnight, B and Sotoodehnia, N and Fretts, AM and Qureshi, WT and Song, X and King, IB and Sitlani, CM and Siscovick, DS and Psaty, BM and Mozaffarian, D},
title = {Circulating Very Long-Chain Saturated Fatty Acids and Heart Failure: The Cardiovascular Health Study.},
journal = {Journal of the American Heart Association},
volume = {7},
number = {21},
pages = {e010019},
doi = {10.1161/JAHA.118.010019},
pmid = {30608197},
issn = {2047-9980},
abstract = {Background Circulating very-long-chain saturated fatty acids (VLSFAs) are integrated biomarkers of diet and metabolism that may point to new risk pathways and potential targets for heart failure (HF) prevention. The associations of VLSFA to HF in humans are not known. Methods and Results Using a cohort study design, we studied the associations of serially measured plasma phospholipid VLSFA with incident HF in the Cardiovascular Health Study. We investigated the associations of time-varying levels of the 3 major circulating VLSFAs , lignoceric acid (24:0), behenic acid (22:0), and arachidic acid (20:0), with the risk of incident HF using Cox regression. During 45030 person-years among 4249 participants, we identified 1304 cases of incident HF , including 489 with preserved and 310 with reduced ejection fraction. Adjusting for major HF risk factors and other circulating fatty acids, higher levels of each VLSFAs were associated with lower risk of incident HF (P trend≤0.0007 each). The hazard ratio comparing the highest quintile to the lowest quintile was 0.67 (95% confidence interval, 0.55-0.81) for 24:0, 0.72 (95% confidence interval, 0.60-0.87) for 22:0 and 0.72 (95% confidence interval, 0.59-0.88) for 20:0. The associations were similar in subgroups defined by sex, age, body mass index, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus. Among those with ejection fraction data, the associations appeared similar for those with preserved and with reduced ejection fraction. Conclusions Higher levels of circulating VLSFAs are associated with lower risk of incident HF in older adults. These novel associations should prompt further research on the role of VLSFA in HF , including relevant new risk pathways. Clinical Trial Registration URL : https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT 00005133.},
}

@article {pmid30606716,
year = {2019},
author = {Muller, DC and Larose, TL and Hodge, A and Guida, F and Langhammer, A and Grankvist, K and Meyer, K and Cai, Q and Arslan, AA and Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, A and Albanes, D and Giles, GG and Sesso, HD and Lee, IM and Gaziano, JM and Yuan, JM and Hoffman Bolton, J and Buring, JE and Visvanathan, K and Le Marchand, L and Purdue, MP and Caporaso, NE and Midttun, Ø and Ueland, PM and Prentice, RL and Weinstein, SJ and Stevens, VL and Zheng, W and Blot, WJ and Shu, XO and Zhang, X and Xiang, YB and Koh, WP and Hveem, K and Thomson, CA and Pettinger, M and Engström, G and Brunnström, H and Milne, RL and Stampfer, MJ and Han, J and Johansson, M and Brennan, P and Severi, G and Johansson, M},
title = {Circulating high sensitivity C reactive protein concentrations and risk of lung cancer: nested case-control study within Lung Cancer Cohort Consortium.},
journal = {BMJ (Clinical research ed.)},
volume = {364},
number = {},
pages = {k4981},
pmid = {30606716},
issn = {1756-1833},
abstract = {OBJECTIVES: To conduct a comprehensive analysis of prospectively measured circulating high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) concentration and risk of lung cancer overall, by smoking status (never, former, and current smokers), and histological sub-type.

DESIGN: Nested case-control study.

SETTING: 20 population based cohort studies in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the United States.

PARTICIPANTS: 5299 patients with incident lung cancer, with individually incidence density matched controls.

EXPOSURE: Circulating hsCRP concentrations in prediagnostic serum or plasma samples.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incident lung cancer diagnosis.

RESULTS: A positive association between circulating hsCRP concentration and the risk of lung cancer for current (odds ratio associated with a doubling in hsCRP concentration 1.09, 95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.13) and former smokers (1.09, 1.04 to 1.14) was observed, but not for never smokers (P<0.01 for interaction). This association was strong and consistent across all histological subtypes, except for adenocarcinoma, which was not strongly associated with hsCRP concentration regardless of smoking status (odds ratio for adenocarcinoma overall 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.94 to 1.01). The association between circulating hsCRP concentration and the risk of lung cancer was strongest in the first two years of follow-up for former and current smokers. Including hsCRP concentration in a risk model, in addition to smoking based variables, did not improve risk discrimination overall, but slightly improved discrimination for cancers diagnosed in the first two years of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Former and current smokers with higher circulating hsCRP concentrations had a higher risk of lung cancer overall. Circulating hsCRP concentration was not associated with the risk of lung adenocarcinoma. Circulating hsCRP concentration could be a prediagnostic marker of lung cancer rather than a causal risk factor.},
}

@article {pmid30605731,
year = {2018},
author = {Pulsipher, MA and Logan, BR and Kiefer, DM and Chitphakdithai, P and Riches, ML and Rizzo, JD and Anderlini, P and Leitman, SF and Varni, JW and Kobusingye, H and Besser, RM and Miller, JP and Drexler, RJ and Abdel-Mageed, A and Ahmed, IA and Ball, ED and Bolwell, BJ and Bunin, NJ and Cheerva, A and Delgado, DC and Dvorak, CC and Gillio, AP and Hahn, TE and Hale, GA and Haight, AE and Hayes-Lattin, BM and Kasow, KA and Linenberger, M and Magalhaes-Silverman, M and Mori, S and Prasad, VK and Quigg, TC and Sahdev, I and Schriber, JR and Shenoy, S and Tse, WT and Yanik, GA and Navarro, WH and Horowitz, MM and Confer, DL and Shaw, BE and Switzer, GE},
title = {Higher risks of toxicity and incomplete recovery in 13-17 year old females after marrow donation: RDSafe peds results.},
journal = {Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.12.765},
pmid = {30605731},
issn = {1523-6536},
abstract = {Although donation of bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) from children to family members undergoing allogeneic transplantation are well-established procedures, studies detailing levels of pain, symptoms, and long-term recovery are lacking. To address this, we prospectively enrolled 294 donors age <18 at 25 pediatric transplant centers in North America, assessing them pre-donation, peri-donation, 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year after donation. We noted that 71% of children reported pain and 59% other symptoms peri-donation, with resolution to 14% and 12% at 1 month. Both older age (age 13-17 vs. younger) and female sex were associated with higher levels of pain peri-donation, with the highest rates in older females (57% and 17% reporting grades 2-4 and 3-4 pain, respectively). Multivariate analyses showed a 4-fold increase in risk for older females compared to males <13 (p<0.001)). At 1 year, 11% of 13-17 year old females reported grade 2-4 pain compared to 3%, 0%, and 1% of males aged 13-17, females <13, and males <13 (p=0.01). Males and females 13-17 years old failed to return to pre-donation pain levels at 1 year 22% and 23% of the time compared to 3% and 10% in males and females <13 (p=0.002). In conclusion, females age 13-17 are at increased risk for grade 2-4 pain at 1 year and more than 20% of females and males 13-17 do not return to baseline pain levels 1 year after BM donation. Studies aimed at decreasing symptoms and improving recovery in older children are warranted.},
}

