tbuckley/cabot-search huggingface dataset:
Proposed Agenda for the Measurement of Quality-of-Care Outcomes in Oncology Practice
Authors: Jeanne S. Mandelblatt, Patricia A. Ganz, Katherine L. Kahn
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (1999)

ABSTRACT: Cancer is an important disease, and health care services have the potential to improve the quality and quantity of life for cancer patients. The delivery of these services also has recently been well codified. Given this framework, cancer care presents a unique opportunity for clinicians to develop and test outcome measures across diverse practice settings. Recently, the Institute of Medicine released a report reviewing the quality of cancer care in the United States and called for further development and monitoring of quality indicators. Thus, as we move into the 21st century, professional and regulatory agencies will be seeking to expand process measures and develop and validate outcomes-oriented measures for cancer and other diseases. For such measures to be clinically relevant and feasible, it is key that the oncology community take an active leadership role in this process. To set the stage for such activities, this article first reviews broad methodologic concerns involved in selecting measures of the quality of care, using breast cancer to exemplify key issues. We then use the case of breast cancer to review the different phases of cancer care and provide examples of phase-specific measures that, after careful operationalization, testing, and validation, could be used as the basis of an agenda for measuring the quality of breast cancer care in oncology practice. The diffusion of process and outcome measures into practice; the practicality, reliability, and validity of these measures; and the impact that these indicators have on practice patterns and the health of populations will be key to evaluating the success of such quality-of-care paradigms. Ultimately, improved quality of care should translate into morbidity and mortality reductions.
Foreign Body Tumorigenesis: Timing and Location of Preneoplastic Events&lt;xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN1"&gt;2&lt;/xref&gt;
Authors: K. Gerhard Brand, Lance C. Buoen, Inge Brand
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1971)

Journal Article Foreign Body Tumorigenesis: Timing and Location of Preneoplastic Events Get access K. Gerhard Brand, K. Gerhard Brand Department of Microbiology, College of Medical Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Lance C. Buoen, Lance C. Buoen Department of Microbiology, College of Medical Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Inge Brand Inge Brand Department of Microbiology, College of Medical Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Volume 47, Issue 4, October 1971, Pages 829–836, https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/47.4.829 Published: 01 October 1971 Article history Received: 16 March 1971 Accepted: 21 June 1971 Published: 01 October 1971
Attitudes of Physicians Toward Risk Assessment and Use of Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-Csf) As Primary Prophylaxis (Pp) in Patients (Pts) Receiving Chemotherapy with an Intermediate Risk of Febrile Neutropenia (Fn)
Authors: G. Freyer, E. Kalinka-Warzocha, K. Syrigos, M. Marinca, G. Tonini, S.L. Ng, Z.W. Wong, A. Salar, G.G. Steger, M. Abdelsalam, L. Decosta, Z. Szabo
Journal: Annals of Oncology (2014)
Carcinogen Binding to Various Types of Dietary Fiber&lt;xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN2"&gt;2&lt;/xref&gt;
Authors: Peggy Smith-Barbaro, Debra Hanson, Bandaru S. Reddy
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1981)

The percent of the carcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) bound to a variety of fibers, such as wheat bran, corn bran, citrus pulp, citrus pectin, and alfalfa, was examined at pH values ranging from 1 to 12. The percent of DMH bound to wheat bran increased from 4% at PH 1 to 55% at pH 2 to 77% at pH 12. A sharp rise in carcinogen binding to corn bran occurred between pH 5% of the DMH was bound and pH 8 where 51% of the DMH was bound. The percent of DMH bound to dehydrated citrus pulp also increased as the pH increased with 10% binding observed at pH 1 and with 57% binding observed at pH 12. Between pH 2 and pH 7, the percent of DMH bound to pectin decreased from 60 to 11%. As the pH became more basic, the percent of DMH bound to pectin increased to 42% at pH 12. The sharpest rise in the percent of DMH bound to alfalfa meal occurred between pH 10.5 and pH 12.0. Results from this experiment showed that the affinity to various types of dietary fibers for the colon carcinogen DMH was differentially affected by pH. These results suggested that the protective effect of certain types of dietary fiber against chemically induced colon cancer my in part be attributed to enhanced carcinogen binding by dietary fiber in the colon.
Cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide plus thoracic radiation therapy for limited-stage unresectable thymoma: an intergroup trial.
Authors: P J Loehrer, M Chen, K Kim, S C Aisner, L H Einhorn, R Livingston, D Johnson
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (1997)

