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Archive for the ‘Imaging-based Cancer Patient Management’ Category

Powerful AI Tools Being Developed for the COVID-19 Fight

Curator: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

 

Source: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2020/04/ai-powered-technologies-accelerate-discovery-covid-19/

IBM Releases Novel AI-Powered Technologies to Help Health and Research Community Accelerate the Discovery of Medical Insights and Treatments for COVID-19

April 3, 2020 | Written by: 

IBM Research has been actively developing new cloud and AI-powered technologies that can help researchers across a variety of scientific disciplines accelerate the process of discovery. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, we continue to ask how these technologies and our scientific knowledge can help in the global battle against coronavirus.

Today, we are making available multiple novel, free resources from across IBM to help healthcare researchers, doctors and scientists around the world accelerate COVID-19 drug discovery: from gathering insights, to applying the latest virus genomic information and identifying potential targets for treatments, to creating new drug molecule candidates.

Though some of the resources are still in exploratory stages, IBM is making them available to qualifying researchers at no charge to aid the international scientific investigation of COVID-19.

Today’s announcement follows our recent leadership in launching the U.S. COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium, which is harnessing massive computing power in the effort to help confront the coronavirus.

Streamlining the Search for Information

Healthcare agencies and governments around the world have quickly amassed medical and other relevant data about the pandemic. And, there are already vast troves of medical research that could prove relevant to COVID-19. Yet, as with any large volume of disparate data sources, it is difficult to efficiently aggregate and analyze that data in ways that can yield scientific insights.

To help researchers access structured and unstructured data quickly, we are offering a cloud-based AI research resource that has been trained on a corpus of thousands of scientific papers contained in the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19), prepared by the White House and a coalition of research groups, and licensed databases from the DrugBankClinicaltrials.gov and GenBank. This tool uses our advanced AI and allows researchers to pose specific queries to the collections of papers and to extract critical COVID-19 knowledge quickly. Please note, access to this resource will be granted only to qualified researchers. To learn more and request access, please click here.

Aiding the Hunt for Treatments

The traditional drug discovery pipeline relies on a library of compounds that are screened, improved, and tested to determine safety and efficacy. In dealing with new pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, there is the potential to enhance the compound libraries with additional novel compounds. To help address this need, IBM Research has recently created a new, AI-generative framework which can rapidly identify novel peptides, proteins, drug candidates and materials.

We have applied this AI technology against three COVID-19 targets to identify 3,000 new small molecules as potential COVID-19 therapeutic candidates. IBM is releasing these molecules under an open license, and researchers can study them via a new interactive molecular explorer tool to understand their characteristics and relationship to COVID-19 and identify candidates that might have desirable properties to be further pursued in drug development.

To streamline efforts to identify new treatments for COVID-19, we are also making the IBM Functional Genomics Platform available for free for the duration of the pandemic. Built to discover the molecular features in viral and bacterial genomes, this cloud-based repository and research tool includes genes, proteins and other molecular targets from sequenced viral and bacterial organisms in one place with connections pre-computed to help accelerate discovery of molecular targets required for drug design, test development and treatment.

Select IBM collaborators from government agencies, academic institutions and other organizations already use this platform for bacterial genomic study. And now, those working on COVID-19 can request the IBM Functional Genomics Platform interface to explore the genomic features of the virus. Access to the IBM Functional Genomics Platform will be prioritized for those conducting COVID-19 research. To learn more and request access, please click here.

Drug and Disease Information

Clinicians and healthcare professionals on the frontlines of care will also have free access to hundreds of pieces of evidence-based, curated COVID-19 and infectious disease content from IBM Micromedex and EBSCO DynaMed. Using these two rich decision support solutions, users will have access to drug and disease information in a single and comprehensive search. Clinicians can also provide patients with consumer-friendly patient education handouts with relevant, actionable medical information. IBM Micromedex is one of the largest online reference databases for medication information and is used by more than 4,500 hospitals and health systems worldwide. EBSCO DynaMed provides peer-reviewed clinical content, including systematic literature reviews in 28 specialties for comprehensive disease topics, health conditions and abnormal findings, to highly focused topics on evaluation, differential diagnosis and management.

The scientific community is working hard to make important new discoveries relevant to the treatment of COVID-19, and we’re hopeful that releasing these novel tools will help accelerate this global effort. This work also outlines our long-term vision for the future of accelerated discovery, where multi-disciplinary scientists and clinicians work together to rapidly and effectively create next generation therapeutics, aided by novel AI-powered technologies.

Learn more about IBM’s response to COVID-19: IBM.com/COVID19.

Source: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2020/04/ai-powered-technologies-accelerate-discovery-covid-19/

DiA Imaging Analysis Receives Grant to Accelerate Global Access to its AI Ultrasound Solutions in the Fight Against COVID-19

Source: https://www.grantnews.com/news-articles/?rkey=20200512UN05506&filter=12337

Grant will allow company to accelerate access to its AI solutions and use of ultrasound in COVID-19 emergency settings

TEL AVIV, IsraelMay 12, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — DiA Imaging Analysis, a leading provider of AI based ultrasound analysis solutions, today announced that it has received a government grant from the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) to develop solutions for ultrasound imaging analysis of COVID-19 patients using Artificial Intelligence (AI).Using ultrasound in point of care emergency settings has gained momentum since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. In these settings, which include makeshift hospital COVID-19 departments and triage “tents,” portable ultrasound offers clinicians diagnostic decision support, with the added advantage of being easier to disinfect and eliminating the need to transport patients from one room to another.However, analyzing ultrasound images is a process that it is still mostly done visually, leading to a growing market need for automated solutions and decision support.As the leading provider of AI solutions for ultrasound analysis and backed by Connecticut Innovations, DiA makes ultrasound analysis smarter and accessible to both new and expert ultrasound users with various levels of experience. The company’s flagship LVivo Cardio Toolbox for AI-based cardiac ultrasound analysis enables clinicians to automatically generate objective clinical analysis, with increased accuracy and efficiency to support decisions about patient treatment and care.

The IIA grant provides a budget of millions NIS to increase access to DiA’s solutions for users in Israel and globally, and accelerate R&D with a focus on new AI solutions for COVID-19 patient management. DiA solutions are vendor-neutral and platform agnostic, as well as powered to run in low processing, mobile environments like handheld ultrasound.Recent data highlights the importance of looking at the heart during the progression of COVID-19, with one study citing 20% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 showing signs of heart damage and increased mortality rates in those patients. DiA’s LVivo cardiac analysis solutions automatically generate objective, quantified cardiac ultrasound results to enable point-of-care clinicians to assess cardiac function on the spot, near patients’ bedside.

According to Dr. Ami Applebaum, the Chairman of the Board of the IIA, “The purpose of IIA’s call was to bring solutions to global markets for fighting COVID-19, with an emphasis on relevancy, fast time to market and collaborations promising continuity of the Israeli economy. DiA meets these requirements with AI innovation for ultrasound.”DiA has received several FDA/CE clearances and established distribution partnerships with industry leading companies including GE Healthcare, IBM Watson and Konica Minolta, currently serving thousands of end users worldwide.”We see growing use of ultrasound in point of care settings, and an urgent need for automated, objective solutions that provide decision support in real time,” said Hila Goldman-Aslan, CEO and Co-founder of DiA Imaging Analysis, “Our AI solutions meet this need by immediately helping clinicians on the frontlines to quickly and easily assess COVID-19 patients’ hearts to help guide care delivery.”

About DiA Imaging Analysis:
DiA Imaging Analysis provides advanced AI-based ultrasound analysis technology that makes ultrasound accessible to all. DiA’s automated tools deliver fast and accurate clinical indications to support the decision-making process and offer better patient care. DiA’s AI-based technology uses advanced pattern recognition and machine-learning algorithms to automatically imitate the way the human eye detects image borders and identifies motion. Using DiA’s tools provides automated and objective AI tools, helps reduce variability among users, and increases efficiency. It allows clinicians with various levels of experience to quickly and easily analyze ultrasound images.

For additional information, please visit http://www.dia-analysis.com.

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Imaging (ECHO) marker that would identify early cardiotoxic effects: The impact of high-dose immunosuppression for ICI myocarditis Cardiac Echo Tracks Checkpoint Inhibitor Damage – Predicting cardiac injury before EF falls

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

The present study is the first to use Global longitudinal strain (GLS) specifically to identify immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) myocarditis, Abraham and Aras noted.

