Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Pediatrics / 16.09.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Irene Lara-Corrales, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto Staff physician in Pediatric Dermatology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada She is a member of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology.   Christina Boull, MD Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Minnesota Program Director for the Advanced Dermatology Medical Student Rotation Fellowship Director for the Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship     MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We got involved in this project a couple of years ago when many members of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance's (PeDRA) Skin Tumors and Reactions to Cancer Therapies (STARC) group started seeing many patients with skin toxicities given by targeted therapies.  We recognized that this was a new and growing area of skin concerns that pediatric dermatologists were starting to see. Being such a new field, and with little known about these medications, we thought it would be important to put our cases together and describe what we were seeing.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Fertility, OBGYNE / 11.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marie Hargreave, PhD Senior Researcher Danish Cancer Society Research Center Copenhagen MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Very few studies have examined the association between frozen embryo transfer and the risk of childhood cancer and most of them have been too small to show any effects. In our large nationwide population based study we found that frozen embryo replacement was associated with an increased risk of childhood cancer and especially for leukemia and neuroblastomas. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Pediatrics, Technology / 02.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: atomwiseAbraham Heifets, PhD Department of Computer Science University of Toronto  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement? How many children and adolescents are affected by pediatric cancer? Response: Cancer is diagnosed in more than 15,000 children and adolescents each year. Many cancers, including pediatric cancer, do not have effective treatments and for those that do, it is estimated that 80% have serious adverse effects that impact long-term health.  (more…)
ASCO, Author Interviews, Bayer, Cancer Research, Pediatrics / 03.06.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Douglas S. Hawkins, M.D. Hematology/Oncology Division Chief and Professor Pediatrics at Seattle Children's Hospital University of Washington School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: TRK fusion cancer is caused by a rare genomic alteration called a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion. Larotrectinib is a central nervous system (CNS) active, oral and highly selective TRK inhibitor used for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have a rare genomic alteration called an NTRK gene fusion. Larotrectinib was approved at the end of 2018 in the U.S. under the brand name VITRAKVI®, with European and worldwide regulatory submissions underway. At ASCO 2019, we will be presenting results from a new analysis specifically looking at the efficacy and safety of larotrectinib in pediatric patients (n=34) included in the expanded dataset from both adults and children across 24 tumor types, which was presented first at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2019 Annual Meeting.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, Pediatrics / 20.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rebecca D. Kehm, PhD Division of Epidemiology and Community Health University of Minnesota School of Public Health Minneapolis, MN   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Racial and ethnic differences in childhood cancer survival have long been known, and there has been some research indicating that SES could explain disparities. However, our study is the first to use statistical methods that put numbers to the relative contribution of SES to survival disparities for different types of childhood cancer. We set out to investigate whether racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival are attributed to underlying differences in socioeconomic status, defined as one’s social and economic position in relation to others based on income, education, and occupation, which scientists abbreviate as SES. Our findings provide evidence that SES does in fact contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in survival for some types of childhood cancer. Specifically, we found that SES accounted for 28-73% of the racial and ethnic survival disparity for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, SES did not significantly contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in survival for other types of childhood cancer including central nervous system tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms tumor, and germ cell tumors. These tumor-specific results help inform where to place resources to best reduce racial and ethnic survival disparities for each of the major types of childhood cancer. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Pediatrics, Sexual Health / 22.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chiara Acquati, Ph.D., MSW Assistant Professor Graduate College of Social Work University of Houston Houston, TX   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer are individuals between the ages of 15 and 39 years at diagnosis, as defined by the National Cancer Institute. Considerable research has unveiled unique psychosocial challenges experienced by AYAs, including poor quality of life, an altered body image, and social isolation. As a result of these life disruptions, normative psychological and emotional development is affected by the disease and its treatment, particularly with respect to sexual identity, development, and behavior. However, few studies have examined sexual functioning and AYA patients’ needs with respect to emotional intimacy and sexual relationships. Estimates of the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in AYAs are limited to date and vary because of data derived from mixed-age groups, single items instead of standardized instruments, and cross-sectional designs. Yet, the state of the science suggests that one-third to two-thirds of cancer patients experience sexual dissatisfaction and a reduced frequency of intercourse. Furthermore, failure to address sexual health may place AYAs at risk for long-term consequences related to sexual functioning and identity development, interpersonal relationships, and quality of life. Hence, detecting changes in the rate of sexual dysfunction over time may help in identifying the appropriate timing for interventions to be delivered. This study was conceptualized to increase our current knowledge of sexual functioning among AYAs by examining the prevalence of sexual dysfunction over the course of 2 years after the initial cancer diagnosis and the identification of variables that contribute to the probability of reporting sexual dysfunction in order to recognize individuals at higher risk. Young adult patients (≥18 years old) were administered the sexual functioning scale as part of a larger longitudinal multisite survey, and only those who completed the instrument at least once were included in this analysis; for this reason the article focuses on the experience of “young adults”. (more…)
AACR, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Pediatrics, Radiation Therapy / 25.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lindsay M. Morton, PhD Senior investigator in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetic National Cancer Institute Bethesda, Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Morton: We know that childhood cancer survivors, particularly those who received radiotherapy to the chest, have strongly increased risk of developing breast cancer. We studied about 3,000 female survivors of childhood cancer to identify whether inherited genetic susceptibility may influence which survivors go on to develop breast cancer. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Dr. Morton: In this discovery study, we found that specific variants in two regions of the genome were associated with increased risk of breast cancer after childhood cancer among survivors who received 10 or more gray of chest radiotherapy. A variant at position q41 on chromosome 1 was associated with nearly two-fold increased risk and one at position q23 on chromosome 11 was associated with a more than three-fold increased risk for each copy of the risk alleles. However, the variant alleles didn’t appear to have an effect among survivors who did not receive chest radiotherapy. (more…)