Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
September 2025
Background: Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) frequently exhibit treatment-related neurocognitive impairment, although there is substantial interpatient variability in this outcome. Analysis of biomarkers that reflect the impact of chemotherapy during the two years of treatment for ALL offers the potential to identify children who have subclinical treatment-related neurotoxicity at a time when a protective intervention could prevent the development of persistent impairment.
Methods: We prospectively measured markers indicative of oxidative stress (8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine; 8OHdG) and neurodegeneration (total tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected at five timepoints before and during the first year of chemotherapy for ALL among 529 patients enrolled on DFCI ALL Consortium protocol 16-001 (NCT03020030).
Many survivors of childhood cancer experience significant side effects leading to inferior quality of life like chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI). A growing body of literature implies that the gut-brain axis modulates neurological and inflammatory physiology. Cancer therapy may alter the gut microbiome in ways that modify the risk of CICI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Hardware removal is a common procedure performed by orthopaedic surgeons, yet there is not a consensus on the disposition of explanted hardware. There seems to be increasing discordance between institutional policy and surgeon or patient preference. The purpose of this study was to gain insight on hardware removal polices across North America and determine surgeons' opinions regarding the return of orthopedic fixation devices to patients and if these opinions are related to surgeon-specific demographic factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCase: A 66-year-old woman, former bodybuilder with right sternoclavicular (SC) arthritis managed with a 4-cm proximal clavicle (PC) resection, that led to scapulothoracic abnormal mobility (STAM), severe loss of shoulder function, and pain. A novel reconstruction involving a humeral allograft with a semitendinosus allograft for SC stabilization was performed. A 3-year follow-up is presented with satisfactory outcome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: There are conflicting data on the association of overweight or obesity with clinical outcomes in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The duration of exposure to overweight or obesity may be a better indicator of the risk of poorer outcomes.
Objective: To determine the association of the duration of overweight or obesity with treatment-related toxic effects, minimal residual disease, relapse, and survival in childhood ALL.
Background: This study describes neurocognitive functioning during the first month of induction chemotherapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and associations with age, sex, risk of relapse, maternal education, household material hardship (HMH), and oxidative stress.
Methods: Patients treated on protocol 16-001 (NCT03020030) across eight North American sites (2017-2022) consented for optional testing using Cogstate at six timepoints throughout treatment. The baseline data presented were collected within the first month after diagnosis.
Objectives: To discover postoperative symptom differences between nerve-sparing and nerve-sacrificing techniques during ORIF of clavicle fractures.
Methods: Design: Prospective, partially blinded randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Single academic Level I Trauma Center.
J Orthop Trauma
December 2024
As the operative management of acute, chest wall, skeletal injury escalates throughout the world, it has become commonplace for patients with posttraumatic conditions to present with clinical reconstructive challenges as well. In addition, it is becoming clear that rib nonunions are not rare, likely more than 5% of rib fractures. No subspecialty is better equipped to address such painful conditions than orthopaedic surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Retrieval strategies for children, adolescents, and young adults with relapsed classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) aim to maintain efficacy while minimizing long-term toxic effects. Children, adolescents, and young adults with low-risk, relapsed cHL may benefit from replacing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant with less intensive involved-site radiotherapy (ISRT).
Objective: To evaluate a risk-stratified, response-adapted, transplant-free approach for treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults with low-risk relapsed cHL with nivolumab plus brentuximab vedotin (BV) followed by BV plus bendamustine for patients with suboptimal response and ISRT (30.
Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is associated with neurocognitive deficits in young children. While computerized measures have been utilized in pediatric oncology research, they exclude patients below the age of 4 years. Patients enrolled on "Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children and Adolescents" were offered participation in an optional neurocognitive study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Technol Assess
October 2024
J Natl Cancer Inst
February 2025
Cancer-related cognitive impairment is a broad term encompassing subtle cognitive problems to more severe impairment. The severity of this impairment is influenced by host, disease, and treatment factors, and the impairment affects patients before, during, and following cancer treatment. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Symptom Management and Health-Related Quality of Life Steering Committee (SxQoL SC) convened a clinical trial planning meeting to review the state of the science on cancer-related cognitive impairment and develop phase II/III intervention trials aimed at improving cognitive function in cancer survivors with non-central nervous system disease and longitudinal studies to understand the trajectory of cognitive impairment and contributing factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBone toxicities are common among paediatric patients treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with potentially major negative impact on patients' quality of life. To identify the underlying genetic contributors, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) in 260 patients of European-descent from the DFCI 05-001 ALL trial, with validation in 101 patients of European-descent from the DFCI 11-001 ALL trial. We identified a significant association between rs844882 on chromosome 20 and bone toxicities in the DFCI 05-001 trial (p = 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatr Blood Cancer
November 2024
Poverty-exposed children with cancer are more likely to experience adverse outcomes. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits improve food insecurity and child health outcomes, and could be used to mitigate disparities. We conducted a secondary analysis of parent-reported data collected in a frontline pediatric leukemia trial (NCT03020030) to assess SNAP eligibility (proxied by other means-tested program participation) and participation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurological damage is the pathological substrate of permanent disability in various neurodegenerative disorders. Early detection of this damage, including its identification and quantification, is critical to preventing the disease's progression in the brain. Tau, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light chain (NfL), as brain protein biomarkers, have the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy, disease monitoring, prognostic assessment, and treatment efficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe inferior glenoid and scapular neck are common locations for scapular fractures. Operative exposures for reduction and fixation can be challenging, and frequently, the proximal fracture planes are not conducive to optimal fixation with a plate alone. The purpose of this article was to describe a new technique for enhancing fixation in specific inferior glenoid fractures using a single cortical lag screw.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationships between brentuximab vedotin (BV) pharmacokinetics, age, and body weight (BW) with efficacy and safety in pediatric and young adult patients with previously untreated, high-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma in the phase III AHOD1331 study.
Experimental Design: Overall, 296 patients (age 2-21 years) in the overall population were randomized to and received BV + chemotherapy; the pharmacokinetic subpopulation comprised 24 patients (age <13 years). Age- and/or BW-based (pharmacokinetic surrogates) subgroup analyses of efficacy and safety were conducted for the overall population.
Background: Ankle fractures are a common injury treated by orthopaedic surgeons. Unstable, displaced ankle fractures are often fixed with open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) using different implant constructs at various cost. No study to date has looked at transparency in ankle implant costs to surgeon behavior.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral single-arm studies have explored the inclusion of brentuximab vedotin (BV) in salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for relapsed/refractory (R/R) classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). However, no head-to-head comparisons with standard salvage chemotherapy have been performed. This study presents a propensity score-matched analysis encompassing individual patient data from 10 clinical trials to evaluate the impact of BV in transplant-eligible patients with R/R cHL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Orthop Trauma
February 2024
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to report patterns of scapular fractures and define them with a contemporary methodology.
Design: Retrospective study, 2015-2021.
Setting: Single, academic, Level 1 trauma center.
There is a growing understanding and identification of costal cartilage injuries, however, diagnosis of these injuries remains difficult. We present a novel radiodensity based coloring technique, termed the True-Blue technique, to manipulate 3D CT imaging and more accurately diagnose costochondral injuries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemotherapy has a significant positive impact in cancer treatment outcomes, reducing recurrence and mortality. However, many cancer surviving children and adults suffer from aberrant chemotherapy neurotoxic effects on learning, memory, attention, executive functioning, and processing speed. This chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is referred to as "chemobrain" or "chemofog".
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