The study compared 101 ICI myocarditis cases from a multicenter international registry (30 with serial GLS) against a random sample of 92 ICI users at Neilan’s institution who did not present with myocarditis (14 with serial GLS) during a study period from 2013 through 2019.

Despite not propensity-matching these patients, the investigators ended up with two groups with similar age (around 65), sex (>60% men), and cancer type (most commonly melanoma and lung cancer).

Before ICI therapy, GLS was similar between groups (20.3% among cases and 20.6% among controls, P=0.60).

Patients who had myocarditis still had a normal ejection fraction in 60% of cases.

One major limitation of the study was that serial echocardiograms had not been routinely performed on people with myocarditis. “[T]hus, it was not possible to determine if the GLS decrease occurred prior to the development of myocarditis,” Neilan and colleagues acknowledged.

Furthermore, 97% of ICI myocarditis cases presented with elevated troponin levels, so it’s “unclear if GLS assessment has incremental value to such readily available biomarkers,” the editorialists pointed out.

“Additional work is needed to test if the GLS decrease occurs prior to the development of clinical myocarditis, can provide an early method of detection, and whether tailoring immunosuppressive therapy based on the measurement of GLS at presentation with myocarditis may be of value,” the authors said.

 

SOURCES

 

  • Cardiac Echo Tracks Checkpoint Inhibitor Damage

https://www.medpagetoday.com/cardiology/chf/84682?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2020-02-04&eun=g99985d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Top%20Cat%20HeC%20%202020-02-04&utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition

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Applying AI to Improve Interpretation of Medical Imaging

Author and Curator: Dror Nir, PhD

3.5.2.5

3.5.2.5   Applying AI to Improve Interpretation of Medical Imaging, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 3: AI in Medicine

images

The idea that we can use machines’ intelligence to help us perform daily tasks is not an alien any more. As consequence, applying AI to improve the assessment of patients’ clinical condition is booming. What used to be the field of daring start-ups became now a playground for the tech-giants; Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM.

Interpretation of medical-Imaging involves standardised workflows and requires analysis of many data-items. Also, it is well established that human-subjectivity is a barrier to reproducibility and transferability of medical imaging results (evident by the reports on high intraoperative variability in  imaging-interpretation).Accepting the fact that computers are better suited that humans to perform routine, repeated tasks involving “big-data” analysis makes AI a very good candidate to improve on this situation.Google’s vision in that respect: “Machine learning has dozens of possible application areas, but healthcare stands out as a remarkable opportunity to benefit people — and working closely with clinicians and medical providers, we’re developing tools that we hope will dramatically improve the availability and accuracy of medical services.”

Google’s commitment to their vision is evident by their TensorFlow initiative. “TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. It has a comprehensive, flexible ecosystem of tools, libraries and community resources that lets researchers push the state-of-the-art in ML and developers easily build and deploy ML powered applications.” Two recent papers describe in length the use of TensorFlow in retrospective studies (supported by Google AI) in which medical-images (from publicly accessed databases) where used:

Prediction of cardiovascular risk factors from retinal fundus photographs via deep learning, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Authors: Ryan Poplin, Avinash V. Varadarajan, Katy Blumer, Yun Liu, Michael V. McConnell, Greg S. Corrado, Lily Peng, and Dale R. Webster

As a demonstrator to the expected benefits the use of AI in interpretation of medical-imaging entails this is a very interesting paper. The authors show how they could extract information that is relevant for the assessment of the risk for having an adverse cardiac event from retinal fundus images collected while managing a totally different medical condition.  “Using deep-learning models trained on data from 284,335 patients and validated on two independent datasets of 12,026 and 999 patients, we predicted cardiovascular risk factors not previously thought to be present or quantifiable in retinal images, such as age (mean absolute error within 3.26 years), gender (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.97), smoking status (AUC = 0.71), systolic

blood pressure (mean absolute error within 11.23 mmHg) and major adverse cardiac events (AUC = 0.70).”

Screenshot 2019-05-28 at 10.07.21Screenshot 2019-05-28 at 10.09.40

Clearly, if such algorithm would be implemented as a generalised and transferrable medical-device that can be used in routine practice, it will contribute to the cost-effectiveness of screening programs.

End-to-end lung cancer screening with three-dimensional deep learning on low-dose chest computed tomography, Nature Medicine, Authors: Diego Ardila, Atilla P. Kiraly, Sujeeth Bharadwaj, Bokyung Choi, Joshua J. Reicher, Lily Peng, Daniel Tse , Mozziyar Etemadi, Wenxing Ye, Greg Corrado, David P. Naidich and Shravya Shetty.

This paper is in line of many previously published works demonstrating how AI can increase the accuracy of cancer diagnosis in comparison to current state of the art: “Existing challenges include inter-grader variability and high false-positive and false-negative rates. We propose a deep learning algorithm that uses a patient’s current and prior computed tomography volumes to predict the risk of lung cancer. Our model achieves a state-of-the art performance (94.4% area under the curve) on 6,716 National Lung Cancer Screening Trial cases, and performs similarly on an independent clinical validation set of 1,139 cases.”

Screenshot 2019-05-28 at 10.22.06Screenshot 2019-05-28 at 10.23.48

The benefit of using an AI based application for lung cancer screening (If and when such algorithm is implemented as a generalised and transferable medical device) is well summarised by the authors: “The strong performance of the model at the case level has important potential clinical relevance. The observed increase in specificity could translate to fewer unnecessary follow up procedures. Increased sensitivity in cases without priors could translate to fewer missed cancers in clinical practice, especially as more patients begin screening. For patients with prior imaging exams, the performance of the deep learning model could enable gains in workflow efficiency and consistency as assessment of prior imaging is already a key component of a specialist’s workflow. Given that LDCT screening is in the relatively early phases of adoption, the potential for considerable improvement in patient care in the coming years is substantial. The model’s localization directs follow-up for specific lesion(s) of greatest concern. These predictions are critical for patients proceeding for further work-up and treatment, including diagnostic CT, positron emission tomography (PET)/CT or biopsy. Malignancy risk prediction allows for the possibility of augmenting existing, manually created interpretation guidelines such as Lung-RADS, which are limited to subjective clustering and assessment to approximate cancer risk.

BTW: The methods section in these two papers is detailed enough to allow any interested party to reproduce the study.

For the sake of balance-of-information, I would like to note that:

  • Amazon is encouraging access to its AI platform Amazon SageMaker “Amazon SageMaker provides every developer and data scientist with the ability to build, train, and deploy machine learning models quickly. Amazon SageMaker is a fully-managed service that covers the entire machine learning workflow to label and prepare your data, choose an algorithm, train the model, tune and optimize it for deployment, make predictions, and take action. Your models get to production faster with much less effort and lower cost.” Amazon is offering training courses to help programmers get proficiency in Machine-Learning using its AWS platform: “We offer 30+ digital ML courses totaling 45+ hours, plus hands-on labs and documentation, originally developed for Amazon’s internal use. Developers, data scientists, data platform engineers, and business decision makers can use this training to learn how to apply ML, artificial intelligence (AI), and deep learning (DL) to their businesses unlocking new insights and value. Validate your learning and your years of experience in machine learning on AWS with a new certification.”
  • IBM is offering a general-purpose AI platform named Watson. Watson is also promoted as a platform to develop AI applications in the “health” sector with the following positioning: “IBM Watson Health applies data-driven analytics, advisory services and advanced technologies such as AI, to deliver actionable insights that can help you free up time to care, identify efficiencies, and improve population health.”
  • Microsoft is offering its AI platform as a tool to accelerate development of AI solutions. They are also offering an AI school : “Dive in and learn how to start building intelligence into your solutions with the Microsoft AI platform, including pre-trained AI services like Cognitive Services and Bot Framework, as well as deep learning tools like Azure Machine Learning, Visual Studio Code Tools for AI and Cognitive Toolkit. Our platform enables any developer to code in any language and infuse AI into your apps. Whether your solutions are existing or new, this is the intelligence platform to build on.”

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Gender affects the prevalence of the cancer type, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 1: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

 

Gender of a person can affect the kinds of cancer-causing mutations they develop, according to a genomic analysis spanning nearly 2,000 tumours and 28 types of cancer. The results show striking differences in the cancer-causing mutations found in people who are biologically male versus those who are biologically female — not only in the number of mutations lurking in their tumours, but also in the kinds of mutations found there.

