Publications by authors named "Michael W Drazer"

The detailed mechanisms underlying the regulatory significance of dietary components in modulating anti-tumor immunity remain largely unknown. Here, we apply a co-culture-based screening approach using a blood nutrient compound library and identify zeaxanthin (ZEA), a dietary carotenoid pigment found in many fruits and vegetables and known for its role in eye health, as an immunomodulator that enhances the cytotoxicity of CD8 T cells against tumor cells. Oral supplementation with ZEA, but not its structural isomer lutein (LUT), enhances anti-tumor immunity in vivo.

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TP53-mutant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults is a high-risk subtype with poor outcomes, yet its molecular landscape and clinical implications remain incompletely defined. In this multi-institutional study of 830 adult ALL patients treated at eight academic centers between 2010 and 2024, we demonstrated that TP53 mutations are independent predictors of inferior overall survival in both B-ALL (median, 1.9 vs 5 years) and T-ALL (1.

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Background: Outcomes for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) that have progression after treatment with hypomethylating agent (HMA) and venetoclax (VEN) are poor. However, data for chemotherapy and VEN (C+VEN) therapy after prior treatment with HMA+VEN are limited.

Methods: We identified 18 patients with AML or MDS/AML who received C+VEN after prior HMA+VEN.

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The role of germline CHEK2 variants in hematopoietic malignancies (HMs) is poorly understood. We examined pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) CHEK2 variants in patients with hereditary HMs (HHMs), a solid tumor risk cohort, public datasets, and a knock-in mouse model. In the HHM cohort, 57 probands had germline P/LP CHEK2 variants, mostly p.

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We report on 8 patients with ankyrin repeat domain 26 (ANKRD26)-related thrombocytopenia 2 (ANKRD26-RT) with elevated bone marrow myeloblasts and dysmegakaryopoiesis, without somatic genetic abnormalities or progression to malignancy during long-term observation, findings which may constitute inherent ANKRD26-RT biology rather than progression to myeloid malignancy.

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Article Synopsis
  • The purpose of the text is to offer evidence-based recommendations for managing pleural mesothelioma (PM) aimed at physicians and healthcare professionals.
  • An Expert Panel from various medical specialties conducted a literature review from 2016 to 2024, analyzing studies to assess survival rates, recurrence-free survival, and quality of life for patients with PM.
  • The panel identified 110 relevant studies and developed guidelines covering surgical options, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, pathology, and genetic testing for PM treatment.
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  • The genomics era has led to the identification of the ERG gene as a new autosomal dominant predisposition factor for bone marrow failure (BMF) and hematological malignancies (HM), crucial for blood cell development and function.
  • Research found several rare ERG variants associated with thrombocytopenia and various forms of HM, showing onset typically before age 40.
  • Functional studies indicated that many ERG variants disrupt its role as a transcription factor, leading to ineffective blood cell production, with implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies for affected patients and families.
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Current therapies for high-grade TP53-mutated myeloid neoplasms (≥10% blasts) do not offer a meaningful survival benefit except allogeneic stem cell transplantation in the minority who achieve a complete response to first line therapy (CR1). To identify reliable pre-therapy predictors of complete response to first-line therapy (CR1) and outcomes, we assembled a cohort of 242 individuals with TP53-mutated myeloid neoplasms and ≥10% blasts with well-annotated clinical, molecular and pathology data. Key outcomes examined were CR1 & 24-month survival (OS24).

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Expansion of conventional dendritic cells via FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 agonism has promising therapeutic potential in the treatment of advanced solid tumors. In this study, we discuss the results of a clinical trial using GS-3583, an FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 agonist, that was stopped after a patient in the study developed acute myeloid leukemia. See related article by Tolcher et al.

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Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication in patients with abdominal malignancies. Despite known associations between pleural mesothelioma and increased VTE risk, the characteristics of VTE in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma (PeM) remain undescribed.

Methods: Patients treated for PeM were retrospectively identified from our institutional database.

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Importance: Patients with mesothelioma often have next-generation sequencing (NGS) of their tumor performed; tumor-only NGS may incidentally identify germline pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants despite not being designed for this purpose. It is unknown how frequently patients with mesothelioma have germline P/LP variants incidentally detected via tumor-only NGS.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of incidental germline P/LP variants detected via tumor-only NGS of mesothelioma.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A study analyzed a large international group of patients with specific genetic variants (RUNX1, GATA2, DDX41) to identify unique genetic patterns linked to the development of these malignancies, particularly noting different tendencies for early-onset clonal hematopoiesis (CH).
  • * Findings suggest that further monitoring and clinical trials should focus on specific genetic variants to improve preemptive treatments and surveillance for patients, especially those with RUNX1 and DDX41 mutations.
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A growing understanding of the complexities of hematopoietic malignancies necessitates the existence of clinical recommendations that are sufficiently comprehensive. Although hereditary hematopoietic malignancies (HHMs) are increasingly recognized for conferring risk of myeloid malignancy, frequently utilized clinical recommendations have never been appraised for the ability to reliably guide HHM evaluation. We assessed established society-level clinical guidelines for inclusion of critical HHM genes and graded the strength of testing recommendations.

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Background: This study aimed to investigate if peritoneal mesothelioma (PM) patients with germline mutations (GM) have distinct surgical characteristics when compared to those without GM.

Methods: PM patients were selected from an ongoing prospective study that conducts germline testing of 82 susceptibility genes. Germline status was correlated with surgical data obtained from a prospectively collected database using univariate, multivariate, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.

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Hereditary hematopoietic malignancies (HHMs) are inherited syndromes that confer the risk of blood cancer development. With the rapid acceleration of next-generation sequencing (NGS) into commercial biotechnology markets, HHMs are increasingly recognized by genetic counselors and clinicians. In 2020, it was demonstrated that most diagnostic test offerings for HHMs were insufficient for accurate diagnosis, failing to sequence the full spectrum of genetic events known to cause HHMs.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Patients with these variants were more likely to experience higher-grade MDS, indicating a potential link between germ line variants and disease severity.
  • * The authors suggest that comprehensive genetic testing for P/LP germ line variants should be conducted for all MDS patients, irrespective of age, to better understand the implications of these variants on patient outcomes.
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