Biological agents in gastrointestinal cancers: adverse effects and their management.

Biological therapy comprises agents that by virtue of their unique mechanisms of action, are able to specifically incite a response against or target malignant cells. They differ from conventional chemotherapy with regard to mechanisms of action, indications and side effect profile. Biologic agents have revolutionized therapy for a number of malignancies.

Therapeutic Targeting of Nuclear Export Inhibition in Lung Cancer.

Intracellular compartmentalization and trafficking of molecules plays a critical role in complex and essential cellular processes. In lung cancer and other malignancies, aberrant nucleocytoplasmic transport of tumor suppressor proteins and cell cycle regulators results in tumorigenesis and inactivation of apoptosis. Pharmacologic agents targeting this process, termed selective inhibitors of nuclear export (SINE), have demonstrated antitumor efficacy in preclinical models and human clinical trials.

Obesity is Independently Associated With Increased Risk of Hepatocellular Cancer-related Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Excess body weight is associated with increased risk of developing hepatocellular cancer (HCC), but its effect on HCC-related mortality remains unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between premorbid obesity and HCC-related mortality.

Materials And Methods: Through a systematic literature search-up to March 2016, we identified 9 observational studies (1,599,453 individuals, 5705 HCC-related deaths) reporting the association between premorbid body mass index (BMI), and HCC-related mortality.

Prostate Cancer: How Young is too Young?

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous malignancy in men. It is generally considered a cancer of the elderly, and the median age of presentation is 68 years. However 10% of new diagnoses in the USA occur in men aged ≤ 55 years.

Trends in the Incidence and Outcomes of Hospitalized Cancer Patients With Infection: A Nationwide Analysis.

Patients with cancer have several risk factors for infection (CDI), but the impact of CDI on outcomes in this population needs elucidation. We analyzed the incidence of CDI and its impact on outcomes in patients with cancer using the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) database from 2001 to 2010. Diagnosis codes were used to identify patients with cancer and CDI events.

Primary effusion lymphoma: current concepts and management.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize the current epidemiology, management, and outcomes of primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and highlight possible future research efforts.

Recent Findings: Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone-based chemotherapy regimens alone or in combination with immunomodulatory agents (e.g.

Promise of Wearable Physical Activity Monitors in Oncology Practice.

Commercially available physical activity monitors provide clinicians an opportunity to obtain oncology patient health measures to an unprecedented degree. These devices can provide objective and quantifiable measures of physical activity, which are not subject to errors or bias of self-reporting or shorter duration of formal testing. Prior work on so-called quantified-self data was based on older-generation, research-grade accelerometers, which laid the foundation for consumer-based physical activity monitoring devices to be validated as a feasible and reliable tool in patients with cancer.

Association of Gastric Acid Suppression With Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Gastric acid suppression has been associated with an increased risk of primary Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), but the risk of recurrent CDI in patients taking gastric acid suppressant medications is unclear.

Objective: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between gastric acid suppressants and recurrent CDI.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register, the Cochrane Database, and Web of Science were searched from January 1, 1995, to September 30, 2015, for studies assessing the association between gastric acid suppressant exposure and recurrent CDI.

An Analysis of Individual Body Fat Depots and Risk of Developing Cancer: Insights From the Dallas Heart Study.

Objective: To examine the association between specific adipose tissue depots and the risk of incident cancer in the Dallas Heart Study.

Patients And Methods: Individuals without prevalent cancer in the Dallas Heart Study underwent quantification of adipose depots: visceral adipose tissue (VAT), abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, and liver fat by magnetic resonance imaging, and subcutaneous lower-body fat (LBF) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2002, and were observed for the development of cancer for up to 12 years. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling was performed to examine the association between fat depots and cancer.

Impact of Concurrent Medication Use on Pancreatic Cancer Survival-SEER-Medicare Analysis.

Objectives: Preclinical studies have suggested that non-antineoplastic medication use may impact pancreatic cancer biology. We examined the association of several medication classes on pancreatic cancer survival in a large medical claims database.

Materials And Methods: Histologically confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 2006 and 2009 were analyzed from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database with available part D data.

Implementation of a Web-Based Provider Care Team System at the VA North Texas Health Care System.

Concern that our Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) suffers low relational coordination led us to seek a system that might improve domains of relational coordination. The lack of an accurate system to identify the physician caring for a patient at any given time was a ready target. We conducted forward effect analysis, a novel methodology we adapted from our shared experience in software development and entrepreneurship.