 

Liver tumours from women were more likely to carry mutations caused by a faulty system of DNA mending called mismatch repair, for instance. And men with any type of cancer were more likely to exhibit DNA changes thought to be linked to a process that the body uses to repair DNA with two broken strands. These biases could point researchers to key biological differences in how tumours develop and evolve across sexes.

 

The data add to a growing realization that sex is important in cancer, and not only because of lifestyle differences. Lung and liver cancer, for example, are more common in men than in women — even after researchers control for disparities in smoking or alcohol consumption. The source of that bias, however, has remained unclear.

In 2014, the US National Institutes of Health began encouraging researchers to consider sex differences in preclinical research by, for example, including female animals and cell lines from women in their studies. And some studies have since found sex-linked biases in the frequency of mutations in protein-coding genes in certain cancer types, including some brain cancers and advanced melanoma.

 

But the present study is the most comprehensive study of sex differences in tumour genomes so far. It looks at mutations not only in genes that code for proteins, but also in the vast expanses of DNA that have other functions, such as controlling when genes are turned on or off. The study also compares male and female genomes across many different cancers, which can allow researchers to pick up on additional patterns of DNA mutations, in part by increasing the sample sizes.

 

Researchers analysed full genome sequences gathered by the International Cancer Genome Consortium. They looked at differences in the frequency of 174 mutations known to drive cancer, and found that some of these mutations occurred more frequently in men than in women, and vice versa. When they looked more broadly at the loss or duplication of DNA segments in the genome, they found 4,285 sex-biased genes spread across 15 chromosomes.

 

There were also differences found when some mutations seemed to arise during tumour development, suggesting that some cancers follow different evolutionary paths in men and women. Researchers also looked at particular patterns of DNA changes. Such patterns can, in some cases, reflect the source of the mutation. Tobacco smoke, for example, leaves behind a particular signature in the DNA.

 

Taken together, the results highlight the importance of accounting for sex, not only in clinical trials but also in preclinical studies. This could eventually allow researchers to pin down the sources of many of the differences found in this study. Liver cancer is roughly three times as common in men as in women in some populations, and its incidence is increasing in some countries. A better understanding of its aetiology may turn out to be really important for prevention strategies and treatments.

 

References:

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00562-7?utm_source=Nature+Briefing

 

https://www.nature.com/news/policy-nih-to-balance-sex-in-cell-and-animal-studies-1.15195

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26296643

 

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/507939v1

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25985759

 

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Pancreatic cancer survival is determined by ratio of two enzymes, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 1: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

 

Protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes function as tumor suppressors in increasing contexts. These enzymes are crucial for a number of cellular activities, including cell survival, proliferation and migration — functions that must be carefully controlled if cells get out of control and form a tumor. In contrast to oncogenic kinases, whose function is acutely regulated by transient phosphorylation, PKC is constitutively phosphorylated following biosynthesis to yield a stable, autoinhibited enzyme that is reversibly activated by second messengers. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that another enzyme, called PHLPP1, acts as a “proofreader” to keep careful tabs on PKC.

 

The researchers discovered that in pancreatic cancer high PHLPP1 levels lead to low PKC levels, which is associated with poor patient survival. They reported that the phosphatase PHLPP1 opposes PKC phosphorylation during maturation, leading to the degradation of aberrantly active species that do not become autoinhibited. They discovered that any time an over-active PKC is inadvertently produced, the PHLPP1 “proofreader” tags it for destruction. That means the amount of PHLPP1 in patient’s cells determines his amount of PKC and it turns out those enzyme levels are especially important in pancreatic cancer.

 

This team of researchers reversed a 30-year paradigm when they reported evidence that PKC actually suppresses, rather than promotes, tumors. For decades before this revelation, many researchers had attempted to develop drugs that inhibit PKC as a means to treat cancer. Their study implied that anti-cancer drugs would actually need to do the opposite — boost PKC activity. This study sets the stage for clinicians to one day use a pancreatic cancer patient’s PHLPP1/PKC levels as a predictor for prognosis, and for researchers to develop new therapeutic drugs that inhibit PHLPP1 and boost PKC as a means to treat the disease.

 

The ratio — high PHLPP1/low PKC — correlated with poor prognoses: no pancreatic patient with low PKC in the database survived longer than five-and-a-half years. On the flip side, 50 percent of the patients with low PHLPP1/high PKC survived longer than that. While still in the earliest stages, the researchers hope that this information might one day aid pancreatic diagnostics and treatment. The researchers are next planning to screen chemical compounds to find those that inhibit PHLPP1 and restore PKC levels in low-PKC-pancreatic cancer cells in the lab. These might form the basis of a new therapeutic drug for pancreatic cancer.

 

References:

 

https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2019-03-20-two-enzymes-linked-to-pancreatic-cancer-survival.aspx?elqTrackId=b6864b278958402787f61dd7b7624666

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30904392

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29513138

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18511290

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28476658

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28283201

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24231509

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28112438

 

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Immunoediting can be a constant defense in the cancer landscape

Immuno-editing can be a constant defense in the cancer landscape, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 1: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

 

There are many considerations in the cancer immunoediting landscape of defense and regulation in the cancer hallmark biology. The cancer hallmark biology in concert with key controls of the HLA compatibility affinity mechanisms are pivotal in architecting a unique patient-centric therapeutic application. Selection of random immune products including neoantigens, antigens, antibodies and other vital immune elements creates a high level of uncertainty and risk of undesirable immune reactions. Immunoediting is a constant process. The human innate and adaptive forces can either trigger favorable or unfavorable immunoediting features. Cancer is a multi-disease entity. There are multi-factorial initiators in a certain disease process. Namely, environmental exposures, viral and / or microbiome exposure disequilibrium, direct harm to DNA, poor immune adaptability, inherent risk and an individual’s own vibration rhythm in life.

 

When a human single cell is crippled (Deranged DNA) with mixed up molecular behavior that is the initiator of the problem. A once normal cell now transitioned into full threatening molecular time bomb. In the modeling and creation of a tumor it all begins with the singular molecular crisis and crippling of a normal human cell. At this point it is either chop suey (mixed bit responses) or a productive defensive and regulation response and posture of the immune system. Mixed bits of normal DNA, cancer-laden DNA, circulating tumor DNA, circulating normal cells, circulating tumor cells, circulating immune defense cells, circulating immune inflammatory cells forming a moiety of normal and a moiety of mess. The challenge is to scavenge the mess and amplify the normal.

 

Immunoediting is a primary push-button feature that is definitely required to be hit when it comes to initiating immune defenses against cancer and an adaptation in favor of regression. As mentioned before that the tumor microenvironment is a “mixed bit” moiety, which includes elements of the immune system that can defend against circulating cancer cells and tumor growth. Personalized (Precision-Based) cancer vaccines must become the primary form of treatment in this case. Current treatment regimens in conventional therapy destroy immune defenses and regulation and create more serious complications observed in tumor progression, metastasis and survival. Commonly resistance to chemotherapeutic agents is observed. These personalized treatments will be developed in concert with cancer hallmark analytics and immunocentrics affinity and selection mapping. This mapping will demonstrate molecular pathway interface and HLA compatibility and adaptation with patientcentricity.

References:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/immunoediting-cancer-landscape-john-catanzaro/

 

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(16)31609-9

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309432057_Circulating_tumor_cell_clusters_What_we_know_and_what_we_expect_Review

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4190561/

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5840207/

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5593672/

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00414/full

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5593672/

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4190561/

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4388310/

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cancer-hallmark-analytics-omics-data-pathway-studio-review-catanzaro/

 

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Immunotherapy may help in glioblastoma survival

Immunotherapy may help in glioblastoma survival, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 1: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

 

Glioblastoma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults and is associated with poor survival. But, in a glimmer of hope, a recent study found that a drug designed to unleash the immune system helped some patients live longer. Glioblastoma powerfully suppresses the immune system, both at the site of the cancer and throughout the body, which has made it difficult to find effective treatments. Such tumors are complex and differ widely in their behavior and characteristics.

 

A small randomized, multi-institution clinical trial was conducted and led by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles involved patients who had a recurrence of glioblastoma, the most common central nervous system cancer. The aim was to evaluate immune responses and survival following neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab (checkpoint inhibitor) in 35 patients with recurrent, surgically resectable glioblastoma. Patients who were randomized to receive neoadjuvant pembrolizumab, with continued adjuvant therapy following surgery, had significantly extended overall survival compared to patients that were randomized to receive adjuvant, post-surgical programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade alone.

