ReportWire

Tag: Digestive Disorders

  • American Cancer Society Releases New Colorectal Cancer Statistics; Rapid Shifts to More Advanced Disease and Younger People

    American Cancer Society Releases New Colorectal Cancer Statistics; Rapid Shifts to More Advanced Disease and Younger People

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    EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE – 10:00 a.m., ET– Wednesday, March 1, 2023

    Newswise — ATLANTA, March 1, 2023 – Colorectal cancer is swiftly shifting to more advanced disease and younger individuals according to Colorectal Cancer Statistics 2023, a new report on cancer facts and trends by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Researchers showed the proportion of individuals in the United States diagnosed with advanced-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) increased from 52% in the mid-2000s to 60% in 2019. In addition, diagnoses of people under 55 years of age doubled from 11% (1 in 10) in 1995 to 20% (1 in 5) in 2019. Overall, in 2023, an estimated 153,020 people will be diagnosed with CRC in the U.S., and 52,550 people will die from the disease. These major findings are to be published today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, alongside its consumer-friendly companion, Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023-2025, available on cancer.org.

    “We know rates are increasing in young people, but it’s alarming to see how rapidly the whole patient population is shifting younger, despite shrinking numbers in the overall population,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, and lead author of the report. “The trend toward more advanced disease in people of all ages is also surprising and should motivate everyone 45 and older to get screened.”

    CRC is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the U.S. CRC incidence declined rapidly in people 50 and older during the 2000s, largely because of increased screening with colonoscopy, which can prevent cancer by removing premalignant polyps. However, this progress has slowed over the past decade with decreasing trends now confined to people 65 and older.

    For the report, researchers used incidence data available through 2019 from 50 states and the District of Columbia from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute and the National Program of Cancer Registries of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as provided by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. National mortality data available through 2020 were provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.

    Other key findings from the report include:

    • Progress against CRC has slowed from declines in incidence and mortality of 3%-4% per year during the 2000s to 1% per year for incidence and 2% per year for mortality during the past decade.
    • The CRC incidence rate was 33% higher in men (41.5 per 100,000) than in women (31.2 per 100,000) during 2015-2019, likely reflecting differences in risk factor prevalence, such as excess body weight, processed meat consumption, and historical smoking.
    • Declining incidence rates are confined to ages 65 and older since 2011; incidence rates have stabilized in ages 50-64 years and have increased by 2% per year in people younger than 50 years of age, as well as in people ages 50-54 years.
    • Diagnoses have shifted to more advanced disease; the proportion of cancers that are regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes, organs, or tissues) or distant (spread to distant organs/lymph nodes) stage increased from a low of 52% in the mid-2000s to 60% in 2019 despite increased screening.
    • CRC death rates have increased since around 2005 by 1% annually in people younger than 50 years and by 0.6% in people ages 50-54.
    • CRC incidence is highest in people who are Alaska Native (88.5 per 100,000), American Indian (46.0 per 100,000), or Black (41.7 per 100,000; versus 35.7 per 100,000 in Whites); mortality patterns are similar, with rates highest in people who are Alaska Native (50.5 per 100,000), American Indian (17.5 per 100,000), or Black (17.6 per 100,000; versus 13.1 per 100,000 in Whites).

    “We have to address why the rates in young adults continue to trend in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president, surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society and senior author of the study. “We need to invest more in research to uncover the causes of the rising trends and to discover new treatment for advanced-stage diseases to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease in this young population, who are raising families and supporting other family members.”

    “These highly concerning data illustrate the urgent need to invest in targeted cancer research studies dedicated to understanding and preventing early-onset colorectal cancer,” said Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society. “The shift to diagnosis of more advanced disease also underscores the importance of screening and early detection, which saves lives.” 

    ACS’s advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), advocates for policy solutions that eliminate barriers to colorectal cancer screening, including those that ensure coverage of follow-on colonoscopies after a positive non-invasive test without cost sharing. In November 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its rule for Medicare to cover colonoscopies after non-invasive screening tests and lower the minimum age of screening to 45. To date, 11 states have passed such laws that would eliminate cost-sharing and lower the screening age to 45.  ACS CAN will continue to advocate for the implementation of these policies at the state level.

    ACS authors Dr. Nikita Wagle and Dr. Robert Smith also participated in the study. The edition of Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023-2025 introduces a major refresh of the ACS supplemental facts & figures reports, providing data in a more concise consumer-friendly format.

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    About the American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society is a leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. For more than 100 years, we have been improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through advocacy, research, and patient support. We are committed to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. To learn more, visit cancer.org or call our 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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    American Cancer Society (ACS)

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  • New Anti-Cancer Compound Originally Discovered at Stony Brook Takes a Major Step Towards Clinical Development

    New Anti-Cancer Compound Originally Discovered at Stony Brook Takes a Major Step Towards Clinical Development

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    Newswise — STONY BROOK, NY, February 28, 2023 –  For the past few decades, Dr. Iwao Ojima has been working in his Stony Brook University Department of Chemistry Laboratory and through the Institute of Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery (ICB&DD) to develop next-generation anti-cancer agents. One of these agents – a second-generation taxane conjugate in a nanoemulsion formulation (called NE-DHA-SBT-1214) – has shown great promise against solid tumors – particularly against colorectal cancer. The taxane compounds were licensed to a Stony Brook University spinout, TargaGenix, Inc., in 2016, to advance their development toward clinical use. Since then, TargaGenix has further developed the compounds, addressing formulation, toxicity and in vivo efficacy, and has now attracted significant investment into NE-DHA-SBT-1214.

    TargaGenix plans to work with its partners to develop the new taxane as a stand-alone drug, as well as look to use it in combination with other treatment modalities, including immune-oncology agents. The company and its collaborators expect to advance the drug development into clinical testing in humans in the near future.