PURPOSE To determine the response rate of cisplatin plus doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide (PAC) in patients with limited-stage unresectable thymoma. In addition, this study was undertaken to determine the toxicity, progression-free survival, and overall survival of combined-modality therapy with PAC plus radiation therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with a histologic diagnosis of limited-stage unresectable thymoma or thymic carcinoma were eligible. Further requirements included a Karnofsky Performance Score of &gt; 60, no prior radiation to the chest, and adequate bone marrow, hepatic, and renal function. No patient had undergone chemotherapy previously. Patients received two to four cycles (repeated every 3 weeks) of cisplatin (50 mg/m2), doxorubicin (50 mg/m2), and cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) followed by a total dosage of 54 Gy to the primary tumor and regional lymph nodes for patients with a stable, partial, or complete response to chemotherapy. RESULTS From November 1983 through January 1995, 26 patients were entered onto the trial. Three patients were ineligible on the basis of pathologic review (lung cancer, germ cell cancer, lymphoma). Toxicity, primarily hematologic, was mild, with only one early death due to a perforated abdominal viscus. Among the 23 assessable patients, there were five complete and 11 partial responses to chemotherapy (overall response rate, 69.6%). The median time to treatment failure was 93.2 months (range, 3 to 99.2+ months), and the median survival time was 93 months (range, 1 to 110 months). The 5-year survival rate is 52.5%. CONCLUSIONS PAC combination chemotherapy produces response rates in the management of patients with limited thymoma. Combined-modality therapy is feasible and associated with prolonged progressive-free survival. The benefit of combined-modality therapy over radiation therapy alone is suggested for patients with unresectable thymoma.
Reexpression of the Original Tumor Pattern by a Human Breast Carcinoma Cell Line (MCF-7) in Sponge Culture 2
Authors: J. Russo, H.D. Soule, C. McGrath, M.A. Rich
Journal: JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1976)

A stable cell line (MCF-7), derived from a pleural effusion of a patient with metastatic breast carcinoma, was maintained in these laboratories for more than 3 years in conventional monolayer culture. To further characterize the tumor origin of the MCF-7 line, cells were grown on collagen-coated cellulose sponges. On the three-dimensional sponge matrix, the cells formed clusters, ductlike structures, and lumina similar to the patterns observed in the antecedent primary tumor and in the pleural metastasis. The similarity between the original tumor and the cells grown in sponge suggested that the MCF-7 cells did in fact retain the potential to express the histologic patterns of tumor, even in the absence of stroma support. This study confirmed the utility of sponge culture for the investigation of the retention of tumor characteristics by cultured cells of neoplastic origin.
Qualification of two multi-plexed immunoassays utilizing meso-scale discovery (MSD) technology for quantitation of angiogenic cytokines used as exploratory biomarkers
Authors: Kristina Robson, Kim Hamic, Lisa Kivman, Ren Xu, Sid Suggs, Scott Patterson
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2006)