 

Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade was associated with upregulation of T cell– and interferon-γ-related gene expression, but downregulation of cell-cycle-related gene expression within the tumor, which was not seen in patients that received adjuvant therapy alone. Focal induction of programmed death-ligand 1 in the tumor microenvironment, enhanced clonal expansion of T cells, decreased PD-1 expression on peripheral blood T cells and a decreasing monocytic population was observed more frequently in the neoadjuvant group than in patients treated only in the adjuvant setting. These findings suggest that the neoadjuvant administration of PD-1 blockade enhanced both the local and systemic antitumor immune response and may represent a more efficacious approach to the treatment of this uniformly lethal brain tumor.

 

Immunotherapy has not proved to be effective against glioblastoma. This small clinical trial explored the effect of PD-1 blockade on recurrent glioblastoma in relation to the timing of administration. A total of 35 patients undergoing resection of recurrent disease were randomized to either neoadjuvant or adjuvant pembrolizumab, and surgical specimens were compared between the two groups. Interestingly, the tumoral gene expression signature varied between the two groups, such that those who received neoadjuvant pembrolizumab displayed an INF-γ gene signature suggestive of T-cell activation as well as suppression of cell-cycle signaling, possibly consistent with growth arrest. Although the study was not powered for efficacy, the group found an increase in overall survival in patients receiving neoadjuvant pembrolizumab compared with adjuvant pembrolizumab of 13.7 months versus 7.5 months, respectively.

 

In this small pilot study, neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade followed by surgical resection was associated with intratumoral T-cell activation and inhibition of tumor growth as well as longer survival. How the drug works in glioblastoma has not been totally established. The researchers speculated that giving the drug before surgery prompted T-cells within the tumor, which had been impaired, to attack the cancer and extend lives. The drug didn’t spur such anti-cancer activity after the surgery because those T-cells were removed along with the tumor. The results are very important and very promising but would need to be validated in much larger trials.

 

References:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/02/11/immunotherapy-may-help-patients-with-kind-cancer-that-killed-john-mccain/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e1b2e6fffccc

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30742122

 

https://www.practiceupdate.com/content/neoadjuvant-anti-pd-1-immunotherapy-promotes-immune-responses-in-recurrent-gbm/79742/37/12/1

 

https://www.esmo.org/Oncology-News/Neoadjuvant-PD-1-Blockade-in-Glioblastoma

 

https://neurosciencenews.com/immunotherapy-glioblastoma-cancer-10722/

 

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Live Conference Coverage @Medcitynews Converge 2018 Philadelphia: The Davids vs. the Cancer Goliath Part 2

Reporter: Stephen J. Williams, PhD

8:40 – 9:25 AM The Davids vs. the Cancer Goliath Part 2

Startups from diagnostics, biopharma, medtech, digital health and emerging tech will have 8 minutes to articulate their visions on how they aim to tame the beast.

Start Time End Time Company
8:40 8:48 3Derm
8:49 8:57 CNS Pharmaceuticals
8:58 9:06 Cubismi
9:07 9:15 CytoSavvy
9:16 9:24 PotentiaMetrics

Speakers:
Liz Asai, CEO & Co-Founder, 3Derm Systems, Inc. @liz_asai
John M. Climaco, CEO, CNS Pharmaceuticals @cns_pharma 

John Freyhof, CEO, CytoSavvy
Robert Palmer, President & CEO, PotentiaMetrics @robertdpalmer 
Moira Schieke M.D., Founder, Cubismi, Adjunct Assistant Prof UW Madison @cubismi_inc

 

3Derm Systems

3Derm Systems is an image analysis firm for dermatologic malignancies.  They use a tele-medicine platform to accurately triage out benign malignancies observed from the primary care physician, expediate those pathology cases if urgent to the dermatologist and rapidly consults with you over home or portable device (HIPAA compliant).  Their suite also includes a digital dermatology teaching resource including digital training for students and documentation services.

 

CNS Pharmaceuticals

developing drugs against CNS malignancies, spun out of research at MD Anderson.  They are focusing on glioblastoma and Berubicin, an anthracycline antiobiotic (TOPOII inhibitor) that can cross the blood brain barrier.  Berubicin has good activity in a number of animal models.  Phase I results were very positive and Phase II is scheduled for later in the year.  They hope that the cardiotoxicity profile is less severe than other anthracyclines.  The market opportunity will be in temazolamide resistant glioblastoma.

Cubismi

They are using machine learning and biomarker based imaging to visualize tumor heterogeneity. “Data is the new oil” (Intel CEO). We need prediction machines so they developed a “my body one file” system, a cloud based data rich file of a 3D map of human body.

CUBISMI IS ON A MISSION TO HELP DELIVER THE FUTURE PROMISE OF PRECISION MEDICINE TO CURE DISEASE AND ASSURE YOUR OPTIMAL HEALTH.  WE ARE BUILDING A PATIENT-DOCTOR HEALTH DATA EXCHANGE PLATFORM THAT WILL LEVERAGE REVOLUTIONARY MEDICAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY AND PUT THE POWER OF HEALTH DATA INTO THE HANDS OF YOU AND YOUR DOCTORS.

 

CytoSavvy

CytoSavvy is a digital pathology company.  They feel AI has a fatal flaw in that no way to tell how a decision was made. Use a Shape Based Model Segmentation algorithm which uses automated image analysis to provide objective personalized pathology data.  They are partnering with three academic centers (OSU, UM, UPMC) and pool data and automate the rule base for image analysis.

CytoSavvy’s patented diagnostic dashboards are intuitive, easy–to-use and HIPAA compliant. Our patented Shape-Based Modeling Segmentation (SBMS) algorithms combine shape and color analysis capabilities to increase reliability, save time, and improve decisions. Specifications and capabilities for our web-based delivery system follow.

link to their white paper: https://www.cytosavvy.com/resources/healthcare-ai-value-proposition.pdf

PotentialMetrics

They were developing a diagnostic software for cardiology epidemiology measuring outcomes however when a family member got a cancer diagnosis felt there was a need for outcomes based models for cancer treatment/care.  They deliver real world outcomes for persoanlized patient care to help patients make decisions on there care by using a socioeconomic modeling integrated with real time clinical data.

Featured in the Wall Street Journal, using the informed treatment decisions they have generated achieve a 20% cost savings on average.  There research was spun out of Washington University St. Louis.

They have concentrated on urban markets however the CEO had mentioned his desire to move into more rural areas of the country as there models work well for patients in the rural setting as well.

Please follow on Twitter using the following #hash tags and @pharma_BI 

#MCConverge

#cancertreatment

#healthIT

#innovation

#precisionmedicine

#healthcaremodels

#personalizedmedicine

#healthcaredata

And at the following handles:

@pharma_BI

@medcitynews

Read Full Post »

cancerandoncologyseriesccover

Series C: e-Books on Cancer & Oncology

Series C Content Consultant: Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP

 

VOLUME ONE 

Cancer Biology and Genomics

for

Disease Diagnosis

2015

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013RVYR2K

Stephen J. Williams, PhD, Senior Editor

sjwilliamspa@comcast.net

Tilda Barliya, PhD, Editor

tildabarliya@gmail.com

Ritu Saxena, PhD, Editor

ritu.uab@gmail.com

Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence 

Part I

Historical Perspective of Cancer Demographics, Etiology, and Progress in Research

Chapter 1:  The Occurrence of Cancer in World Populations

1.1   Understanding Cancer

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

1.2  Cancer Metastasis

Tilda Barliya, PhD

1.3      2013 Perspective on “War on Cancer” on December 23, 1971

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

1.4   Global Burden of Cancer Treatment & Women Health: Market Access & Cost Concerns

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

1.5    The Importance of Cancer Prevention Programs: New Perspectives for Fighting Cancer

Ziv Raviv, PhD

1.6      The “Cancer establishments” examined by James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA w/Crick, 4/1953,  

