Author Interviews, Cancer, Cancer Research / 16.07.2014

Rebecca H. Johnson, MD Assistant Professor, Clinical Genetics University of Washington Seattle, WashingtonMedicalResearch.com Interview with  Rebecca H. Johnson, MD Assistant Professor, Clinical Genetics University of Washington Seattle, Washington Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Johnson: We observed that, over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the incidence of testicular cancer in Hispanic American adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between 15 and 39 years of age. This increase is seen in both major subtypes of testicular cancer and affects Hispanic AYA patients with all stages of disease at the time of diagnosis. No comparable increase was observed in non-Hispanic white AYA,s or in older American men regardless of Hispanic ethnicity.  Between 1992 and 2010, the incidence of testicular cancer in AYA Hispanics has increased 58% in contrast to just 7% in non-Hispanic white AYAs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer, Thromboembolism / 07.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Liang He Department of Anesthesiology Yan’an Hospital of Kunming City, kunming, 650051, China MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. He: We evaluated the prognostic value of plasma heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) with the guidelines of acute PE of European Society Cardiology (ESC). We found that higher H-FABP level (above 6 or 7 ng/ml) was associated with an increased of 30-d mortality and complicated clinical events, from six studies of 85 articles included. H-FABP has the potential to be a novel prognostic marker that can help optimize patient management strategies and risk-stratification algorithms in the population of patients with acute pulmonary embolism. However, few studies had been specifically designed to answer our research questions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer, Cancer Research / 01.06.2014

Recinda L Sherman, MPH, PhD, CTR Program Manager, Data Use & Research North America Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR)MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Recinda L Sherman, MPH, PhD, CTR Program Manager, Data Use & Research North America Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR)   MedicalResearch: What is the context of the study? Dr. Sherman:
  • It has long been known that poverty is associated with adverse health conditions. In general, increasing poverty results in higher disease rates and higher mortality.
  • This study assessed the relationship between poverty and cancer incidence using national cancer data on nearly 3 million tumors from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR).
  • Cancer registries do not collect economic information on cancer patients, so we used an area-based social measure: % of persons living below poverty within a census tract. This measure is a proxy for an individual’s economic status and also gives insight into the type of neighborhood in which an individual lives.
(more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer, Prostate Cancer / 27.03.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Florence K. Keane, MD Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, Harvard Medical School and Anthony V. D’Amico, MD, PhD Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study: Answer: Patients with unfavorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer (PC) [1] have an increased risk of PC-specific mortality (PCSM) after radiotherapy (RT) with or without androgen suppression therapy (AST) compared to favorable intermediate-risk patients [2,3]. We provided validation for this prognostic subdivision using mature data with a median follow-up of 14.3 years from a prospective randomized trial comparing RT alone with RT and 6 months of AST [4].  We also assessed the risk of PCSM in patients with unfavorable intermediate-risk PC compared with high-risk prostate cancer. Our main findings were as follows.
  • First, there were no prostate cancer deaths observed in favorable intermediate-risk patients, despite 50% receiving RT alone.
  • Second, there was not a statistically significant difference in the risk of PCSM in men with unfavorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer compared to men with high-risk PC after randomizing for age, comorbidities and treatment arm. While it is possible that a difference may emerge with longer follow-up, these results suggest that some men with unfavorable intermediate-risk PC may harbor occult GS 8-10 disease and could benefit from a 3.0-Tesla multiparametric MRI and targeted biopsy to rule out GS 8-10 disease.
(more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer, NIH / 26.03.2014

Yun Gong, M.D. Associate Professor Department of Pathology, Unit 53 M D Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX 77030MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yun Gong, M.D. Associate Professor Department of Pathology, Unit 53 M D Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX 77030 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Gong:  Androgen receptor (AR) was positive in 39% of the inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) tumors, approximately one-third of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative and progesterone receptor (PR)-negative tumors and 42.6% triple-negative tumors. AR positivity was significantly associated with lymphovascular invasion but not with other clinicopathologic parameters. There was a trend toward association between AR expression and PR expression. Univariate survival analysis indicated that patients with AR-negative/ER-negative tumors had significantly worse overall survival and disease-specific survival than the patients with tumors showing other combinations of AR/ER status (i.e., AR-negative/ER-positive, AR-positive/ER-negative,  or AR-positive/ER-positive). Notably, the study was performed using post-neoadjuvant IBC surgical specimens. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer, Endocrinology, Pediatrics, Thyroid / 20.03.2014

Melanie Goldfarb MD Assistant Professor of Surgery, Endocrine Surgery University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CaliforniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with Melanie Goldfarb MD Assistant Professor of Surgery, Endocrine Surgery University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Goldfarb: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who develop thyroid cancer as a secondary cancer are six times more likely to die than AYAs with primary thyroid cancer, though survival with treatment is excellent for both primary and secondary cancers at greater than 95 percent. Additionally, Hispanics, Males, and those of lower socioeconomic status have worse overall survival. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Smoking / 12.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Masaaki Kawai MD, PhD Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle, Washington MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings of the study? Answer:  Ever-smokers had a 1.3-fold increased risk of breast cancer. They also had a 1.4-fold increased risk of ER-positive breast cancer. Current/recent smokers with a 10 pack-year history of smoking had a 1.6-fold increased risk of ER-positive breast cancer. (more…)