A15  Biomarkers used in clinical trials as pharmacodynamic endpoints have been an emerging focus. Attention has been given to the evaluation of biomarkers for utility to inform and guide clinical trials. Biomarker assay results can be used to correlate markers of interest to dose or efficacy of the drug. Biomarker assay qualification is necessary to ensure that the data produced is reliable. To measure levels of angiogenic biomarkers in clinical trials of anti-angiogenic therapeutics, we used two multi-plexed MSD assays. .We selected this assay format because multi-plexing conserves sample, allowing multiple analytes to be tested in the same assay. Another beneficial feature of MSD assays is that they have large dynamic ranges, which reduces the need to re-analyze samples. One of the MSD multi-plexed assays is a 4-plex that includes bFGF (basic fibroblast growth factor), PlGF (Placental Growth Factor), VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) and soluble Flt-1 (VEGFR1). The second MSD multi-plexed assay includes soluble KDR (VEGFR2) and soluble cKit. Assay parameters evaluated during qualification include sample collection, sample stability, assay reagent stability, inter- and intra- assay precision, accuracy, sample parallelism, linearity, specificity, interference and assay range. For the anti-angiogenic panel of assays, sample stability, inter-assay precision and interference had the greatest impact on the accuracy of results. During assay qualification, VEGF and bFGF were shown to be unstable over multiple freeze/thaw cycles. Changes in sample preparation reduced this instability, and increased consistency of results on multiple sample preparations from single individuals. Inter-assay variability of Flt-1 and VEGF was high, and interference studies revealed the impact of receptor-ligand binding on the ability to accurately quantitate some analytes. In summary, assay qualification is used to develop the appropriate sample collection and assay conditions necessary to obtain reliable biomarker results.
Liver fibrosis occurs through dysregulation of MyD88‐dependent innate B‐cell activity
Authors: Manoj Thapa, Raghavan Chinnadurai, Victoria M. Velazquez, Dana Tedesco, Elizabeth Elrod, Jin‐Hwan Han, Prachi Sharma, Chris Ibegbu, Andrew Gewirtz, Frank Anania, Bali Pulendran, Mehul S. Suthar, Arash Grakoui
Journal: Hepatology (2015)

Chronic liver disease mediated by activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) leads to liver fibrosis. Here, we postulated that the immune regulatory properties of HSCs might promote the profibrogenic activity of B cells. Fibrosis is completely attenuated in carbon tetrachloride–treated, B cell–deficient µMT mice, showing that B cells are required. The retinoic acid produced by HSCs augmented B‐cell survival, plasma cell marker CD138 expression, and immunoglobulin G production. These activities were reversed following addition of the retinoic acid inhibitor LE540. Transcriptional profiling of fibrotic liver B cells revealed increased expression of genes related to activation of nuclear factor κ light chain enhancer of activated B cells, proinflammatory cytokine production, and CD40 signaling, suggesting that these B cells are activated and may be acting as inflammatory cells. Biological validation experiments also revealed increased activation (CD44 and CD86 expression), constitutive immunoglobulin G production, and secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor‐α, monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1, and macrophage inflammatory protein‐1α. Likewise, targeted deletion of B‐cell‐intrinsic myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 signaling, an innate adaptor with involvement in retinoic acid signaling, resulted in reduced infiltration of migratory CD11c + dendritic cells and Ly6C ++ monocytes and, hence, reduced liver pathology. Conclusion : Liver fibrosis occurs through a mechanism of HSC‐mediated augmentation of innate B‐cell activity. These findings highlight B cells as important “first responders” of the intrahepatic immune environment. (H epatology 2015;61:2067‐2079)
Children in the mountains
Authors: B. Basnyat, N. Sherpa, G. Basyal, P. Adhirikari
Journal: BMJ (1998)

EDITOR—We agree with Pollard et al that infants and children below the age of 2 who are on treks should not sleep above 2000 m.1 But we question their concluding remark that children aged 2-10 who are trekking should not sleep higher than 3000 m. In the absence of any firm data on acute mountain sickness in children, we believe that this advice is too conservative for children who can express themselves clearly—for instance, those aged 7 and older.

Firstly, in our experience the ability of the child to describe a problem clearly in words (so that, if necessary, descent can be planned promptly) is key in the decision whether children should accompany adults to high altitude. We believe that this was not emphasised enough in the editorial.