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

1.7      New Ecosystem of Cancer Research: Cross Institutional Team Science

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

1.8       Cancer Innovations from across the Web

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

1.9         Exploring the role of vitamin C in Cancer therapy

Ritu Saxena PhD

1.10        Relation of Diet and Cancer

Sudipta Saha, PhD

1.11      Association between Non-melanoma Skin Cancer and subsequent Primary Cancers in White Population 

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

1.12       Men With Prostate Cancer More Likely to Die from Other Causes

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

1.13      Battle of Steve Jobs and Ralph Steinman with Pancreatic Cancer: How we Lost

Ritu Saxena, PhD

Chapter 2.  Rapid Scientific Advances Changes Our View on How Cancer Forms

2.1     All Cancer Cells Are Not Created Equal: Some Cell Types Control Continued Tumor Growth, Others Prepare the Way for Metastasis 

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

2.2      Hold on. Mutations in Cancer do Good

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

2.3       Is the Warburg Effect the Cause or the Effect of Cancer: A 21st Century View?

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

2.4          Naked Mole Rats Cancer-Free

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

2.5           Zebrafish—Susceptible to Cancer

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

2.6         Demythologizing Sharks, Cancer, and Shark Fins,

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

2.7       Tumor Cells’ Inner Workings Predict Cancer Progression

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

2.8      In Focus: Identity of Cancer Stem Cells

Ritu Saxena, PhD

2.9      In Focus: Circulating Tumor Cells

Ritu Saxena, PhD

2.10     Rewriting the Mathematics of Tumor Growth; Teams Use Math Models to Sort Drivers from Passengers 

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

2.11     Role of Primary Cilia in Ovarian Cancer

Aashir Awan, PhD

Chapter 3:  A Genetic Basis and Genetic Complexity of Cancer Emerges

3.1       The Binding of Oligonucleotides in DNA and 3-D Lattice Structures

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

3.2      How Mobile Elements in “Junk” DNA Promote Cancer. Part 1: Transposon-mediated Tumorigenesis. 

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

3.3      DNA: One Man’s Trash is another Man’s Treasure, but there is no JUNK after all

Demet Sag, PhD

3.4 Issues of Tumor Heterogeneity

3.4.1    Issues in Personalized Medicine in Cancer: Intratumor Heterogeneity and Branched Evolution Revealed by Multiregion Sequencing

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

3.4.2       Issues in Personalized Medicine: Discussions of Intratumor Heterogeneity from the Oncology Pharma forum on LinkedIn

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

3.5        arrayMap: Genomic Feature Mining of Cancer Entities of Copy Number Abnormalities (CNAs) Data

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

3.6        HBV and HCV-associated Liver Cancer: Important Insights from the Genome

Ritu Saxena, PhD

3.7      Salivary Gland Cancer – Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma: Mutation Patterns: Exome- and Genome-Sequencing @ Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

3.8         Gastric Cancer: Whole-genome Reconstruction and Mutational Signatures

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

3.9        Missing Gene may Drive more than a quarter of Breast Cancers

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

3.10     Critical Gene in Calcium Reabsorption: Variants in the KCNJ and SLC12A1 genes – Calcium Intake and Cancer Protection

Aviva Lev-Ari,PhD, RN

Chapter 4: How Epigenetic and Metabolic Factors Affect Tumor Growth

4.1    Epigenetics

4.1.1     The Magic of the Pandora’s Box : Epigenetics and Stemness with Long non-coding RNAs (lincRNA)

Demet Sag, PhD, CRA, GCP

4.1.2     Stomach Cancer Subtypes Methylation-based identified by Singapore-Led Team

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

4.1.3     The Underappreciated EpiGenome

Demet Sag, Ph.D., CRA, GCP

4.1.4     Differentiation Therapy – Epigenetics Tackles Solid Tumors

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

4.1.5      “The SILENCE of the Lambs” Introducing The Power of Uncoded RNA

Demet Sag, Ph.D., CRA, GCP

4.1.6      DNA Methyltransferases – Implications to Epigenetic Regulation and Cancer Therapy Targeting: James Shen, PhD

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

4.2   Metabolism

4.2.1      Mitochondria and Cancer: An overview of mechanisms

Ritu Saxena, PhD

4.2.2     Bioenergetic Mechanism: The Inverse Association of Cancer and Alzheimer’s

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

4.2.3      Crucial role of Nitric Oxide in Cancer

Ritu Saxena, PhD

4.2.4      Nitric Oxide Mitigates Sensitivity of Melanoma Cells to Cisplatin

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

4.2.5      Increased risks of obesity and cancer, Decreased risk of type 2 diabetes: The role of Tumor-suppressor phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN)

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

4.2.6      Lipid Profile, Saturated Fats, Raman Spectrosopy, Cancer Cytology

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

4.3     Other Factors Affecting Tumor Growth

4.3.1      Squeezing Ovarian Cancer Cells to Predict Metastatic Potential: Cell Stiffness as Possible Biomarker

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

4.3.2      Prostate Cancer: Androgen-driven “Pathomechanism” in Early-onset Forms of the Disease

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Chapter 5: Advances in Breast and Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Supports Hope for Cure

5.1 Breast Cancer

5.1.1      Cell Movement Provides Clues to Aggressive Breast Cancer

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

5.1.2    Identifying Aggressive Breast Cancers by Interpreting the Mathematical Patterns in the Cancer Genome

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

5.1.3  Mechanism involved in Breast Cancer Cell Growth: Function in Early Detection & Treatment

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

5.1.4       BRCA1 a tumour suppressor in breast and ovarian cancer – functions in transcription, ubiquitination and DNA repair

Sudipta Saha, PhD

5.1.5      Breast Cancer and Mitochondrial Mutations

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

5.1.6      MIT Scientists Identified Gene that Controls Aggressiveness in Breast Cancer Cells

Aviva Lev-Ari PhD RN

5.1.7       “The Molecular pathology of Breast Cancer Progression”

Tilda Barliya, PhD

5.1.8       In focus: Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Ritu Saxena, PhD

5.1.9       Automated Breast Ultrasound System (‘ABUS’) for full breast scanning: The beginning of structuring a solution for an acute need!

Dror Nir, PhD

5.1.10       State of the art in oncologic imaging of breast.

Dror Nir, PhD

 

5.2 Gastrointestinal Cancer

5.2.1         Colon Cancer

Tilda Barliya, PhD

5.2.2      PIK3CA mutation in Colorectal Cancer may serve as a Predictive Molecular Biomarker for adjuvant Aspirin therapy

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

5.2.3     State of the art in oncologic imaging of colorectal cancers.

Dror Nir, PhD

5.2.4     Pancreatic Cancer: Genetics, Genomics and Immunotherapy

Tilda Barliya, PhD

5.2.5     Pancreatic cancer genomes: Axon guidance pathway genes – aberrations revealed

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Part II

Advent of Translational Medicine, “omics”, and Personalized Medicine Ushers in New Paradigms in Cancer Treatment and Advances in Drug Development

Chapter 6:  Treatment Strategies

6.1 Marketed and Novel Drugs

Breast Cancer                                   

6.1.1     Treatment for Metastatic HER2 Breast Cancer

Larry H Bernstein MD, FCAP

6.1.2          Aspirin a Day Tied to Lower Cancer Mortality

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

6.1.3       New Anti-Cancer Drug Developed

Prabodh Kandala, Ph.D.

6.1.4         Pfizer’s Kidney Cancer Drug Sutent Effectively caused REMISSION to Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

Aviva Lev-Ari ,PhD, RN

6.1.5     “To Die or Not To Die” – Time and Order of Combination drugs for Triple Negative Breast Cancer cells: A Systems Level Analysis

Anamika Sarkar, PhD. and Ritu Saxena, PhD

Melanoma

6.1.6    “Thymosin alpha1 and melanoma”

Tilda Barliya, PhD

Leukemia

6.1.7    Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplantation

Tilda Barliya PhD

6.2 Natural agents

Prostate Cancer                 

6.2.1      Scientists use natural agents for prostate cancer bone metastasis treatment

Ritu Saxena, PhD

Breast Cancer

6.2.2        Marijuana Compound Shows Promise In Fighting Breast Cancer

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

Ovarian Cancer                  

6.2.3        Dimming ovarian cancer growth

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

6.3 Potential Therapeutic Agents

Gastric Cancer                 

6.3.1       β Integrin emerges as an important player in mitochondrial dysfunction associated Gastric Cancer

Ritu Saxena, PhD

6.3.2      Arthritis, Cancer: New Screening Technique Yields Elusive Compounds to Block Immune-Regulating Enzyme

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

Pancreatic Cancer                                   

6.3.3    Usp9x: Promising therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer

Ritu Saxena, PhD

Breast Cancer                 

6.3.4       Breast Cancer, drug resistance, and biopharmaceutical targets

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

Prostate Cancer

6.3.5        Prostate Cancer Cells: Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Induce Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

