Lineage Switch of Adult B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia to Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Following B-Cell-Directed Therapy.

Background: Blinatumomab and inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO) are B-cell targeted agents used in the frontline and relapsed/refractory treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). Blinatumomab, a bispecific T-cell engager that targets CD19 and CD3, and InO, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting CD22, have both shown efficacy. However, recent reports have noted lineage conversion as a complication when these agents are used individually or sequentially.

Causes of Childhood Cancer: A Review of Literature (2014-2021): Part 2-Pregnancy and Birth-Related Factors.

Purpose: To review parental pre-pregnancy and pregnancy exposures in relation to pediatric cancer (diagnosis before age 20).

Methods: We conducted literature searches using Ovid Medline and Scopus to find primary research studies, review articles, and meta-analyses published from 2014 to 17 March 2021.

Results: Strong evidence links increased risk of childhood cancer with maternal diabetes, age, and alcohol and coffee consumption during pregnancy.

Identification of Frailty Clusters Using Cross-Sectional Frailty and Frailty Trajectory: Cohort of Heart Failure Veterans.

Background: Frailty is a syndrome associated with increased vulnerability and diminished physiological reserves. Three-quarters (78%) of heart failure (HF) patients are frail. Traditional frailty indices (FIs) assess cross-sectional deficits, while frailty trajectories (FTs) measure changes over time.

HPV vaccine impact: genotype-specific changes in cervical pre-cancer share similarities with changes in cervical screening cytology.

Background: After human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction, declines in the prevalence of HPV vaccine types have been observed in screening cytology, but data from the United States describing HPV type-specific changes in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 2-3 and adenocarcinoma in situ (CIN2/CIN3/AIS) are limited.

Methods: A statewide sample of individuals with cervical biopsies was selected for broad-spectrum HPV genotyping. CIN2/CIN3/AIS incidence and prevalence were calculated for type-specific high-risk HPV (hrHPV) among individuals aged 15-29 years.

DNA Methylation Classes of Stage II and III Primary Melanomas and Their Clinical and Prognostic Significance.

Purpose: Patients with stage II and III cutaneous primary melanoma vary considerably in their risk of melanoma-related death. We explore the ability of methylation profiling to distinguish primary melanoma methylation classes and their associations with clinicopathologic characteristics and survival.

Materials And Methods: InterMEL is a retrospective case-control study that assembled primary cutaneous melanomas from American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition stage II and III patients diagnosed between 1998 and 2015 in the United States and Australia.

The RNA-binding protein PCBP1 modulates transcription by recruiting the G-quadruplex-specific helicase DHX9.

PCBP1, polycytosine (poly(C)) binding protein 1, an RNA and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein, binds poly(C) DNA tracts but it remains unclear whether its ability to bind ssDNA contributes to transcriptional regulation. Here, we report that PCBP1's DNA binding sites are enriched at transcription start sites and that by binding to promoter regions, PCBP1 regulates transcription in addition to splicing and translation. At PCBP1 target genes, we show that PCBP1 interacts with several RNA/DNA hybrid (R-loop) associated G-quadruplex resolving helicases.

Mycophenolate Mofetil for the Treatment of Warm Autoimmune Haemolytic Anaemia Post-Rituximab Therapy: A Case Series.

Background: Warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (wAIHA) is an acquired haemolytic disorder most commonly treated with a combination of corticosteroids, rituximab and/or splenectomy. Third-line therapies for refractory cases include immunosuppressive agents. Mycophenolate mofetil is frequently used in these scenarios, although its use is supported by small studies and anecdotal evidence rather than large-scale data.

Microplastic presence in dog and human testis and its potential association with sperm count and weights of testis and epididymis.

The ubiquitous existence of microplastics and nanoplastics raises concerns about their potential impact on the human reproductive system. Limited data exists on microplastics within the human reproductive system and their potential consequences on sperm quality. Our objectives were to quantify and characterize the prevalence and composition of microplastics within both canine and human testes and investigate potential associations with the sperm count, and weights of testis and epididymis.

Developing and Implementing a Patient-Centered Opioid Prescribing Algorithm among Gynecological Oncology Patients.

The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis. However, opioid prescription recommendations have not been established in gynecological oncology, and guidelines that incorporate patient-reported pain are lacking. The article aims to evaluate prescribing patterns, utilization, and patient-reported pain control in gynecological oncology patients at a large tertiary academic center.

RNA-binding protein HuR reprograms immune T cells and promotes oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Hu Antigen R, also known as ELAVL1 (HuR), is a key posttranscriptional regulator in eukaryotic cells. HuR overexpression promotes several malignancies, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, its immune dysfunction-associated tumorigenesis pathways remain unknown.

Causes of Childhood Cancer: A Review of the Recent Literature: Part I-Childhood Factors.

Purpose: To review the childhood risk factors for pediatric cancer (diagnosis before age 20).

Methods: We conducted literature searches using Ovid Medline and Scopus to find primary research studies, review articles, and meta-analyses published from 2014 to 3 March 2021.

Results: Strong evidence indicates that an array of genetic and epigenetic phenomena, structural birth defects, and chromosomal anomalies are associated with an increased risk of various childhood cancers.

Phase II trial of pembrolizumab and epacadostat in recurrent clear cell carcinoma of the ovary: An NRG oncology study GY016.