@article {pmid30605491,
year = {2019},
author = {Johansson, M and Carreras-Torres, R and Scelo, G and Purdue, MP and Mariosa, D and Muller, DC and Timpson, NJ and Haycock, PC and Brown, KM and Wang, Z and Ye, Y and Hofmann, JN and Foll, M and Gaborieau, V and Machiela, MJ and Colli, LM and Li, P and Garnier, JG and Blanche, H and Boland, A and Burdette, L and Prokhortchouk, E and Skryabin, KG and Yeager, M and Radojevic-Skodric, S and Ognjanovic, S and Foretova, L and Holcatova, I and Janout, V and Mates, D and Mukeriya, A and Rascu, S and Zaridze, D and Bencko, V and Cybulski, C and Fabianova, E and Jinga, V and Lissowska, J and Lubinski, J and Navratilova, M and Rudnai, P and Benhamou, S and Cancel-Tassin, G and Cussenot, O and Weiderpass, E and Ljungberg, B and Tumkur Sitaram, R and Häggström, C and Bruinsma, F and Jordan, SJ and Severi, G and Winship, I and Hveem, K and Vatten, LJ and Fletcher, T and Larsson, SC and Wolk, A and Banks, RE and Selby, PJ and Easton, DF and Andreotti, G and Beane Freeman, LE and Koutros, S and Männistö, S and Weinstein, S and Clark, PE and Edwards, TL and Lipworth, L and Gapstur, SM and Stevens, VL and Carol, H and Freedman, ML and Pomerantz, MM and Cho, E and Wilson, KM and Gaziano, JM and Sesso, HD and Freedman, ND and Parker, AS and Eckel-Passow, JE and Huang, WY and Kahnoski, RJ and Lane, BR and Noyes, SL and Petillo, D and Teh, BT and Peters, U and White, E and Anderson, GL and Johnson, L and Luo, J and Buring, J and Lee, IM and Chow, WH and Moore, LE and Eisen, T and Henrion, M and Larkin, J and Barman, P and Leibovich, BC and Choueiri, TK and Lathrop, GM and Deleuze, JF and Gunter, M and McKay, JD and Wu, X and Houlston, RS and Chanock, SJ and Relton, C and Richards, JB and Martin, RM and Davey Smith, G and Brennan, P},
title = {The influence of obesity-related factors in the etiology of renal cell carcinoma-A mendelian randomization study.},
journal = {PLoS medicine},
volume = {16},
number = {1},
pages = {e1002724},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pmed.1002724},
pmid = {30605491},
issn = {1549-1676},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Several obesity-related factors have been associated with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but it is unclear which individual factors directly influence risk. We addressed this question using genetic markers as proxies for putative risk factors and evaluated their relation to RCC risk in a mendelian randomization (MR) framework. This methodology limits bias due to confounding and is not affected by reverse causation.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: Genetic markers associated with obesity measures, blood pressure, lipids, type 2 diabetes, insulin, and glucose were initially identified as instrumental variables, and their association with RCC risk was subsequently evaluated in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 10,784 RCC patients and 20,406 control participants in a 2-sample MR framework. The effect on RCC risk was estimated by calculating odds ratios (ORSD) for a standard deviation (SD) increment in each risk factor. The MR analysis indicated that higher body mass index increases the risk of RCC (ORSD: 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-1.70), with comparable results for waist-to-hip ratio (ORSD: 1.63, 95% CI 1.40-1.90) and body fat percentage (ORSD: 1.66, 95% CI 1.44-1.90). This analysis further indicated that higher fasting insulin (ORSD: 1.82, 95% CI 1.30-2.55) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP; ORSD: 1.28, 95% CI 1.11-1.47), but not systolic blood pressure (ORSD: 0.98, 95% CI 0.84-1.14), increase the risk for RCC. No association with RCC risk was seen for lipids, overall type 2 diabetes, or fasting glucose.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel evidence for an etiological role of insulin in RCC, as well as confirmatory evidence that obesity and DBP influence RCC risk.},
}

@article {pmid30604766,
year = {2019},
author = {Morris, AP and Le, TH and Wu, H and Akbarov, A and van der Most, PJ and Hemani, G and Smith, GD and Mahajan, A and Gaulton, KJ and Nadkarni, GN and Valladares-Salgado, A and Wacher-Rodarte, N and Mychaleckyj, JC and Dueker, ND and Guo, X and Hai, Y and Haessler, J and Kamatani, Y and Stilp, AM and Zhu, G and Cook, JP and Ärnlöv, J and Blanton, SH and de Borst, MH and Bottinger, EP and Buchanan, TA and Cechova, S and Charchar, FJ and Chu, PL and Damman, J and Eales, J and Gharavi, AG and Giedraitis, V and Heath, AC and Ipp, E and Kiryluk, K and Kramer, HJ and Kubo, M and Larsson, A and Lindgren, CM and Lu, Y and Madden, PAF and Montgomery, GW and Papanicolaou, GJ and Raffel, LJ and Sacco, RL and Sanchez, E and Stark, H and Sundstrom, J and Taylor, KD and Xiang, AH and Zivkovic, A and Lind, L and Ingelsson, E and Martin, NG and Whitfield, JB and Cai, J and Laurie, CC and Okada, Y and Matsuda, K and Kooperberg, C and Chen, YI and Rundek, T and Rich, SS and Loos, RJF and Parra, EJ and Cruz, M and Rotter, JI and Snieder, H and Tomaszewski, M and Humphreys, BD and Franceschini, N},
title = {Trans-ethnic kidney function association study reveals putative causal genes and effects on kidney-specific disease aetiologies.},
journal = {Nature communications},
volume = {10},
number = {1},
pages = {29},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-07867-7},
pmid = {30604766},
issn = {2041-1723},
abstract = {Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects ~10% of the global population, with considerable ethnic differences in prevalence and aetiology. We assemble genome-wide association studies of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of kidney function that defines CKD, in 312,468 individuals of diverse ancestry. We identify 127 distinct association signals with homogeneous effects on eGFR across ancestries and enrichment in genomic annotations including kidney-specific histone modifications. Fine-mapping reveals 40 high-confidence variants driving eGFR associations and highlights putative causal genes with cell-type specific expression in glomerulus, and in proximal and distal nephron. Mendelian randomisation supports causal effects of eGFR on overall and cause-specific CKD, kidney stone formation, diastolic blood pressure and hypertension. These results define novel molecular mechanisms and putative causal genes for eGFR, offering insight into clinical outcomes and routes to CKD treatment development.},
}

@article {pmid30601989,
year = {2019},
author = {Liu, C and Strnad, L and Beekmann, SE and Polgreen, PM and Chambers, HF},
title = {Clinical Practice Variation Among Adult Infectious Diseases Physicians in the Management of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia.},
journal = {Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/cid/ciy1144},
pmid = {30601989},
issn = {1537-6591},
abstract = {Infectious disease management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) was surveyed through the Emerging Infections Network. While there were areas of consensus, we found substantial practice variation in diagnostic evaluation and management of adult patients with SAB. These findings highlight opportunities for further research and guidance to define best practices.},
}

@article {pmid30600453,
year = {2019},
author = {Fogel, JM and Zhang, Y and Palumbo, PJ and Guo, X and Clarke, W and Breaud, A and Richardson, P and Piwowar-Manning, E and Hamilton, EL and Ha, TV and Dumchev, K and Djoerban, Z and Hoffman, I and Hanscom, B and Miller, WC and Eshleman, SH},
title = {Use of Antiretroviral Drug Testing to Assess the Accuracy of Self-reported Data from HIV-Infected People Who Inject Drugs.},
journal = {AIDS and behavior},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1007/s10461-018-2379-8},
pmid = {30600453},
issn = {1573-3254},
support = {UM1-AI068613//National Institutes of Health/ ; UM1-AI068617//National Institutes of Health/ ; UM1-AI068619//National Institutes of Health/ ; },
abstract = {We used antiretroviral (ARV) drug testing to evaluate the accuracy of self-reported data for HIV status and antiretroviral treatment (ART) among people who inject drugs enrolled in an HIV prevention trial. ARV drugs were detected in enrollment samples from 72/482 = 14.9% HIV-infected participants (39/52 = 75.0% who reported being on ART; 33/430 = 7.7% who reported not being on ART). Overall, 213/482 = 44.2% participants indicated that they were not aware of their HIV-positive status prior to study entry; of those, 30 had ARV drugs detected at enrollment, including 15 who also had ARV drugs detected at the screening visit. These participants were likely aware of their HIV-positive status at study entry but did not report this to study staff. This study shows that self-reported data on HIV testing history and ART may not be accurate and that ARV drug testing can help identify persons who are aware of their HIV-positive status and are on ART.},
}

@article {pmid30599207,
year = {2018},
author = {Ueda, M and El-Jurdi, N and Cooper, B and Caimi, P and Baer, L and Kolk, M and Brister, L and Wald, DN and Otegbeye, F and Lazarus, HM and Sandmaier, BM and William, B and Saunthararajah, Y and Woost, P and Jacobberger, JW and de Lima, M},
title = {Low-dose azacitidine with DNMT1 level monitoring to treat posttransplant AML or MDS relapse.},
journal = {Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.12.764},
pmid = {30599207},
issn = {1523-6536},
abstract = {Patients with early AML/MDS relapse after hematopoietic cell transplantation have poor prognosis and no standard treatment. Twenty-nine patients with early disease recurrence posttransplant were treated with azacitidine (median dose 40 mg/m2/day x 5-7 days). At a median follow-up of 6.3 (range 1.3-41.1) months, 7 (27%) had response to azacitidine defined as complete remission, hematologic improvement, or improved donor chimerism. Response occurred at a median of 3 cycles, and median duration of response was 70 (range 26-464) days. Median survival was 6.8 months (95% CI 3.8-11.1). Patients receiving azacitidine dose ≤40 or >40 mg/m2 had similar survival. Six patients receiving donor lymphocyte infusion with azacitidine had response or stable disease without worsening graft-versus-host-disease. We retrospectively used a flow cytometry assay to explore DNA-methyltransferase-1 in blood mononuclear cells as a potential pharmacodynamic marker to assess intracellular drug targeting in 8 patients. No correlation with azacitidine dose or response was observed. Low-dose azacitidine appears to be comparable to higher doses in efficacy posttransplant. A significant proportion of this poor-risk population responded to low-dose azacitidine, suggesting a dose-independent, non-cytotoxic mechanism for anti-leukemic activity.},
}