Glioblastoma

6.3.6      Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) as a Therapeutic tool in the Management of Glioblastoma

Raphael Nir, PhD, MSM, MSc

6.3.7   Akt inhibition for cancer treatment, where do we stand today?

Ziv Raviv, PhD

Chapter 7:  Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapy

7.1.1        Harnessing Personalized Medicine for Cancer Management, Prospects of Prevention and Cure: Opinions of Cancer Scientific Leaders

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.1.2      Personalized medicine-based cure for cancer might not be far away

Ritu Saxena, PhD

7.1.3      Personalized medicine gearing up to tackle cancer

Ritu Saxena, PhD

7.1.4       Cancer Screening at Sourasky Medical Center Cancer Prevention Center in Tel-Aviv

Ziv Raviv, PhD

7.1.5       Inspiration From Dr. Maureen Cronin’s Achievements in Applying Genomic Sequencing to Cancer Diagnostics

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.1.6       Personalized Medicine: Cancer Cell Biology and Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS)

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.2 Personalized Medicine and Genomics

7.2.1       Cancer Genomics – Leading the Way by Cancer Genomics Program at UC Santa Cruz

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.2.2       Whole exome somatic mutations analysis of malignant melanoma contributes to the development of personalized cancer therapy for this disease

Ziv Raviv, PhD

7.2.3       Genotype-based Analysis for Cancer Therapy using Large-scale Data Modeling: Nayoung Kim, PhD(c)

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.2.4         Cancer Genomic Precision Therapy: Digitized Tumor’s Genome (WGSA) Compared with Genome-native Germ Line: Flash-frozen specimen and Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded Specimen Needed

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.2.5         LEADERS in Genome Sequencing of Genetic Mutations for Therapeutic Drug Selection in Cancer Personalized Treatment: Part 2

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.2.6       Ethical Concerns in Personalized Medicine: BRCA1/2 Testing in Minors and Communication of Breast Cancer Risk

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

7.3  Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapy

7.3.1     The Development of siRNA-Based Therapies for Cancer

Ziv Raviv, PhD

7.3.2       mRNA interference with cancer expression

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

7.3.3       CD47: Target Therapy for Cancer

Tilda Barliya, PhD

7.3.4      Targeting Mitochondrial-bound Hexokinase for Cancer Therapy

Ziv Raviv, PhD

7.3.5       GSK for Personalized Medicine using Cancer Drugs needs Alacris systems biology model to determine the in silico effect of the inhibitor in its “virtual clinical trial”

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.3.6         Personalized Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Option

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.3.7        New scheme to routinely test patients for inherited cancer genes

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

7.3.8        Targeting Untargetable Proto-Oncogenes

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP and Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.3.9        The Future of Translational Medicine with Smart Diagnostics and Therapies: PharmacoGenomics 

Demet Sag, PhD

7.4 Personalized Medicine in Specific Cancers

7.4.1      Personalized medicine and Colon cancer

Tilda Barliya, PhD

7.4.2      Comprehensive Genomic Characterization of Squamous Cell Lung Cancers

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

7.4.3        Targeted Tumor-Penetrating siRNA Nanocomplexes for Credentialing the Ovarian Cancer Oncogene ID4

Sudipta Saha, PhD

7.4.4        Cancer and Bone: low magnitude vibrations help mitigate bone loss

Ritu Saxena, PhD

7.4.5         New Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines Face a Tough Sell, Study Suggests

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

Part III

Translational Medicine, Genomics, and New Technologies Converge to Improve Early Detection

Diagnosis, Detection And Biomarkers

Chapter 8:  Diagnosis Diagnosis: Prostate Cancer

8.1        Prostate Cancer Molecular Diagnostic Market – the Players are: SRI Int’l, Genomic Health w/Cleveland Clinic, Myriad Genetics w/UCSF, GenomeDx and BioTheranostics

Aviva Lev-Ari PhD RN

8.2         Today’s fundamental challenge in Prostate cancer screening

Dror Nir, PhD

Diagnosis & Guidance: Prostate Cancer

8.3      Prostate Cancers Plunged After USPSTF Guidance, Will It Happen Again?

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Diagnosis, Guidance and Market Aspects: Prostate Cancer

8.4       New Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines Face a Tough Sell, Study Suggests

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

Diagnossis: Lung Cancer

8.5      Diagnosing lung cancer in exhaled breath using gold nanoparticles

Tilda Barliya PhD

Chapter 9:  Detection

Detection: Prostate Cancer

9.1     Early Detection of Prostate Cancer: American Urological Association (AUA) Guideline

Dror Nir, PhD

Detection: Breast & Ovarian Cancer

9.2       Testing for Multiple Genetic Mutations via NGS for Patients: Very Strong Family History of Breast & Ovarian Cancer, Diagnosed at Young Ages, & Negative on BRCA Test

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Detection: Aggressive Prostate Cancer

9.3     A Blood Test to Identify Aggressive Prostate Cancer: a Discovery @ SRI International, Menlo Park, CA

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Diagnostic Markers & Screening as Diagnosis Method

9.4      Combining Nanotube Technology and Genetically Engineered Antibodies to Detect Prostate Cancer Biomarkers

Stephen J. Williams, PhD

Detection: Ovarian Cancer

9.5      Warning signs may lead to better early detection of ovarian cancer

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

9.6       Knowing the tumor’s size and location, could we target treatment to THE ROI by applying imaging-guided intervention?

Dror Nir, PhD

Chapter 10:  Biomarkers

                                                Biomarkers: Pancreatic Cancer

10.1        Mesothelin: An early detection biomarker for cancer (By Jack Andraka)

Tilda Barliya, PhD

Biomarkers: All Types of Cancer, Genomics and Histology

10.2                  Stanniocalcin: A Cancer Biomarker

Aashir Awan, PhD

10.3         Breast Cancer: Genomic Profiling to Predict Survival: Combination of Histopathology and Gene Expression Analysis

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Biomarkers: Pancreatic Cancer

10.4         Biomarker tool development for Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer: Van Andel Institute and Emory University

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

10.5     Early Biomarker for Pancreatic Cancer Identified

Prabodh Kandala, PhD

Biomarkers: Head and Neck Cancer

10.6        Head and Neck Cancer Studies Suggest Alternative Markers More Prognostically Useful than HPV DNA Testing

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

10.7      Opens Exome Service for Rare Diseases & Advanced Cancer @Mayo Clinic’s OncoSpire

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Diagnostic Markers and Screening as Diagnosis Methods

10.8         In Search of Clarity on Prostate Cancer Screening, Post-Surgical Followup, and Prediction of Long Term Remission

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP

Chapter 11  Imaging In Cancer

11.1  Introduction by Dror Nir, PhD

11.2  Ultrasound

11.2.1        2013 – YEAR OF THE ULTRASOUND

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.2      Imaging: seeing or imagining? (Part 1)

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.3        Early Detection of Prostate Cancer: American Urological Association (AUA) Guideline

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.4        Today’s fundamental challenge in Prostate cancer screening

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.5       State of the art in oncologic imaging of Prostate

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.6        From AUA 2013: “HistoScanning”- aided template biopsies for patients with previous negative TRUS biopsies

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.7     On the road to improve prostate biopsy

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.8       Ultrasound imaging as an instrument for measuring tissue elasticity: “Shear-wave Elastography” VS. “Strain-Imaging”

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.9       What could transform an underdog into a winner?

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.10        Ultrasound-based Screening for Ovarian Cancer

Dror Nir, PhD

11.2.11        Imaging Guided Cancer-Therapy – a Discipline in Need of Guidance

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3   MRI & PET/MRI

11.3.1     Introducing smart-imaging into radiologists’ daily practice

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3.2     Imaging: seeing or imagining? (Part 2)

[Part 1 is included in the ultrasound section above]

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3.3    Imaging-guided biopsies: Is there a preferred strategy to choose?

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3.4     New clinical results support Imaging-guidance for targeted prostate biopsy

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3.5      Whole-body imaging as cancer screening tool; answering an unmet clinical need?