Secondly, most leaders of trekking groups in the Himalayas believe that dehydration is unhealthy at high altitude and that it …
High-dose carboplatin and etoposide with autologous bone marrow transplantation in refractory germ cell cancer: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group protocol.
Authors: C R Nichols, J Andersen, H M Lazarus, H Fisher, J Greer, E A Stadtmauer, P J Loehrer, D L Trump
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (1992)

PURPOSE A phase II trial was undertaken to assess the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of high-dose carboplatin and etoposide with autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with relapsed or refractory germ cell tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty patients with recurrent germ cell cancer received carboplatin 500 mg/m2 and etoposide 400 mg/m2 given at 7, 5, and 3 days before marrow infusion. Autologous marrow infusion (day 0) was accomplished using one half of the bone marrow harvested before chemotherapy. Patients who achieved a complete or partial response with the first cycle of treatment received a second identical cycle of chemotherapy followed by infusion of the remaining cryopreserved bone marrow. RESULTS Objective responses were obtained in 17 of the 38 patients (45%) assessable for response, including eight partial and nine complete remissions. Five of these patients remain in continuous complete remission with minimal follow-up of 1 year. Toxicity encountered was primarily hematologic, and five patients (13%) died of treatment-related complications. Significant toxicities often seen with high-dose cisplatin (ototoxicity, neurotoxicity, and renal toxicity) were manageable in this regimen of high-dose carboplatin. CONCLUSIONS This trial confirms the curative potential of high-dose carboplatin and etoposide in highly refractory germ cell cancer.
Therapy for bladder tuberculosis: How to prevent complications
Authors: Ekaterina Kulchavenya, Elena Brizhatyuk, Denis Kholtobin, Alexander Osadchyi
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2012)

Introduction. Bladder TB (BTB) is one of the most serious complications of renal TB, and it is diagnosed in 45.6% among urogenital tuberculosis (UGTB). Inadequate treatment of BTB resulted in severe complications (shrinkage of the bladder).  Materials and methods. 149 patients with BTB were enrolled in study. 76 patients (1st group) were treated with standard TB therapy. 73 patients (2nd group) received modified therapy, included trospium chloride.  Results. Standard therapy was insufficient in more than half of the cases: 42.1% were cured, 57.9% developed complications: posttuberculous cystalgia (36.8%) and microcystis (21.1%).  2nd group of patients responded in a favourable manner to the combined treatment: urinary frequency reduced about 75%, bladder capacity increased an average of 4.7 fold. Recovery was reached in 84.3%. Posttuberculous cystalgia developed in 15.7% only. None of the patients developed microcystis after the combined treatment. In 2nd group also 8 patients had incontinence; among them five reported no urgency urinary incontinence episodes after 3 months therapy with trospium chloride. Tolerance to the treatment was good: only one patient had light side effect (mouth dryness).  Conclusion.Bladder tuberculosis is always secondary to renal TB, however quite often renal TB may start with voiding symptoms such as dysuria, frequent and painful urination and incontinence. Urinalysis reveals – pyuria, erythrocyturia and growth of unspecific bacteria is possible. In regions with endemic tuberculosis all patients with acute cystitis should be evaluated as suspicious to TB. Antituberculous therapy in combination with trospium chloride is high effective for bladder TB patients.
Using social media to change medical practice - The Breakfast at Glenfield Music Video
Authors: Tapas Mukherjee, Jonathan Bennett, Richa Agnihotri, Sarah Clarke, Ruth Green
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2013)

