Obesity's Disparate Impact on COVID-19 Outcomes in Asian American Patients with Cancer.

Data on COVID-19 outcomes in Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are lacking. We analyzed data from 6,244 patients from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium, including 6.0% AAPI patients, to examine disparities in outcomes following acute COVID-19.

The Changing Pathogenesis of Liver Cancer in Hawaii over Three Decades.

Background: Worldwide trends support the increasing contribution of hepatic steatosis to the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study investigates if similar changes are seen in Hawaii, where the incidence of HCC is higher than in most of the United States.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of 1,651 patients diagnosed with HCC (1991-2023) that includes 60% to 70% of HCC cases in Hawaii.

Racial and survival disparities in inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) and non-IBC: a population-based study focused on Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.

Background: It is well known that race is an independent predictor of breast cancer mortality and advanced stage at diagnosis. Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most aggressive type of breast cancer and has distinct clinical and biological features. Previous studies have shown that Blacks have a higher incidence of IBC than Whites.

Patient-Reported Financial Burden of Treatment for Colon or Rectal Cancer.

Importance: The longitudinal experience of patients is critical to the development of interventions to identify and reduce financial hardship.

Objective: To evaluate financial hardship over 12 months in patients with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer (CRC) undergoing curative-intent therapy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective, longitudinal cohort study was conducted between May 2018 and July 2020, with time points over 12 months.

Overcoming racial disparities in cancer clinical trial enrollment of Asians and Native Hawaiians.

Background: Asians and Native Hawaiians are two of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States, however these racial minority groups are severely underrepresented in clinical trials. This study looks at cancer clinical trial accrual among Asians and Native Hawaiians in a community-based network with a mission of increasing minority accrual to studies.

Methods: The University of Hawaii Cancer Center (UHCC) network enrolls patients to treatment and non-treatment cancer studies.

Racial Disparities in Patient-Provider Communication During Telehealth Visits Versus Face-to-face Visits Among Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Patients With Cancer: Cross-sectional Analysis.

Background: Telehealth visits increase patients' access to care and are often rated as "just as good" as face-to-face visits by oncology patients. Telehealth visits have become increasingly more common in the care of patients with cancer since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asians and Pacific Islanders are two of the fastest growing racial groups in the United States, but there are few studies assessing patient satisfaction with telemedicine among these two racial groups.

Pancreatic cancer among Pacific Islanders: a comprehensive analysis of an understudied racial group.

Objective: Racial disparities in care and outcome have been demonstrated for several cancers, but it is not clear that a similar discrepancy exists for pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, there are limited data describing the pancreatic cancer experience of Pacific Islanders. The primary objective of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of Pacific Islander patients with pancreatic cancer.

Impact of Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Public Interest in the United States between 2012 and 2021: A Google Trends Analysis.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) has a long history of over 30 years, established in 1985 to occur every October, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation now leads the operation. There have been no studies to evaluate the impact of the BCAM on public awareness of breast cancer. We analyzed the impact of BCAM on public awareness of breast cancer in the U.

Transarterial Radioembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Major Vascular Invasion: A Nationwide Propensity Score-Matched Analysis with Target Trial Emulation.

Purpose: To examine National Cancer Database (NCDB) data to comparatively evaluate overall survival (OS) between patients undergoing transarterial radioembolization (TARE) and those undergoing systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with major vascular invasion (HCC-MVI).

Methods: One thousand five hundred fourteen patients with HCC-MVI undergoing first-line TARE or systemic therapy were identified from the NCDB. OS was compared using propensity score-matched Cox regression and landmark analysis.

A 95-gene signature stratifies recurrence risk of invasive disease in ER-positive, HER2-negative, node-negative breast cancer with intermediate 21-gene signature recurrence scores.

Purpose: A subset of patients with intermediate 21-gene signature assay recurrence score may benefit from adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy, but a predictive strategy is needed to identify such patients. The 95-gene signature assay was tested to stratify patients with intermediate RS into high (95GC-H) and low (95GC-L) groups that were associated with invasive recurrence risk.

Methods: Patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative, node-negative breast cancer and RS 11-25 who underwent definitive surgery and adjuvant endocrine therapy without any cytotoxic agents were included.

Disaggregating Data on Pacific Islander Gastric Cancer Patients Reveals Survival Disparity.

Purpose: The incidence and prognosis of Pacific Islanders with gastric cancer is not well documented as previous studies have often aggregated this population with Asians. The purpose of our study was to describe patient and tumor characteristics, as well as prognostic factors of Pacific Islanders with gastric cancer.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with gastroesophageal junction or gastric adenocarcinoma between 2000 and 2014 were identified in the tumor registry of the largest hospital in Hawaii.

Factors and Survival Implications associated with biopsy of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the few cancers that can be diagnosed based on imaging findings alone. The factors associated with the decision to perform a biopsy and the clinical impact have not been previously studied.

Methods: We collected data of patients diagnosed with HCC between 2004 and 2015 from the National Cancer Database.

Internal Medicine Residents' Perception of Cancer Prognosis.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the USA. Many internal medicine physicians feel uncomfortable having to prognosticate; however, oncology patients often ask this of them. The inability to provide an accurate prognosis could lead a patient to make a treatment decision incongruent with their true wishes.

Transcriptomics Associates Molecular Features with F-Fluorocholine PET/CT Imaging Phenotype and Its Potential Relationship to Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Studies involving transcriptomics have revealed multiple molecular subtypes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has also identified distinct molecular imaging subtypes, including those with increased and decreased choline metabolism as measured by the tissue uptake of the radiopharmaceutical F-fluorocholine. Gene signatures reflecting the molecular heterogeneity of HCC may identify the biological and clinical significance of these imaging subtypes.

Creating a "culture of research" in a community hospital: Strategies and tools from the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program.

Background: The value of community-based cancer research has long been recognized. In addition to the National Cancer Institute's Community Clinical and Minority-Based Oncology Programs established in 1983, and 1991 respectively, the National Cancer Institute established the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program in 2007 with an aim of enhancing access to high-quality cancer care and clinical research in the community setting where most cancer patients receive their treatment. This article discusses strategies utilized by the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program to build research capacity and create a more entrenched culture of research at the community hospitals participating in the program over a 7-year period.

Nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting with a pseudo-breast mass extending from a necrotizing granulomatous mediastinal tumor.

Nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's lymphoma commonly presents with a mediastinal mass, but it rarely compresses or invades mediastinal structures or the anterior chest wall. Histologically, it can cause necrotizing granulomatous inflammation. A woman with a right breast mass extending from an asymptomatic large mediastinal mass selectively compressing the trachea is presented.

Apoptosis-stimulating protein of p53 (ASPP2) heterozygous mice are tumor-prone and have attenuated cellular damage-response thresholds.

The expression of ASPP2 (53BP2L), a proapoptotic member of a family of p53-binding proteins, is frequently suppressed in many human cancers. Accumulating evidence suggests that ASPP2 inhibits tumor growth; however, the mechanisms by which ASPP2 suppresses tumor formation remain to be clarified. To study this, we targeted the ASPP2 allele in a mouse by replacing exons 10-17 with a neoR gene.

Effect of delivery route on natural history of cervical dysplasia.

Objective: This study was undertaken to determine the (1) impact of delivery route on the natural history of cervical dysplasia and (2) overall regression rates of cervical dysplasia in pregnant women.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis was performed on 705 pregnant women with abnormal Papanicolaou tests who presented for prenatal care at the Kapiolani Medical Center Women's Clinic in Honolulu, Hawaii, between 1991 and 2001. Data collection included demographics, delivery route, and cervical pathology.