@article {pmid30598494,
year = {2019},
author = {Hitzler, J and Estey, E},
title = {Gemtuzumab ozogamicin in acute myeloid leukemia: act 2, with perhaps more to come.},
journal = {Haematologica},
volume = {104},
number = {1},
pages = {7-9},
doi = {10.3324/haematol.2018.205948},
pmid = {30598494},
issn = {1592-8721},
}

@article {pmid30596892,
year = {2018},
author = {Jin Ha, M and Sun, W},
title = {Estimation of high-dimensional directed acyclic graphs with surrogate intervention.},
journal = {Biostatistics (Oxford, England)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/biostatistics/kxy080},
pmid = {30596892},
issn = {1468-4357},
abstract = {Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) have been used to describe causal relationships between variables. The standard method for determining such relations uses interventional data. For complex systems with high-dimensional data, however, such interventional data are often not available. Therefore, it is desirable to estimate causal structure from observational data without subjecting variables to interventions. Observational data can be used to estimate the skeleton of a DAG and the directions of a limited number of edges. We develop a Bayesian framework to estimate a DAG using surrogate interventional data, where the interventions are applied to a set of external variables, and thus such interventions are considered to be surrogate interventions on the variables of interest. Our work is motivated by expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) studies, where the variables of interest are the expression of genes, the external variables are DNA variations, and interventions are applied to DNA variants during the process of a randomly selected DNA allele being passed to a child from either parent. Our method, surrogate intervention recovery of a DAG ($\texttt{sirDAG}$
), first constructs a DAG skeleton using penalized regressions and the subsequent partial correlation tests, and then estimates the posterior probabilities of all the edge directions after incorporating DNA variant data. We demonstrate the utilities of $\texttt{sirDAG}$
by simulation and an application to an eQTL study for 550 breast cancer patients.},
}

@article {pmid30596402,
year = {2018},
author = {Budde, LE and Wu, D and Martin, DB and Philip, M and Shustov, AR and Smith, SD and Gooley, TA and Chen, TL and Libby, EN and Chen, EY and Kojouri, K and Langerak, A and Roden, JE and Press, OW and Gopal, AK},
title = {Bendamustine with rituximab, etoposide and carboplatin (T(R)EC) in relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma: a prospective multicentre phase 1/2 clinical trial.},
journal = {British journal of haematology},
volume = {183},
number = {4},
pages = {601-607},
doi = {10.1111/bjh.15585},
pmid = {30596402},
issn = {1365-2141},
support = {//Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation/ ; //Clinical Investigator Award/ ; P50 CA107399//National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health/ ; P01CA044991//Leukemia and Lymphoma Society/ ; K24CA184039//Leukemia and Lymphoma Society/ ; },
abstract = {We sought to develop a safe and effective outpatient salvage regimen by replacing ifosfamide within the (R)ICE (rituximab, ifosfomide, carboplatin, etoposide) regimen with bendamustine (T(R)EC) via a multicentre phase I/II study for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and classic Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Therapy consisted of 60-120 mg/m2 per day bendamustine on days 1 and 2 in combination with carboplatin, etoposide and rituximab (only for CD20+ lymphoma) used in the (R)ICE regimen for up to 2 cycles. The objectives were to define a maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of bendamustine, determine safety and toxicity, assess efficacy, and evaluate impact on stem cell collection. Forty-eight patients were treated of which 71% had refractory disease. No dose-limiting toxicities were observed. The recommended phase II dose of bendamustine was 120 mg/m2 per day on days 1 and 2. Response rates were 85% (70% complete response, CR) in HL, and 65% (40% CR) in DLBCL. Stem cell collection was successful in 30 of 32 patients. The most common non-haematological toxicities ≥grade 3 were febrile neutropenia (8%) and dehydration (8%). The T(R)EC regimen safely yields high response rates, successfully mobilizes peripheral blood stem cells and compares favourably to RICE, offering an effective outpatient treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL and HL.},
}

@article {pmid30595435,
year = {2018},
author = {Swygert, SG and Kim, S and Wu, X and Fu, T and Hsieh, TH and Rando, OJ and Eisenman, RN and Shendure, J and McKnight, JN and Tsukiyama, T},
title = {Condensin-Dependent Chromatin Compaction Represses Transcription Globally during Quiescence.},
journal = {Molecular cell},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.molcel.2018.11.020},
pmid = {30595435},
issn = {1097-4164},
abstract = {Quiescence is a stress-resistant state in which cells reversibly exit the cell cycle and suspend most processes. Quiescence is essential for stem cell maintenance, and its misregulation is implicated in tumor formation. One of the hallmarks of quiescent cells is highly condensed chromatin. Because condensed chromatin often correlates with transcriptional silencing, it has been hypothesized that chromatin compaction represses transcription during quiescence. However, the technology to test this model by determining chromatin structure within cells at gene resolution has not previously been available. Here, we use Micro-C XL to map chromatin contacts at single-nucleosome resolution genome-wide in quiescent Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. We describe chromatin domains on the order of 10-60 kilobases that, only in quiescent cells, are formed by condensin-mediated loops. Condensin depletion prevents the compaction of chromatin within domains and leads to widespread transcriptional de-repression. Finally, we demonstrate that condensin-dependent chromatin compaction is conserved in quiescent human fibroblasts.},
}

@article {pmid30594650,
year = {2018},
author = {Ko, LK and Taylor, VM and Mohamed, FB and Hoai Do, H and Gebeyaw, FA and Ibrahim, A and Ali, AA and Winer, RL},
title = {"We brought our culture here with us": A qualitative study of perceptions of HPV vaccine and vaccine uptake among East African immigrant mothers.},
journal = {Papillomavirus research (Amsterdam, Netherlands)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.pvr.2018.12.003},
pmid = {30594650},
issn = {2405-8521},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: HPV vaccine studies in East African communities are few and focus mainly on Somali women and girls. We examined how HPV vaccine perceptions and uptake are shaped among Somali, Ethiopian, and Eritrean mothers.

METHODS: We convened three focus groups in Somali, Amharic, and Tigrinya with mothers of 11-17 year old children. The Socio-Context Framework (social, cultural, and religious factors) and Andersen's Behavioral Model (predisposing, enabling, and need for care factors) informed question development.

RESULTS: Negative vaccine perceptions, lack of HPV vaccine knowledge, and concerns about side effects emerged as predisposing factors. Having a provider who engages parents on HPV vaccination and takes responsibility for vaccine-related risks emerged as enabling factors. Availability of vaccine information resources (e.g., person-to-person, word of mouth education for parents) were also enabling factors. Need for care factors included having comprehensive vaccine information, strong recommendation from a doctor, and validation from a co-ethnic medical professional. Women exerted strong social influence on vaccine uptake (social), had concerns about pork gelatin in vaccines (religious), and felt discussions about sex with children were culturally unacceptable (cultural).

CONCLUSION: Strategies for vaccine uptake among East African immigrants need to address factors that shape HPV vaccine perceptions for adolescents, caregivers, and providers.},
}

@article {pmid30594566,
year = {2018},
author = {Doll, KM and Goff, BA and Ramsey, SD},
title = {In Reply: Are early screening biomarkers for endometrial cancer needed to reduce health disparities?.},
journal = {American journal of obstetrics and gynecology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.ajog.2018.12.036},
pmid = {30594566},
issn = {1097-6868},
}

@article {pmid30594542,
year = {2018},
author = {Bachanova, V and Weisdorf, DJ and Wang, T and Marsh, SGE and Cereb, N and Haagenson, MD and Spellman, SR and Lee, SJ and Guethlein, LA and Parham, P and Miller, JS and Cooley, SA},
title = {Donor killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genotype does not improve graft-versus-leukemia responses in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) after unrelated donor transplant: a CIBMTR analysis.},
journal = {Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.12.763},
pmid = {30594542},
issn = {1523-6536},
abstract = {Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) remains the sole curative therapy for patients with CLL leading to 40-45% long-term survival. The impact of donor KIR genotype on outcomes of unrelated donor (URD) alloHCT for CLL is unknown.