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3.6        State of the art in oncologic imaging of Lymphoma

Dror Nir, PhD

11.3.7      A corner in the medical imaging’s ECO system

Dror Nir, PhD

11.4  CT, Mammography & PET/CT 

11.4.1      Causes and imaging features of false positives and false negatives on 18F-PET/CT in oncologic imaging

Dror Nir, PhD

11.4.2     Minimally invasive image-guided therapy for inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma

Dror Nir, PhD

11.4.3        Improving Mammography-based imaging for better treatment planning

Dror Nir, PhD

11.4.4       Closing the Mammography gap

Dror Nir, PhD

11.4.5       State of the art in oncologic imaging of lungs

Dror Nir, PhD

11.4.6       Ovarian Cancer and fluorescence-guided surgery: A report

Tilda Barliya, PhD

11.5  Optical Coherent Tomography (OCT)

11.5.1       Optical Coherent Tomography – emerging technology in cancer patient management

Dror Nir, PhD

11.5.2     New Imaging device bears a promise for better quality control of breast-cancer lumpectomies – considering the cost impact

Dror Nir, PhD

11.5.3        Virtual Biopsy – is it possible?

Dror Nir, PhD

11.5.4      New development in measuring mechanical properties of tissue

Dror Nir, PhD

Chapter 12. Nanotechnology Imparts New Advances in Cancer Treatment,  Detection, and Imaging  

12.1     DNA Nanotechnology

Tilda Barliya, PhD

12.2     Nanotechnology, personalized medicine and DNA sequencing

Tilda Barliya, PhD       

12.3     Nanotech Therapy for Breast Cancer

Tilda Barliya, PhD

12.4     Prostate Cancer and Nanotecnology

Tilda Barliya, PhD

12.5     Nanotechnology: Detecting and Treating metastatic cancer in the lymph node

Tilda Barliya, PhD

12.6     Nanotechnology Tackles Brain Cancer

Tilda Barliya, PhD

12.7     Lung Cancer (NSCLC), drug administration and nanotechnology

Tilda Barliya, PhD

Volume Epilogue by Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FACP

Epilogue: Envisioning New Insights in Cancer Translational Biology

Larry H. Berstein, MD, FACP

Read Full Post »

Almudena’s Story:  A Life of Hope, Rejuvenation and Strength

Author: Gail S. Thornton, M.A.

Co-Editor: The VOICES of Patients, HealthCare Providers, Caregivers and Families: Personal Experience with Critical Care and Invasive Medical Procedures

Patient had ovarian clear cell adenocarcinomas (OCCAs) and underwent a complete hysterectomy at age 52. Interview was conducted 15 months’ post-surgery. Earlier in life, patient had thyroid cancer and removal of her thyroid gland and all the lymph nodes in her neck.

 

Almudena Seeder-Alonso, originally from Madrid, Spain, and now living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with her Dutch husband, René, is the eternal optimist, embracing life, reinventing herself, and looking for opportunity in every moment. She is an influential blogger of international relations issues, a career professional in human resources management in both corporate and consulting businesses in Legal, Accounting and Technology, and a lawyer and political scientist with an advanced degree in international relations who is also pursuing a Ph.D. in international relations and diplomacy. And she speaks four languages fluently – Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and English.

Her story is one of hope, rejuvenation and strength that defines her effervescent personality. One year ago, a routine gynecology exam changed her outlook and perspective on life. She would have never thought that her diagnosis would be ovarian carcinoma of the clear cell, the most aggressive form of cancer.

 

Image SOURCE: Photographs courtesy of Almudena Seeder-Alonso. Top Left: Almudena’s parents, María and Angel, and sister, Cristina, and her husband. Top Right: Almudena during chemotherapy last summer (2015). Middle: Almudena attending a wedding in Asturias (northwest Spain – May 2016), Almudena and René in Comporta, Portugal (Summer 2014) and in New York (April 2014). Below left: Almudena in New York (April 2014). Below Right: Almudena’s sisters, María and Cristina with nephew, Jaime (May 2016). 

A Small Cyst Turns Into Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer

In early 2015, Almudena visited her gynecologist in Amsterdam for a regular, yearly appointment.

“I was feeling fine. I had no physical complaints, except for my monthly periods which were heavy. I didn’t think much about it. During my examination, my doctor told me that she found a small cyst on my right ovary and we would just observe it to make sure it was not growing.”

Almudena went back to her gynecologist at the OLVG (Onze Lieve Vrouw Gasthuis https://www.olvg.nl/) in Amsterdam twice over the next month to monitor the cyst, only to find that the cyst was growing slightly. Her gynecologist recommended blood tests, an ultrasound, and a specimen of the cyst to be removed through a laparoscopy, a procedure requiring small incisions made below the navel using specialized tools.

“The pathology report said that the cyst was an aggressive cancer, called ovarian carcinoma of the clear cell. I remember sitting in my doctor’s office once she told me the results of the test, and I got very quiet. I could not believe that this was happening to me. While I was meeting with the doctor, I called my husband to let the doctor inform him about the situation. I was listening to this conversation but from far away. He immediately left his meeting with his client (he is one of two founding partners of SeederdeBoer, a Dutch Consulting & Technology firm), to come home. I left the doctor’s office, went home and cried in my husband’s arms.”

Almudena then called her parents, María and Angel, and her two sisters, María and Cristina who live in Madrid, to tell them the news.

“My Mother was very emotional when she heard about my diagnosis. My Father, who is a quiet man by nature, asked me, ‘How could this be happening to you again?’ I did not have an answer for him.”

Almudena’s father was referring to his daughter’s diagnosis of thyroid cancer in her late 20s.

Diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer As A Young Woman

When Almudena was 27 years old, she was diagnosed with follicular thyroid cancer, a slow-growing, highly treatable type of cancer that forms in follicular cells in the thyroid gland. After a 12-hour surgery to remove the gland through a procedure called a full thyroidectomy, she also needed radiation therapy. Many years later, she is feeling fine and continues to be on thyroid medication for the rest of her life.

“I was not aware at that young age of the scope of the diagnosis, but my life really changed. I was kind of a party animal at the end of the 1980s, and I did not have any amount of energy for that anymore. I needed several months to get back into shape as the scar from the surgery was a large one on the right side of my neck. I could not use my right arm and hand properly for months, even writing was complicated. The worst news came later when I could not get pregnant given the situation that many of my eggs were gone because of radiation. At that moment, egg freezing technology was not as advanced as it is today; it was not normal to freeze eggs for a later time. That was really painful, as I could not become a mother, even after four in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles.”

According to the National Cancer Institute’s web site, thyroid cancer is a disease in which malignant cancer cells form in the tissues of the thyroid gland. The thyroid is a gland at the base of the throat near the trachea (windpipe). It is shaped like a butterfly, with a right lobe and a left lobe. The isthmus, a thin piece of tissue, connects the two lobes. A healthy thyroid is a little larger than a quarter coin. It usually cannot be felt through the skin. The thyroid uses iodine, a mineral found in some foods and in iodized salt, to help make several hormones. Thyroid hormones control heart rate, body temperature, and how quickly food is changed into energy (metabolism) as well as, it controls the amount of calcium in the blood.  http://www.cancer.gov/types/thyroid/patient/thyroid-treatment-pdq

Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis Continues

Almudena then spoke with her physicians in Madrid, as that is where she grew up, to get a second opinion about her ovarian carcinoma diagnosis. The physicians knew her history well and they told her that they did not believe that the follicular thyroid cancer was directly related to the ovarian cancer.

“My local gynecologist in Amsterdam then referred me to a specialist, Dr. J. van der Velden, a gynecologist/oncologist at the Amsterdam Medisch Centrum (AMC), http://www.cgoa.nl/page/view/name/34-wie-we-zijn, one of the top university hospitals in The Netherlands for this surgery and treatment. My husband, René, and I met with Dr. van der Velden, and he told us that my cancer was a fast-spreading condition and I needed to have it removed immediately. He answered our questions, calmed my fears and said he would do everything to help me.

“I have an open attitude towards people so it was easy to create a good connection with the doctors and medical personnel, which I consider very fundamental in such a process. I talked to them about my concerns or doubts and shared my worries about the process that I was going through. I have to say that all of them were wonderful in every aspect!”

Dr. van der Velden explained to Almudena that as clear cell is an aggressive form of ovarian cancer, it would need to be treated that way. One month later, Almudena underwent a procedure called open surgery, rather than laparoscopic surgery, requiring an incision large enough for the doctor to see the cyst and surrounding tissue.