In April 2012 an audit of 58 healthcare professionals (HCPs) across University Hospitals Leicester (UHL), highlighted a lack of knowledge in acute severe asthma management. Only 62% had awareness of hospital guidelines for the management of asthma, only 45% used them. Knowledge of indications for chest radiograph, steroid use, criteria for safe discharge, and target oxygen saturation was particularly weak.  We therefore revised the guidelines and created an innovative music video to improve the management of acute asthma across UHL. The guidelines were translated into memorable lyrics, sung over a famous song, and released onto YouTube. UHL Staff were informed via Facebook and Twitter. The video gained over 10000 views. Within days organisations such as the Department of Health and BBC News hosted the video on their websites.  55 UHL HCPs participated in the repeat audit (June 2012). The results were compared with the pre-intervention audit, and analysed using Fisher’s exact test. Results showed 100% of UHL HCPs were aware of the guidelines compared to 62% before (p  Interest from other hospitals and even multinational companies has suggested a huge appetite for using social media in medicine. We have shown it can help improve clinical practice, but the method could be adapted to educate any group including difficult to reach populations such as teenagers and ethnic minorities. The possibilities are not limited by resources or money, but only by imagination.  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj0PEn79Cuw.
Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Resistance*
Authors: Suparna Jain, David W. Golde, Robert Bailey, Mitchell E. Geffner
Journal: Endocrine Reviews (1998)

I. Introduction II. The IGFs and Their Receptors III. Genetically Engineered Mouse Models IV. Malnutrition V. Conditions Associated with Genetic IGF-I Resistance in Humans A. African Efe Pygmies B. Leprechaunism and other genetic disorders associated with severe insulin resistance C. Deletions of the distal arm of chromosome 15 D. Rare examples of “idiopathic” short stature associated with elevated circulating levels of IGF-I VI. Conditions Associated with Acquired IGF-I Resistance in Humans A. HIV-1 infection B. Chronic renal insufficiency C. Mauriac syndrome VII. Conclusions
When I use a word . . .: X marks the spot
Authors: J. Aronson
Journal: BMJ (1999)

The R symbol is well known as the sign of a prescription, and it is often said that it is Rx, a shortened version of the Latin word recipe, take. But R is not R plus x; it is a corruption of a symbol that was once used by the ancient Egyptians to signify the utchat, the eye of Horus.

As with so many ancient gods, Horus had several manifestations, which are often confused with each other. Originally he was Horus the Elder, the falcon headed god of the sky. Other manifestations included a war god, two different forms of sun god, and various children of Isis and Osiris, also known as Harsiesis, Harpakhrad, Harpokrates, and Horus the Younger.

Horus the Elder had two eyes, the sun …
A biomechanical model of chest physiotherapy
Authors: Benjamin Mauroy, Samir Rachidi, Barrett Mitchell, Christian Fausser, Dominique Pelca, Jacques Merckx, Patrice Flaud
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2014)

Using pressures on the chest, chest physiotherapy (CP) is efficient but empirical, its mechanisms remain unknown. Historically, CP consisted in applying strong pressures onto the chest, with possible discomfort and risks. New techniques using low pressures on the chest at small lung volumes have emerged but remain controversial. Thus CP now needs scientific basis.

In CP, mucus movement is due to tangential constraints induced by air motion on the air/mucus interface. They are correlated positively to pressure amplitudes and negatively to bronchi volumes in a complex way, due to lung structure and deformability. Thus we evaluated the effects of pressure amplitudes for different lung volumes on mucus motion in the bronchial tree.

We set up an in silico biomechanical model of CP. We developed a model based on physical sub-models fitted with experimental data from the literature. The core elements are the lung multi-scaled geometry, bronchi and pleural cavity mechanics (quasi-static), and linearized fluid mechanics for air and mucus.

Our results show that mucus starts moving only if pressure overcome a threshold (Mauroy, B. et al, Phys Biol 2011; 8(5):056006). A given pressure has a stronger effect on mucus motion if applied at low lung volumes: 75.0% more mucus out if CP is performed at -12.3% FRC instead of -2.5% FRC. But this scenario leads to strong lung constraints (+57.3%), thus to high patient discomfort; it also leads to increased chance of bronchi closure. Thus our model suggests that to maximize its efficiency while minimizing patient discomfort, CP should use the whole range of lung's volumes and the minimal pressures to induce mucus movement. In its limit, our model can predict the minimal pressures in a patient dependent basis.