METHODS: We examined 573 adult (URD)-CLL recipient pairs. KIR genotype (presence/absence) was determined for each donor and comprehensive modeling of interactions with recipient HLA class I loci (KIR ligands) was used to evaluate their effect on relapse and survival.

RESULTS: Recipients had a median age of 56 years, and most were not in remission (65%). Both 8/8 HLA-matched (81%) or 7/8 HLA matched grafts (19%) were studied. Factors associated with improved OS were reduced intensity conditioning (HR of death 0.76) and good performance status (HR 0.46), while allo-HCT in non-remission (HR 1.96) and mismatched donors (HR 2.01) increased mortality. No models demonstrated a relationship between donor KIR genotype and transplant outcomes. Cox regression models comparing donors with A/A vs B/x KIR haplotypes and those with KIR gene content scores of 0 vs 1 vs ≥2 yielded similar rates of non-relapse mortality, relapse, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and chronic GVHD and the same progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Relapse risk was not different with grafts from donors with KIR3DL1 transplanted into HLA C1/1 vs C2 recipients.

CONCLUSION: This large analysis failed to demonstrate an association between unrelated donor KIR genotype and transplant outcome for patients with CLL and thus KIR genotyping should not be used as a donor selection criterion in this setting.},
}

@article {pmid30593446,
year = {2018},
author = {Brown, JR and O'Brien, S and Kingsley, CD and Eradat, H and Pagel, JM and Hirata, J and McIver, T and Morariu-Zamfir, R and Kipps, TJ},
title = {Durable remissions with obinutuzumab-based chemoimmunotherapy: long-term follow-up of the phase 1b GALTON trial in CLL.},
journal = {Blood},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1182/blood-2018-06-857714},
pmid = {30593446},
issn = {1528-0020},
}

@article {pmid30592986,
year = {2018},
author = {Lee, DW and Santomasso, BD and Locke, FL and Ghobadi, A and Turtle, CJ and Brudno, JN and Maus, MV and Park, JH and Mead, E and Pavletic, S and Go, WY and Eldjerou, L and Gardner, RA and Frey, N and Curran, KJ and Peggs, K and Pasquini, M and DiPersio, JF and van den Brink, MRM and Komanduri, KV and Grupp, SA and Neelapu, SS},
title = {ASBMT Consensus Grading for Cytokine Release Syndrome and Neurological Toxicity Associated with Immune Effector Cells.},
journal = {Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.12.758},
pmid = {30592986},
issn = {1523-6536},
abstract = {Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is rapidly emerging as one of the most promising therapies for hematological malignancies. Two CAR T products were recently approved in the United States and Europe for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia up to the age of 25 years and/or adults with large B-cell lymphoma. Many more CAR T products as well as other immunotherapies including various immune cell- and bi-specific antibody-based approaches that function by activation of immune effector cells are in clinical development for both hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. These therapies are associated with unique toxicities of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurological toxicity. The assessment and grading of these toxicities have varied considerably across clinical trials and across institutions, making it difficult to compare safety of different products and hindering the ability to develop optimal strategies for management of these toxicities. Moreover, some aspects of these grading systems can be challenging to implement widely across centers. Therefore, in an effort to harmonize the definitions and grading systems for CRS and neurotoxicity, experts from all aspects of the field met on June 20-21, 2018, at a meeting supported by the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) in Arlington, VA. Here, we report the consensus of the group and propose new definitions and grading for CRS and neurotoxicity that are objective, easy to use, and ultimately more accurately categorize the severity of these toxicities. The goal is to provide a uniform consensus grading system for CRS and neurotoxicity associated with immune effector cell therapies, for use across clinical trials and in the post-approval clinical setting.},
}

@article {pmid30592026,
year = {2018},
author = {Poston, JN and Fromm, JR and Rasmussen, HA and Shustov, AR and Libby, EN and Smith, SD and Gooley, T and Gopal, AK},
title = {A pilot study of weekly brentuximab vedotin in patients with CD30+ malignancies resistant to brentuximab vedotin every 3 weeks.},
journal = {British journal of haematology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1111/bjh.15742},
pmid = {30592026},
issn = {1365-2141},
support = {//Seattle Genetics/ ; T32 HL007093//National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/ ; P30 CA015704//National Cancer Institute/ ; },
}

@article {pmid30590810,
year = {2018},
author = {McClure, JB and Bricker, J and Mull, K and Heffner, JL},
title = {Comparative-Effectiveness of Group-Delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy vs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial.},
journal = {Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/ntr/nty268},
pmid = {30590810},
issn = {1469-994X},
abstract = {Introduction: Preliminary trial data suggests group-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) might be effective for smoking cessation. If so, this could offer a viable alternative to mainstream behavioral therapies, such as those grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The goal of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of group-delivered ACT versus group-delivered CBT in a rigorous randomized trial design with long term follow-up.

Methods: Participants (n = 450) were recruited from the Kaiser Permanente Washington health care system and randomized to either ACT-based group counseling or an attention-matched CBT-based group program. All were prescribed an 8-week course of nicotine patches. The primary outcome was self-reported 30-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) at 12 months post-randomization assessed with missing values imputed as smoking. Sensitivity analyses using multiple imputation and complete cases were examined, as were biochemically-confirmed and 6-month outcomes.

Results: Thirty-day point prevalence abstinence rates at the 12-month follow up did not differ between study arms in the primary analysis (13.8% ACT vs. 18.1% CBT, adjusted OR 0.68 [0.35, 1.27], p = 0.23) or the sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions: Group-based ACT and CBT had similar long-term quit rates in this methodologically rigorous randomized trial. Group-based ACT is a reasonable alternative to group-based CBT for smoking cessation.

Implications: This study compared the effectiveness of group-based ACT with group-based CBT for smoking cessation using a rigorous, large-scale, attention-matched, randomized trial with one-year follow-up. One-year cessation rates did not differ between group-based ACT and CBT, suggesting ACT-based intervention is a reasonable alternative to CBT-based counseling for smoking cessation. The results add to the nascent but growing literature assessing ACT and other mindfulness-based treatments for smoking cessation.},
}

@article {pmid30590741,
year = {2018},
author = {Rose, R and Hall, M and Redd, AD and Lamers, S and Barbier, AE and Porcella, SF and Hudelson, SE and Piwowar-Manning, E and McCauley, M and Gamble, T and Wilson, EA and Kumwenda, J and Hosseinipour, MC and Hakim, JG and Kumarasamy, N and Chariyalertsak, S and Pilotto, JH and Grinsztejn, B and Mills, LA and Makhema, J and Santos, BR and Chen, YQ and Quinn, TC and Fraser, C and Cohen, MS and Eshleman, SH and Laeyendecker, O},
title = {Phylogenetic methods inconsistently predict direction of HIV transmission among heterosexual pairs in the HPTN052 cohort.},
journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/infdis/jiy734},
pmid = {30590741},
issn = {1537-6613},
abstract = {Background: We evaluated use of phylogenetic methods to predict the direction of HIV transmission.

Methods: For 33 index-partner pairs with genetically-linked infection, samples were collected from partners and indexes close to time of partners' seroconversion (SC); 31 indexes also had an earlier sample. Phylogenies were inferred using env next-generation sequences (one tree per pair/subtype). Direction of transmission (DoT) predicted from each tree was classified as correct or incorrect based on which sequences (index or partner) were closest to the root. DoT was also assessed using maximum-parsimony to infer ancestral node states for 100 bootstrap trees.

Results: DoT was predicted correctly for both single pair and subtype-specific trees in 22 pairs (67%) using SC samples and 23 pairs (74%) using early index samples. DoT was predicted incorrectly for four pairs (15%) using SC or early index samples. In the bootstrap analysis, DoT was predicted correctly for 18 pairs (55%) using SC samples and 24 pairs (73%) using early index samples. DoT was predicted incorrectly for seven pairs (21%) using SC samples and four pairs (13%) using early index samples.

Conclusions: Phylogenetic methods based solely on tree topology of HIV env sequences, particularly without consideration of phylogenetic uncertainty, may be insufficient for determining DoT.},
}

@article {pmid30590721,
year = {2018},
author = {Chan, AK and Ammanuel, SG and Chan, AY and Oh, T and Skrehot, HC and Edwards, CS and Kondapavulur, S and Miller, CA and Nichols, AD and Liu, C and Dhall, SS and Clark, AJ and Chou, D and Ames, CP and Mummaneni, PV},
title = {Chlorhexidine Showers are Associated With a Reduction in Surgical Site Infection Following Spine Surgery: An Analysis of 4266 Consecutive Surgeries.},
journal = {Neurosurgery},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/neuros/nyy568},
pmid = {30590721},
issn = {1524-4040},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common complication following spinal surgery. Prevention is critical to maintaining safe patient care and reducing additional costs associated with treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of preoperative chlorhexidine (CHG) showers on SSI rates following fusion and nonfusion spine surgery.