Introduction: Early reports of PD-1 inhibition in ovarian clear cell carcinomas (OCCC) demonstrate promising response. We evaluated the combination of pembrolizumab and IDO-1 inhibitor epacadostat in patients with recurrent OCCC.

Methods: This single arm, two-stage, phase 2 trial included those with measurable disease and 1-3 prior regimens.

Node-degree aware edge sampling mitigates inflated classification performance in biomedical random walk-based graph representation learning.

Motivation: Graph representation learning is a family of related approaches that learn low-dimensional vector representations of nodes and other graph elements called embeddings. Embeddings approximate characteristics of the graph and can be used for a variety of machine-learning tasks such as novel edge prediction. For many biomedical applications, partial knowledge exists about positive edges that represent relationships between pairs of entities, but little to no knowledge is available about negative edges that represent the explicit lack of a relationship between two nodes.

Depletion of JunB increases adipocyte thermogenic capacity and ameliorates diet-induced insulin resistance.

The coexistence of brown adipocytes with low and high thermogenic activity is a fundamental feature of brown adipose tissue heterogeneity and plasticity. However, the mechanisms that govern thermogenic adipocyte heterogeneity and its significance in obesity and metabolic disease remain poorly understood. Here we show that in male mice, a population of transcription factor jun-B (JunB)-enriched (JunB) adipocytes within the brown adipose tissue exhibits lower thermogenic capacity compared to high-thermogenic adipocytes.

Liquid biopsy: from concept to clinical application.

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer presents a physical and mental burden to the patient, often involving diagnostic biopsies and surgeries or chemotherapeutic approaches with severe side-effects. Advances which enable early detection of cancer and close monitoring of the disease course without invasive procedures, and which can underpin a tailored approach to treatment, can therefore make a big difference to the quality of life of patients. Liquid biopsies can be used to access tumor cells and tumor DNA circulating in the blood.

A pilot randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of omega-3 fatty acids to prevent paclitaxel-associated acute pain syndrome in breast cancer patients: Alliance A22_Pilot2.

Purpose: Paclitaxel is associated with an acute pain syndrome (P-APS- and chronic chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). P-APS is associated with higher risk of CIPN. Omega-3 fatty acids have well-established anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties.

Comparison of circulating and excreted metals and of autoimmunity between two Great Plains Tribal communities.

Metals contaminants of the environment from mine waste have been implicated as contributing agents in autoimmune disease. The current study compares metals and autoimmunity in two Tribal communities residing in the Black Hills and the Bighorn Mountains geographical regions that are scattered with extant hard rock mines. With documented drinking water contamination in both communities, in vivo levels of more than half of the measured serum and urine metals differed between the two communities and were substantially different from their national median values.

CRISPR screens decode cancer cell pathways that trigger γδ T cell detection.

γδ T cells are potent anticancer effectors with the potential to target tumours broadly, independent of patient-specific neoantigens or human leukocyte antigen background. γδ T cells can sense conserved cell stress signals prevalent in transformed cells, although the mechanisms behind the targeting of stressed target cells remain poorly characterized. Vγ9Vδ2 T cells-the most abundant subset of human γδ T cells-recognize a protein complex containing butyrophilin 2A1 (BTN2A1) and BTN3A1 (refs.

Impact of HPV testing in opportunistic cervical screening: Support for primary HPV screening in the United States.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for cervical screening increases diagnosis of precancer and reduces the incidence of cervical cancer more than cytology alone. However, real-world evidence from diverse practice settings is lacking for the United States (U.S.

Pathway Alterations in Stage II/III Primary Melanoma.

Purpose: Genomic classification of melanoma has thus far focused on the mutational status of , , and . The clinical utility of this classification remains limited, and the landscape of alterations in other oncogenic signaling pathways is underexplored.

Methods: Using primary samples from the InterMEL study, a retrospective cohort of cases with specimens collected from an international consortium with participating institutions throughout the United States and Australia, with oversampling of cases who ultimately died of melanoma, we examined mutual exclusivity and co-occurrence of genomic alterations in 495 stage II/III primary melanomas across 11 cancer pathways.

Evaluating a Web-based Training Curriculum for Disseminating Best Practices for the Care of Newborns with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome in a Rural Hospital, the NOWS-NM Program.

Background: The incidence of neonatal opiate withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) in the US has grown dramatically over the past two decades. Many rural hospitals not equipped to manage these patients transfer them to hospitals in bigger cities.

Methods: We created a curriculum, the NOWS-NM Program, a mobile/web-based curriculum training in best practices.

Improving Uptake of Cancer Genetic Risk Assessment in a Remote Tailored Risk Communication and Navigation Intervention: Large Effect Size but Room to Grow.

Purpose: Cancer genetic risk assessment (CGRA) is recommended for women with ovarian cancer or high-risk breast cancer, yet fewer than 30% receive recommended genetic services, with the lowest rates among underserved populations. We hypothesized that compared with usual care (UC) and mailed targeted print (TP) education, CGRA uptake would be highest among women receiving a phone-based tailored risk counseling and navigation intervention (TCN).

Methods: In this three-arm randomized trial, women with ovarian or high-risk breast cancer were recruited from statewide cancer registries in Colorado, New Jersey, and New Mexico.