“My incision from the surgery is a constant reminder of the struggle I went through. The cyst, which was 3cm, was a solid mass on my right ovary. It had adhered itself to the ovary and had to be broken to be removed, so some cells spilled out into my reproductive organs, namely, in my uterus and fallopian tubes. During this surgery, which was a complete hysterectomy, the doctor took additional tissue samples of my reproductive organs to be analyzed by pathology. Weeks later, he found no other metastases or extra cancer cells.”

http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/health-library/treatments-and-procedures/ovarian-cyst-removal-open-surgery

https://www.amc.nl/web/Het-AMC/Organisatie/Academisch-Medisch-Centrum.htm

The Process of Healing Begins

One month later, Almudena’s body was still recovering from the operation. Now, she had to start chemotherapy back at the OLVG.

“The doctor, Dr. W. Terpstra, hematologist/oncologist instructed me that I would be going through six full cycles of chemotherapy, which means full doses of carboplatin & paclitaxel every 21 days. At first, I felt reasonably good, then as each week progressed, I became more and more tired, nauseous, and just feeling terrible. I was not sleeping well and even lost the sensation of my fingers and toes as chemo attacks the nerves, too. Then, I started losing my eyelashes and hair so I shaved my long, flowing hair and wore a scarf wrapped around my head.”

Almudena would report to the hospital for her weekly chemotherapy session, starting at 9am and leaving at 6pm. The medical team would put her in a room with a full-size bed so she can relax during the infusion. Her husband, two sisters and some close friends would take turns accompanying her during this time, as she had a nurturing and caring support network.

“I could not have gone through this condition without my family and friends. It tests your relationships and shows you who your friends really are.”

The chemotherapy affected Almudena’s red blood cell count halfway through the process and she felt weak and tired.

“Anemia is normal during this time, but always being tired made me concentrate and focus on things less. I would watch a movie or read a book through the chemo session, and then I would fall asleep quickly.”

After Almudena finished the complete cycle of chemotherapy infusions, she had a follow-up appointment with her doctor, which included blood work, CT scan, and other diagnostic tests.

“My doctor said the tests results were very good. Now, I see him every three months for a routine visit. That was such a wonderful report to hear.

“During this process I learned to love myself, and pampered myself and my body. I learned to improve in terms of beauty, even in the worst circumstances. I wanted to feel beautiful and attractive for myself and for my close family. After three chemo cycles, I started even to think about how my new hair style would be in the moment that I finished chemo.”

Ovarian Carcinoma Pathophysiology Facts

According to published studies, ovarian clear cell adenocarcinomas (OCCAs) account for less than 5 percent of all ovarian malignancies, and 3.7–12.1 percent of all epithelial ovarian carcinomas. By contrast, early‐stage clear cell ovarian cancer carries a relatively good prognosis. When compared with their serous counterparts, a greater proportion of OCCA tumors present as early‐stage (I–II) tumors, are often associated with a large pelvic mass, which may account for their earlier diagnosis, and rarely occur bilaterally. Very little is known about the pathobiology of OCCA. Between 5 percent and 10 percent of ovarian cancers are associated with endometriotic lesions in which there is a predominance of clear and endometrioid cell subtypes, suggesting that both tumor types may arise in endometriosis. http://www.cancer.gov/types/ovarian/hp/ovarian-epithelial-treatment-pdq

The National Cancer Institute’s web site offers these statistics. In most families affected with the breast and ovarian cancer syndrome or site-specific ovarian cancer, genetic linkage has been found to the BRCA1 locus on chromosome 17q21. BRCA2, also responsible for some instances of inherited ovarian and breast cancer, has been mapped by genetic linkage to chromosome 13q12. The lifetime risk for developing ovarian cancer in patients harboring germline mutations in BRCA1 is substantially increased over that of the general population. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2001101/

Words Of Wisdom

“Throughout this journey, I found myself again in some way and found my strength as well. When it seemed I could not stand it anymore, either physically and mentally, I realized that I could.

“At the beginning of my diagnosis, I asked myself, ‘Why me?’, and I then changed it to, ‘Why not me?’ I discovered that I have the same opportunities as anyone who becomes ill. The important perspective to have is not whining and dwelling on my bad luck. The important thing is to heal, survive, and recover my life, which is very good!

“I learned the real value and importance of things: to differentiate and give real meaning and value to the care and support of my husband, René, who was always there for me, and my parents and sisters, who came to Amsterdam very often during the process. I also made sure that René was well-supported and accompanied by my family.  René was feeling terrible for me, but he never showed it — and I learned this fact after I was starting to be back on track.”

Almudena’s Life Today

“At a significant moment in my life during my cancer diagnosis and after a long professional life in many corporate and consulting business in several countries, I decided to re-invent myself and start a new career, this time, in the battle of the opinions. I always liked foreign affairs and diplomacy, so why not share my thoughts and write about current international issues.”

That’s when Almudena started a blog to discuss relevant international political issues with her background specialization in International Relations, International Politics, International Law and Governance.

“I consider myself politically liberal and have been influenced by J.S. Mill and A. Tocqueville’s tradition of thought, as well as their ethical conception of the defense of freedom. This is what I try to capture in my political approach and in this blog. http://almudenas.website/index.php/about-me/

“Regarding my profession, I have already reinvented myself, leaving the corporate life with all that is included regarding life’s standards, and do what really makes me happy, which I´m doing right now. It seems after all, looking back with perspective, I did the right thing.

“I am grateful for my life and never take anything for granted. I am the happiest when I am doing things that please me or give me the utmost satisfaction. I now have balance in my personal and professional life, something that I’ve never had before. My husband, René, likes it too and I have his full support.”

She recently ‘liked’ this saying on LinkedIn, the professional network site, ‘I never lose. I either win or learn,’ which was attributed to Nelson Mandela, the deceased South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist.

Almudena’s life continues on a path of balance, richness and thankfulness for the person she is and the many blessings she continues to have along the way.

Editor’s note:

We would like to thank Gabriela Contreras, a global communications consultant and patient advocate, for the tremendous help and support she provided in locating and scheduling time to talk with Almudena Seeder-Alonso.

Almudena Seeder-Alonso provided her permission to publish this interview on August 10, 2016.

REFERENCES/SOURCES

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/health/harnessing-the-immune-system-to-fight-cancer.html?_r=0

http://www.sharecancersupport.org/share-new/support/stories/linda_clear_cell_ovarian_cancer/

http://www.cancer.gov/types/thyroid/patient/thyroid-treatment-pdq

http://almudenas.website/index.php/about-me/

http://www.cancer.gov/types/ovarian/hp/ovarian-epithelial-treatment-pdq

http://www.cgoa.nl/page/view/name/34-wie-we-zijn

http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/health-library/treatments-and-procedures/ovarian-cyst-removal-open-surgery

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2001101/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2001101/

Other related articles on the link between Ovarian Cancer and Thyroid Cancer:

https://www.whatnext.com/questions/is-there-a-link-between-ovarian-and-thyroid-cancer

Other related articles/information:

https://www.olvg.nl/

https://www.amc.nl/web/Het-AMC/Organisatie/Academisch-Medisch-Centrum.htm

 

Other related articles on Ovarian Cancer and Thyroid Cancer were published in this Open Access Online Scientific Journal include the following: 

Ovarian Cancer (N = 285)

2015

A Curated History of the Science Behind the Ovarian Cancer β-Blocker Trial

Model mimicking clinical profile of patients with ovarian cancer @ Yale School of Medicine

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2015/09/26/model-mimicking-clinical-profile-of-patients-with-ovarian-cancer-yale-school-of-medicine/

2014

Preclinical study identifies ‘master’ proto-oncogene that regulates stress-induced ovarian cancer metastasis | MD Anderson Cancer Center

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2014/08/15/preclinical-study-identifies-master-proto-oncogene-that-regulates-stress-induced-ovarian-cancer-metastasis-md-anderson-cancer-center/

Good and Bad News Reported for Ovarian Cancer Therapy

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2014/07/01/good-and-bad-news-reported-for-ovarian-cancer-therapy-2/

Efficacy of Ovariectomy in Presence of BRCA1 vs BRCA2 and the Risk for Ovarian Cancer

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2014/02/25/efficacy-of-ovariectomy-in-presence-of-brca1-vs-brca2-and-the-risk-for-ovarian-cancer/

 

And 
 
Thyroid Cancer (N = 124)
2015
Experience with Thyroid Cancer

 

2012

Thyroid Cancer: The Evolution of Treatment Options

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2012/08/19/thyroid-cancer-the-evolution-of-treatment-options/

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