METHODS: A mandatory preoperative CHG shower protocol was implemented at our institution in November 2013. A cohort comparison of 4266 consecutive patients assessed differences in SSI rates for the pre- and postimplementation periods. Subgroup analysis was performed on the type of spinal surgery (eg, fusion vs nonfusion). Data represent all spine surgeries performed between April 2012 and April 2016.

RESULTS: The overall mean SSI rate was 0.4%. There was no significant difference between the pre- (0.7%) and postimplementation periods (0.2%; P = .08). Subgroup analysis stratified by procedure type showed that the SSI rate for the nonfusion patients was significantly lower in the post- (0.1%) than the preimplementation group (0.7%; P = .02). There was no significant difference between SSI rates for the pre- (0.8%) and postimplementation groups (0.3%) for the fusion cohort (P = .21). In multivariate analysis, the implementation of preoperative CHG showers were associated with significantly decreased odds of SSI (odds ratio = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [0.03-0.55], P < .01).

CONCLUSION: This is the largest study investigating the efficacy of preoperative CHG showers on SSI following spinal surgery. In adjusted multivariate analysis, CHG showering was associated with a significant decrease in SSI following spinal surgery.},
}

@article {pmid30590454,
year = {2018},
author = {Wang, L and Luedtke, AR and Huang, Y},
title = {Assessing the incremental value of new biomarkers based on OR rules.},
journal = {Biostatistics (Oxford, England)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/biostatistics/kxy070},
pmid = {30590454},
issn = {1468-4357},
abstract = {In early detection of disease, a single biomarker often has inadequate classification performance, making it important to identify new biomarkers to combine with the existing marker for improved performance. A biologically natural method for combining biomarkers is to use logic rules, e.g., the OR/AND rules. In our motivating example of early detection of pancreatic cancer, the established biomarker CA19-9 is only present in a subclass of cancers; it is of interest to identify new biomarkers present in the other subclasses and declare disease when either marker is positive. While there has been research on developing biomarker combinations using the OR/AND rules, inference regarding the incremental value of the new marker within this framework is lacking and challenging due to statistical non-regularity. In this article, we aim to answer the inferential question of whether combining the new biomarker achieves better classification performance than using the existing biomarker alone, based on a nonparametrically estimated OR rule that maximizes the weighted average of sensitivity and specificity. We propose and compare various procedures for testing the incremental value of the new biomarker and constructing its confidence interval, using bootstrap, cross-validation, and a novel fuzzy p-value-based technique. We compare the performance of different methods via extensive simulation studies and apply them to the pancreatic cancer example.},
}

@article {pmid30590450,
year = {2018},
author = {Juraska, M and Huang, Y and Gilbert, PB},
title = {Inference on treatment effect modification by biomarker response in a three-phase sampling design.},
journal = {Biostatistics (Oxford, England)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/biostatistics/kxy074},
pmid = {30590450},
issn = {1468-4357},
abstract = {An objective in randomized clinical trials is the evaluation of "principal surrogates," which consists of analyzing how the treatment effect on a clinical endpoint varies over principal strata subgroups defined by an intermediate response outcome under both or one of the treatment assignments. The latter effect modification estimand has been termed the marginal causal effect predictiveness (mCEP) curve. This objective was addressed in two randomized placebo-controlled Phase 3 dengue vaccine trials for an antibody response biomarker whose sampling design rendered previously developed inferential methods highly inefficient due to a three-phase sampling design. In this design, the biomarker was measured in a case-cohort sample and a key baseline auxiliary strongly associated with the biomarker (the "baseline surrogate measure") was only measured in a further sub-sample. We propose a novel approach to estimation of the mCEP curve in such three-phase sampling designs that avoids the restrictive "placebo structural risk" modeling assumption common to past methods and that further improves robustness by the use of non-parametric kernel smoothing for biomarker density estimation. Additionally, we develop bootstrap-based procedures for pointwise and simultaneous confidence intervals and testing of four relevant hypotheses about the mCEP curve. We investigate the finite-sample properties of the proposed methods and compare them to those of an alternative method making the placebo structural risk assumption. Finally, we apply the novel and alternative procedures to the two dengue vaccine trial data sets.},
}

@article {pmid30590447,
year = {2018},
author = {Fong, Y and Huang, Y and Lemos, MP and Mcelrath, MJ},
title = {Response to Guo et al.'s Letter to the Editor.},
journal = {Biostatistics (Oxford, England)},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/biostatistics/kxy061},
pmid = {30590447},
issn = {1468-4357},
}

@article {pmid30590402,
year = {2018},
author = {Dai, J and Li, Z and Amos, CI and Hung, RJ and Tardon, A and Andrew, A and Chen, C and Christiani, DC and Albanes, D and van der Heijden, EHFM and Duell, E and Rennert, G and James, MD and Yuan, JM and Field, JK and Jonas, M and Grankvist, K and Le Marchand, L and Teare, MD and Schabath, MB and Aldrich, MC and Tsao, MS and Lazarus, P and Stephen, L and Bojesen, SE and Susanne, A and Wu, X and Haugen, A and Vladimir, J and Johansson, M and Yonathan, B and Fernandez-Somoano, A and Kiemeney, LA and Davies, M and Zienolddiny, S and Hu, Z and Shen, H},
title = {Systematic analyses of regulatory variants in DNase I hypersensitive sites identified two novel lung cancer susceptibility loci.},
journal = {Carcinogenesis},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/carcin/bgy187},
pmid = {30590402},
issn = {1460-2180},
abstract = {DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) are abundant in regulatory elements, such as promoter, enhancer and transcription factor binding sites. Many studies have revealed that disease-associated variants were concentrated in DHS related regions. However, limited studies are available on the roles of DHS-related variants in lung cancer. In the current study, we performed a large-scale case-control study with 20,871 lung cancer cases and 15,971 controls to evaluate the associations between regulatory genetic variants in DHS and lung cancer susceptibility. The eQTL (expression quantitative trait loci) analysis and pathway enrichment analysis were performed to identify the possible target genes and pathways. Additionally, we performed motif-based analysis to explore the lung cancer related motifs using sequence kernel association test (SKAT). Two novel variants, rs186332 in 20q13.3 (C>T, OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.10-1.24, P = 8.45×10-7) and rs4839323 in 1p13.2 (T>C, OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.89-0.95, P = 1.02×10-6) showed significant association with lung cancer risk. The eQTL analysis suggested that these two SNPs might regulate the expression of MRGBP and SLC16A1 respectively. What's more, the expression of both MRGBP and SLC16A1 were aberrantly elevated in lung tumor tissues. The motif-based analysis identified 10 motifs related to the risk of lung cancer (P < 1.71×10-4). Our findings suggested that variants in DHS might modify lung cancer susceptibility through regulating the expression of surrounding genes. This study provided us a deeper insight into the roles of DHS related genetic variants for lung cancer.},
}

@article {pmid30590125,
year = {2018},
author = {Sauter, CS and DeFilipp, Z and Inamoto, Y and Johnston, L and Nagler, A and Savani, BN and Carpenter, PA and Perales, MA},
title = {ASBMT Statement on Routine Prophylaxis for Central Nervous System Recurrence of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.},
journal = {Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.12.757},
pmid = {30590125},
issn = {1523-6536},
abstract = {Hematologic malignancies treated with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) have varying incidences of posttransplant central nervous system (CNS) relapse, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) representing the most common disease histology. While data supporting posttransplant CNS prophylaxis for ALL in the pre-CNS penetrant systemic therapy-era established this as standard practice, controversy exists regarding the role of posttransplant CNS prophylaxis in the contemporary era. Herein we review the most relevant, albeit exclusively retrospective, literature to date for the role of posttransplant CNS prophylaxis in ALL. Given the paucity of data supporting the routine practice of posttransplant CNS prophylaxis for ALL in the contemporary era, this position statement is anticipated to further stoke controversy and discussion within the transplantation community. Ultimately, only well-designed prospective clinical studies will elucidate the role of routine posttransplant CNS prophylaxis.},
}

@article {pmid30590092,
year = {2018},
author = {Radtke, S and Chan, YY and Sippel, TR and Kiem, HP and Rongvaux, A},
title = {MISTRG mice support engraftment and assessment of nonhuman primate hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.},
journal = {Experimental hematology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.exphem.2018.12.003},
pmid = {30590092},
issn = {1873-2399},
abstract = {Pre-clinical feasibility, safety, and efficacy testing of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-mediated gene therapy approaches is commonly performed in large animal models such as nonhuman primates (NHPs). Here we wished to determine whether mouse models would allow engraftment of NHP HSPCs which would enable more facile and less costly evaluation of promising strategies. In this study, we comprehensively tested two mouse strains for the engraftment of NHP CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. No engraftment of NHP HSPCs was observed in NSG mice, whereas the humanized MISTRG model did demonstrate dose-dependent multilineage engraftment of NHP cells in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, spleen, and thymus. Most importantly and closely mimicking the hematopoietic recovery of autologous stem cell transplants in the NHP, only HSC-enriched CD34+CD90+CD45RA- cell fractions did engraft and reconstituted the bone marrow stem cell niche in MISTRG mice. In summary, we here report the first "monkeynized" mouse xenograft model that closely recapitulates the autologous hematopoietic reconstitution in the NHP stem and progenitor cell transplantation and gene therapy model. Availability of this model has the potential to pre-evaluate novel HSC-mediated gene therapy approaches, inform studies in the NHP, and improve the overall outcome of large-animal experiments.},
}

@article {pmid30586364,
year = {2018},
author = {Kapadia, SN and Wu, C and Mayer, KH and Wilkin, TJ and Amico, KR and Landovitz, RJ and Andrade, A and Chen, YQ and Chege, W and McCauley, M and Gulick, RM and Schackman, BR},
title = {No change in health-related quality of life for at-risk U.S. women and men starting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): Findings from HPTN 069/ACTG A5305.},
journal = {PloS one},
volume = {13},
number = {12},
pages = {e0206577},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0206577},
pmid = {30586364},
issn = {1932-6203},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Tenofovir (TDF)-containing PrEP is effective for HIV prevention, but its effect on health-related quality of life (QOL) is unknown. Using data from HPTN 069/ACTG A5305, a randomized study of potential PrEP regimens comparing maraviroc alone, or together with TDF or emtricitabine (FTC), to TDF + FTC (control), we evaluated the impact of these regimens on QOL in at-risk HIV-uninfected U.S. women and men.

METHODS: QOL was measured at baseline (before starting medications) and every 8 weeks through week 48 using the EQ-5D-3L. Responses were converted to a scale from 0.0 (death) to 1.0 (perfect health), using published valuation weights. Mean scores were compared between groups at each time point using nonparametric testing. Multivariable linear regression was used to adjust for potential confounders.

RESULTS: We analyzed 186 women (median age 35 years, 65% black, 17% Hispanic) and 405 men (median age 30 years, 28% black, 22% Hispanic), including 9 transgender participants analyzed based on sex-at-birth. Mean baseline QOL was 0.91 for women and 0.95 for men. There were minimal changes in mean QOL over time for any regimen (women: p = 0.29; men: p = 0.14). There were no significant differences between participants who continued the regimen compared to participants who discontinued early (women: p = 0.61; men: p = 0.1). Mean QOL did not differ significantly by regimen at any time point, both unadjusted and after adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, adherence, and use of alcohol, marijuana, opiates, and other substances.

CONCLUSIONS: QOL in at-risk individuals starting candidate PrEP regimens in a clinical trial is similar to the general population and maintained over time. This finding did not vary among regimens or when adjusted for demographics, adherence, and substance use. Our findings are the first to show that starting a candidate PrEP regimen in at-risk HIV-uninfected U.S. women and men was not associated with significant changes in QOL.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01505114.},
}

@article {pmid30585971,
year = {2019},
author = {Shore, RE and Beck, HL and Boice, JD and Caffrey, EA and Davis, S and Grogan, HA and Mettler, FA and Preston, RJ and Till, JE and Wakeford, R and Walsh, L and Dauer, LT},
title = {Recent Epidemiologic Studies and the Linear No-Threshold Model For Radiation Protection-Considerations Regarding NCRP Commentary 27.},
journal = {Health physics},
volume = {116},
number = {2},
pages = {235-246},
doi = {10.1097/HP.0000000000001015},
pmid = {30585971},
issn = {1538-5159},
abstract = {National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Commentary 27 examines recent epidemiologic data primarily from low-dose or low dose-rate studies of low linear-energy-transfer radiation and cancer to assess whether they support the linear no-threshold model as used in radiation protection. The commentary provides a critical review of low-dose or low dose-rate studies, most published within the last 10 y, that are applicable to current occupational, environmental, and medical radiation exposures. The strengths and weaknesses of the epidemiologic methods, dosimetry assessments, and statistical modeling of 29 epidemiologic studies of total solid cancer, leukemia, breast cancer, and thyroid cancer, as well as heritable effects and a few nonmalignant conditions, were evaluated. An appraisal of the degree to which the low-dose or low dose-rate studies supported a linear no-threshold model for radiation protection or on the contrary, demonstrated sufficient evidence that the linear no-threshold model is inappropriate for the purposes of radiation protection was also included. The review found that many, though not all, studies of solid cancer supported the continued use of the linear no-threshold model in radiation protection. Evaluations of the principal studies of leukemia and low-dose or low dose-rate radiation exposure also lent support for the linear no-threshold model as used in protection. Ischemic heart disease, a major type of cardiovascular disease, was examined briefly, but the results of recent studies were considered too weak or inconsistent to allow firm conclusions regarding support of the linear no-threshold model. It is acknowledged that the possible risks from very low doses of low linear-energy-transfer radiation are small and uncertain and that it may never be possible to prove or disprove the validity of the linear no-threshold assumption by epidemiologic means. Nonetheless, the preponderance of recent epidemiologic data on solid cancer is supportive of the continued use of the linear no-threshold model for the purposes of radiation protection. This conclusion is in accord with judgments by other national and international scientific committees, based on somewhat older data. Currently, no alternative dose-response relationship appears more pragmatic or prudent for radiation protection purposes than the linear no-threshold model.},
}

@article {pmid30585894,
year = {2018},
author = {Halpern, AB and Walter, RB and Estey, EH},
title = {Outpatient induction and consolidation care strategies in acute myeloid leukemia.},
journal = {Current opinion in hematology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1097/MOH.0000000000000481},
pmid = {30585894},
issn = {1531-7048},
abstract = {PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are almost invariably kept in the hospital until resolution of cytopenias following intensive induction chemotherapy. This care approach is costly and may further contribute to the reduced qualify of life of these patients. This has raised interest in moving at least part of this care to the outpatient setting. Reimbursement challenges for inpatient administration of some of the new drugs approved for AML in the last 2 years adds to this interest.

RECENT FINDINGS: Retrospective and smaller prospective studies have shown that outpatient management following intensive induction chemotherapy ('Early Hospital Discharge') is feasible and may be well tolerated and cost-effective. Reported experience is more limited regarding administration of intensive chemotherapy in the outpatient setting.

SUMMARY: Although of interest, barriers to the successful implementation of outpatient care models, such as limited outpatient infrastructure or geographical limitations, will have to be overcome in many cancer centers. Importantly, before wide-spread introduction, the safety and 'efficacy' (e.g. reduction in medical resources and/or cost and improvement in quality of life) of outpatient care strategies will need to be further evaluated in a prospective - and ideally randomized - manner across more heterogeneous types of oncology and geographical settings.},
}

@article {pmid30585824,
year = {2018},
author = {Davis, JL and Lockwood, CM and Stohr, B and Boecking, C and Al-Ibraheemi, A and DuBois, SG and Vargas, SO and Black, JO and Cox, MC and Luquette, M and Turpin, B and Szabo, S and Laetsch, TW and Albert, CM and Parham, DM and Hawkins, DS and Rudzinski, ER},
title = {Expanding the Spectrum of Pediatric NTRK-rearranged Mesenchymal Tumors.},
journal = {The American journal of surgical pathology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1097/PAS.0000000000001203},
pmid = {30585824},
issn = {1532-0979},
abstract = {Pediatric mesenchymal tumors harboring variant NTRK fusions (ETV6-negative) are being increasingly described; however, the histologic and clinical features of these variant NTRK tumors and their relationship to classic infantile fibrosarcoma are not well characterized. A better understanding of the clinicopathologic features of these tumors is necessary, and would aid in both early diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize a series of pediatric NTRK-rearranged mesenchymal tumors, including classic ETV6-NTRK3 fused tumors and tumors with variant (non-ETV6) NTRK fusions. The clinical features, morphology, immunophenotype, and genetics of 12 classic ETV6-NTRK3 fused infantile fibrosarcoma and 18 variant NTRK-rearranged mesenchymal tumors were evaluated. For both classic and variant groups, the age at diagnosis ranged from birth to 15 years (median, 4 mo) with no sex predilection; the most common sites involved were the extremities and trunk. The rate of local recurrence and metastasis were not significantly different (recurrence rate: 11% classic, 40% variant; metastatic rate: 18% classic, 25% variant). Classic and variant NTRK tumors had an overlapping spectrum of histologic features, containing haphazardly arranged primitive cells in a myxoid background and/or spindle cells in long fascicles. Both groups showed diffuse pan-TRK expression by immunohistochemistry. Otherwise, the immunoprofile was nonspecific, but similar between both groups. No statistical difference was seen in any clinicopathologic feature between the classic ETV6-NTRK3 and variant fusion cohorts. Pediatric NTRK-rearranged mesenchymal tumors with both classic and variant fusions likely represent a spectrum of disease with shared, recognizable cliniopathologic features.},
}

@article {pmid30585505,
year = {2018},
author = {Kraft, SA and Duenas, DM and Kublin, JG and Shipman, KJ and Murphy, SC and Shah, SK},
title = {Exploring Ethical Concerns About Human Challenge Studies: A Qualitative Study of Controlled Human Malaria Infection Study Participants' Motivations and Attitudes.},
journal = {Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {1556264618820219},
doi = {10.1177/1556264618820219},
pmid = {30585505},
issn = {1556-2654},
abstract = {Controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) studies deliberately infect healthy participants with malaria to test interventions faster and more efficiently. Some argue the study design and high payments offered raise ethical concerns about participants' understanding of risks and undue inducement. We conducted baseline and exit interviews with 16 CHMI study participants to explore these concerns. Participants described themes including decision-making tension with friends and family, mixed motivations for participating, low study risks but high burdens, fair compensation, sacrificing values, deceiving researchers, and perceived benefits. Our findings do not support concerns that high payments limit understanding of study risks, but suggest participants may lack appreciation of study burdens, withhold information or engage in deception, and experience conflict with others regarding study participation.},
}

@article {pmid30580725,
year = {2018},
author = {Viscoli, CM and Kent, DM and Conwit, R and Dearborn, JL and Furie, KL and Gorman, M and Guarino, PD and Inzucchi, SE and Stuart, A and Young, LH and Kernan, WN and , },
title = {Scoring System to Optimize Pioglitazone Therapy After Stroke Based on Fracture Risk.},
journal = {Stroke},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {STROKEAHA118022745},
doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.118.022745},
pmid = {30580725},
issn = {1524-4628},
abstract = {Background and Purpose- The insulin sensitizer, pioglitazone, reduces cardiovascular risk in patients after an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack but increases bone fracture risk. We conducted a secondary analysis of the IRIS trial (Insulin Resistance Intervention After Stroke) to assess the effect of pretreatment risk for fracture on the net benefits of pioglitazone therapy. Methods- IRIS was a randomized placebo-controlled trial of pioglitazone that enrolled patients with insulin resistance but without diabetes mellitus within 180 days of an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Participants were recruited at 179 international centers from February 2005 to January 2013 and followed for a median of 4.8 years. Fracture risk models were developed from patient characteristics at entry. Within fracture risk strata, we quantified the effects of pioglitazone compared with placebo by estimating the relative risks and absolute 5-year risk differences for fracture and stroke or myocardial infarction. Results- The fracture risk model included points for age, race-ethnicity, sex, body mass index, disability, and medications. The relative increment in fracture risk with pioglitazone was similar in the lower ( }

@article {pmid30578684,
year = {2018},
author = {Azenkot, T and Zaniello, B and Green, ML and Selke, S and Huang, ML and Magaret, A and Wald, A and Johnston, C},
title = {Cytomegalovirus shedding from breastmilk and mucosal sites in healthy post-partum women: a pilot study.},
journal = {Journal of medical virology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1002/jmv.25386},
pmid = {30578684},
issn = {1096-9071},
abstract = {Mother-to-child cytomegalovirus (CMV) breastmilk transmission can occur in the postnatal period. In a pilot study, we measured daily CMV detection by PCR in breastmilk, vaginal, and saliva samples from 9 healthy CMV-seropositive postpartum women for 28 days. CMV was found in 7 of 9 women and t 171 of 253 breastmilk samples (67.6%). In 4 women, all breast milk samples were positive. CMV was less frequently detected in the vagina (39 of 258, 15.1%) and saliva (53 of 258, 20.5%). Daily breastmilk, oral and genital collection is feasible and demonstrates high variability between women. Further study of the dynamics of CMV in distinct anatomic compartments is warranted. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.},
}

@article {pmid30577869,
year = {2018},
author = {Janssens, DH and Wu, SJ and Sarthy, JF and Meers, MP and Myers, CH and Olson, JM and Ahmad, K and Henikoff, S},
title = {Automated in situ chromatin profiling efficiently resolves cell types and gene regulatory programs.},
journal = {Epigenetics & chromatin},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {74},
doi = {10.1186/s13072-018-0243-8},
pmid = {30577869},
issn = {1756-8935},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Our understanding of eukaryotic gene regulation is limited by the complexity of protein-DNA interactions that comprise the chromatin landscape and by inefficient methods for characterizing these interactions. We recently introduced CUT&RUN, an antibody-targeted nuclease cleavage method that profiles DNA-binding proteins, histones and chromatin-modifying proteins in situ with exceptional sensitivity and resolution.

RESULTS: Here, we describe an automated CUT&RUN platform and apply it to characterize the chromatin landscapes of human cells. We find that automated CUT&RUN profiles of histone modifications crisply demarcate active and repressed chromatin regions, and we develop a continuous metric to identify cell-type-specific promoter and enhancer activities. We test the ability of automated CUT&RUN to profile frozen tumor samples and find that our method readily distinguishes two pediatric glioma xenografts by their subtype-specific gene expression programs.

CONCLUSIONS: The easy, cost-effective workflow makes automated CUT&RUN an attractive tool for high-throughput characterization of cell types and patient samples.},
}

@article {pmid30577459,
year = {2018},
author = {Pender, A and Jones, RL and Pollack, S},
title = {Optimising Cancer Vaccine Design in Sarcoma.},
journal = {Cancers},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {},
doi = {10.3390/cancers11010001},
pmid = {30577459},
issn = {2072-6694},
abstract = {Immunotherapeutics are increasingly recognized as a key tool in the armamentarium against malignancy. The success of immune checkpoint-targeting drugs and adoptive cell therapy has refocused attention on the potential anti-cancer effect of eliciting a tumour-specific immunological response. Sarcomas are a rare and diverse group of tumours with a limited prognosis in advanced disease despite systemic therapeutics. Various vaccine strategies including peptide vaccines against cancer testis antigens, dendritic cell vaccines, and viral vectors have been trialled in sarcoma with growing evidence of efficacy. Here, we review the principles of successful vaccine development and how these have been applied thus far to the treatment of sarcoma.},
}

@article {pmid30576834,
year = {2018},
author = {Kansagra, AJ and Frey, NV and Bar, M and Laetsch, TW and Carpenter, PA and Savani, BN and Heslop, HE and Bollard, CM and Komanduri, KV and Gastineau, DA and Chabannon, C and Perales, MA and Hudecek, M and Aljurf, M and Andritsos, L and Barrett, JA and Bachanova, V and Bonini, C and Ghobadi, A and Gill, SI and Hill, J and Kenderian, S and Kebriaei, P and Nagler, A and Maloney, D and Liu, HD and Shah, NN and Kharfan-Dabaja, MA and Shpall, EJ and Mufti, GJ and Johnston, L and Jacoby, E and Bazarbachi, A and DiPersio, JF and Pavletic, SZ and Porter, DL and Grupp, SA and Sadelain, M and Litzow, MR and Mohty, M and Hashmi, SK},
title = {Clinical utilization of Chimeric Antigen Receptors T-cells (CAR-T) in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) - an expert opinion from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT).},
journal = {Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.12.068},
pmid = {30576834},
issn = {1523-6536},
abstract = {On August 30, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) approved tisagenlecleucel (KYMRIAH, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland), a synthetic bioimmune product of anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor - T cells (CAR-T), for the treatment of children and young adults with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). With this new era of personalized cancer immunotherapy, multiple challenges are present ranging from implementation of a CAR-T program to safe delivery of the drug, long-term toxicity monitoring and disease assessments. To address these issues, experts representing the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplant (ASBMT), the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT), and the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), formed a global CAR-T task force to identify and address key questions pertinent for hematologists and transplant physicians regarding the clinical use of anti CD19 CAR-T therapy in patients with B-ALL. This article presents an initial roadmap for navigating common clinical practice scenarios that will become more prevalent now that the first commercially available CAR-T product for B-ALL has been approved.},
}

@article {pmid30576476,
year = {2018},
author = {Ene, CI and Macomber, MW and Barber, JK and Ferreira, MJ and Ellenbogen, RG and Holland, EC and Rockhill, JK and Silbergeld, DL and Halasz, LM},
title = {Patterns of Failure After Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Recurrent High-Grade Glioma: A Single Institution Experience of 10 Years.},
journal = {Neurosurgery},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1093/neuros/nyy520},
pmid = {30576476},
issn = {1524-4040},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a treatment modality that is frequently used as salvage therapy for small nodular recurrent high-grade gliomas (HGG). Due to the infiltrative nature of HGG, it is unclear if this highly focused technique provides a durable local control benefit.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how demographic or clinical factors influence the pattern of failure following SRS for recurrent high-grade gliomas.

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed clinical, radiographic, and follow-up information for 47 consecutive patients receiving SRS for recurrent HGG at our institution between June 2006 and July 2016. All patients initially presented with an HGG (WHO grade III and IV). Following SRS for recurrence, all patients experienced treatment failure, and we evaluated patterns of local, regional, and distant failure in relation to the SRS 50% isodose line.

RESULTS: Most patients with recurrent HGG developed "in-field" treatment failure following SRS (n = 40; 85%). Higher SRS doses were associated with longer time to failure (hazards ratio = 0.80 per 1 Gy increase; 95% confidence interval 0.67-0.96; P = .016). There was a statistically significant increase in distant versus in-field failure among older patients (P = .035). This effect was independent of bevacizumab use (odds ratio = 0.54, P = 1.0).

CONCLUSION: Based on our experience, the majority of treatment failures after SRS for recurrent HGG were "in-field." Older patients, however, presented with more distant failures. Our results indicate that higher SRS doses delivered to a larger area as fractioned or unfractioned regimen may prolong time to failure, especially in the older population.},
}

@article {pmid30576268,
year = {2018},
author = {Halabi, S and Dutta, S and Tangen, CM and Rosenthal, M and Petrylak, DP and Thompson, IM and Chi, KN and Araujo, JC and Logothetis, C and Quinn, DI and Fizazi, K and Morris, MJ and Eisenberger, MA and George, DJ and De Bono, JS and Higano, CS and Tannock, IF and Small, EJ and Kelly, WK},
title = {Overall Survival of Black and White Men With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Treated With Docetaxel.},
journal = {Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {JCO1801279},
doi = {10.1200/JCO.18.01279},
pmid = {30576268},
issn = {1527-7755},
abstract = {PURPOSE: Several studies have reported that among patients with localized prostate cancer, black men have a shorter overall survival (OS) time than white men, but few data exist for men with advanced prostate cancer. The primary goal of this analysis was to compare the OS in black and white men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who were treated in phase III clinical trials with docetaxel plus prednisone (DP) or a DP-containing regimen.

METHODS: Individual participant data from 8,820 men with mCRPC randomly assigned in nine phase III trials to DP or a DP-containing regimen were combined. Race was based on self-report. The primary end point was OS. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess the prognostic importance of race (black v white) adjusted for established risk factors common across the trials (age, prostate-specific antigen, performance status, alkaline phosphatase, hemoglobin, and sites of metastases).

RESULTS: Of 8,820 men, 7,528 (85%) were white, 500 (6%) were black, 424 (5%) were Asian, and 368 (4%) were of unknown race. Black men were younger and had worse performance status, higher testosterone and prostate-specific antigen, and lower hemoglobin than white men. Despite these differences, the median OS was 21.0 months (95% CI, 19.4 to 22.5 months) versus 21.2 months (95% CI, 20.8 to 21.7 months) in black and white men, respectively. The pooled multivariable hazard ratio of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.72 to 0.91) demonstrates that overall, black men have a statistically significant decreased risk of death compared with white men (P < .001).

CONCLUSION: When adjusted for known prognostic factors, we observed a statistically significant increased OS in black versus white men with mCRPC who were enrolled in these clinical trials. The mechanism for these differences is not known.},
}

@article {pmid30573517,
year = {2018},
author = {Kuzma, JN and Hagman, DK and Cromer, G and Breymeyer, KL and Roth, CL and Foster-Schubert, KE and Holte, SE and Weigle, DS and Kratz, M},
title = {Intra-individual variation in markers of intestinal permeability and adipose tissue inflammation in healthy normal weight to obese adults.},
journal = {Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {},
doi = {10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-0641},
pmid = {30573517},
issn = {1538-7755},
abstract = {BACKGROUND: Intestinal permeability and adipose tissue inflammation are considered mechanistic links in the relationship between diet, obesity, and chronic disease. However, methods to measure both are not well standardized, and the reliability of commonly used measures is not known.

METHODS: We calculated the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for several common measures of intestinal permeability and adipose tissue inflammation from a randomized clinical trial of cross-over design in which normal weight (n=12) or overweight/obese (n=12) individuals each completed three 8-day dietary intervention periods.

RESULTS: For biomarkers of intestinal permeability, plasma zonulin and lipopolysaccharide binding protein, ICCs were 'excellent' (i.e., > 0.9). The direct measure of intestinal permeability, the lactulose/mannitol test, exhibited 'fair' reliability (ICC=0.53). A wider range of ICCs (0.6-0.9), suggesting 'good' to 'excellent' reliability, were obtained for measures of adipose tissue expression of genes encoding major mediators of inflammation. Similarly, individual immune cell populations isolated from adipose tissue, expressed as a percentage of all CD45+ cells, also had 'good' to 'excellent' ICCs. However, when these populations were expressed as number of cells per gram of tissue, ICC values were 'fair', falling below 0.6.

CONCLUSION: Due to the repeated measures design, our study offered a unique opportunity to assess reliability of commonly used biomarkers of intestinal permeability and adipose tissue inflammation. Our findings suggest that these measures were generally highly reliable in the short-term.

IMPACT: Along with other factors, particularly validity, the demonstrated reliabilities can help inform the choice of endpoints in studies of intestinal permeability and adipose tissue inflammation.},
}

@article {pmid30572749,
year = {2018},
author = {Chandrasekaran, S and Hunt, H and Melhorn, S and Gammill, HS and Schur, EA},
title = {Adipokine profiles in preeclampsia.},
journal = {The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians},
volume = {},
number = {},
pages = {1-121},
doi = {10.1080/14767058.2018.1562542},
pmid = {30572749},
issn = {1476-4954},
abstract = {OBJECTIVES: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including preeclampsia (PE), are associated with short- and long-term maternal health complications, and obesity is a leading attributable risk factor for HDP. Yet, most women identified as obese (by body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m2) do not develop HDP, indicating limited predictability of BMI alone. In nonpregnant populations, increased visceral fat mass (VFM) is an obesity-associated phenotype increasing the risk for developing hypertension. We sought to assess whether in pregnancy, obese women with PE would have a higher circulating levels of adipokines preferential to VFM compared to obese women without PE.

STUDY DESIGN: We performed a case control study of women with and without PE, including obese (n = 65; BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) and normal weight (n = 52; BMI 18.4-24.9 kg/m2) women. Plasma concentrations of adipokines preferential to VFM (visfatin, resistin), adipokines reflecting overall adiposity (leptin, adiponectin), and inflammatory cytokines were compared.

RESULTS: We found that among obese women, cases had significantly higher levels of visceral fat mass (VFM)-associated adipokines and cytokines compared to controls [visfatin (p < 0.01, t = -3.8), resistin (p = 0.002, t = 1.12), IFN gamma (p = 0.04, t = -2.0), IL-6 (p < 0.01, t = -2.65), IL1-beta (p < 0.01, t = -4.1), IL-2 (p < 0.01, t = -3.9)]. Interestingly, however, obese and normal weight cases had similar VFM-adipokine and cytokine levels [visfatin (p = 0.34, t = -0.35), resistin (p = 0.55, t = -0.25)], and inflammatory marker concentrations [IFN gamma (p = 0.86, t = -0.76), IL-6 (p = 0.91, t = -0.53), IL-1beta (p = 0.67, t = 1.18), and IL-2 (p = 0.45, t = -1.16)]. These data possibly suggest an association between VFM and preeclampsia (PE) that is present independent of BMI.

CONCLUSION: In summary, we demonstrated that, in normal-weight and obese women, PE was associated with higher concentrations of VFM-preferential adipokines compared to normal-weight and obese controls without PE.},
}