    TVM Capital Life Science (TVM) is committing up to $24 million for a development program in order to help advance NE-DHA-SBT-124 to market as an alternative medicine to treat colorectal cancer and other solid tumors.

    Taxanes are a class of oncology drugs widely used to treat solid tumors. They are represented by paclitaxel, docetaxel and cabazitaxel. The drug class inhibits tumor growth by blocking cancer cell mitosis. However, multidrug resistance (MDR) and cancer stem cells (CSCs), along with various adverse effects, often hamper the effective use of these drugs. Dr. Ojima and his team developed a highly potent second-generation taxane conjugated to DHA (widely known omega-3 fish oil supplement) in nanoemulsion formulation. The agent (NE-DHA-SBT-1214) exhibited not only excellent activity against MDR solid tumor xenograft models, but also against CSC-initiated tumor xenografts models.

    “A primary indication for NE-DHA-SBT-1214 is colorectal cancer, which is a very challenging cancer to deal with due to strong multidrug resistance,” says Dr. Ojima, Distinguished Professor and Director of the ICB&DD. “But it also shows promise with pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer in preclinical testing. For example, we examined NE-DHA-SBT-1214 in combination with PLD-1 antibodies for pancreatic cancer. The combination therapy exhibited superior results over the current best standard treatment against this deadly disease.”

    The new taxane conjugate is formulated using a nanotechnology called nanoemulsion, originally developed by Dr. Mansoor Amiji at Northeastern University. This nano-formulation together with DHA-conjugation allows for tumor-selective drug delivery by means of an “Enhanced Permeability and Retention (EPR)” effect characteristic to nano-size particles, as well as a controlled release of highly potent second-generation taxane. This has been shown in preclinical testing to make the taxane efficacious against MDR and CSCs within the tumor.

    “The novel taxane originally developed by Dr. Ojima and his team shows great promise in pre-clinical studies of colorectal and pancreatic cancer, two of the deadliest cancers in humans. I am delighted that after decades of research, the drug will be entering clinical trials in patients. This example illustrates the importance of research in Stony Brook’s basic science departments for developing new potential treatments for cancer,” says Peter Igarashi, MD, Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

    “Taxanes have been a cornerstone of cancer treatment for decades, but they can come with significant side effects, and treated cancers frequently recur,” says James E. Egan, CEO of TargaGenix.  “We are excited to have TVM’s strong support and to now have the resources to further the development of this potentially game-changing molecule,” adds Egan, who received his PhD at Stony Brook University in Molecular Pharmacology. 

    Stony Brook University’s Intellectual Property Partners (IPP) worked with TargaGenix to secure TVM’s investment.

    “My office worked closely with James and TVM through this investment, and we are elated to see it close,” says Sean Boykevisch, PhD, Director of IPP. “The funding will accelerate this new potential therapeutic into the clinic, where we hope it will provide meaningful clinical responses and potentially become a new standard of care.”

    About TVM Capital Life Science

    TVM Capital Life Science (“TVM”) is a leading international venture capital firm focused on investing in life science innovations. The company has a highly experienced transatlantic investment team and approximately $900 million under management. TVM’s portfolio focuses on therapeutics and medical technologies from North America and the EU that represent differentiated first-in-class or best-in-class assets with the potential to transform standard of care.

    TVM pursues a unique two-pronged strategy, financing innovative early-stage therapeutics through a single asset company approach (Project-Focused Company, PFC) that leverages the firm’s strategic relationship with global pharmaceutical firm, Eli Lilly and Company. TVM also invests in differentiated commercial-stage medical technologies and late clinical-stage therapeutics.

    With its early-stage investments, TVM follows several key principles, which include increasing capital efficiency, streamlining development timelines and soliciting buyer input at the time of investment. This strategy has been validated through successful exits such as AurKa Pharma, Inc. and Acanthas Pharma, Inc.

    The TVM investment team has worked together for over a decade to effectively utilize this innovative approach to maximize returns for investors and finance new therapies and technologies to meaningfully improve patient lives.

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    Stony Brook University

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  • خبير من مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية: الذكاء الاصطناعي يحسن دقة تنظير القولون

    خبير من مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية: الذكاء الاصطناعي يحسن دقة تنظير القولون

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    Newswise — لندن – يقضي جيمس إيست، دكتور الطب، أيامه في فحص قولون الناس بمهارة، والبحث عن السلائل المشبوهة التي قد تتحول يومًا ما إلى سرطان، والتخلص منها. يقول طبيب الجهاز الهضمي في مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية في لندن، إن القدرة على التعرف على مخاطر الإصابة بالسرطان والقضاء عليها في الحال خلال تنظير القولون من الأمور المجزية للغاية في مهنته التي اختارها. 

    يظل تنظير القولون المعيار الذهبي في الكشف عن سرطان القولون والمستقيم والوقاية منه. لكن هذا الإجراء له حدود. تشير بعض الدراسات إلى أن أكثر من نصف حالات سرطان القولون بعد تنظير القولون تعود لآفات لم يتم اكتشافها خلال تنظير القولون السابق للمريض. 

    حاليًا يقوم الباحثون في مايو كلينك بدراسة كيفية تسخير الذكاء الاصطناعي لزيادة معدل اكتشاف السلائل. في الواقع، يستخدم أطباء الجهاز الهضمي الذكاء الاصطناعي كأداة لتحسين الرعاية في مجموعة واسعة من الحالات، بهدف إيجاد مؤشرات المرض الخفية في وقت مبكر عندما تكون الأمراض أكثر قابلية للعلاج. 

    بالنسبة لسرطان القولون، فإن نظام الذكاء الاصطناعي يعمل إلى جانب الطبيب في الوقت الفعلي، ويقوم بمسح فيديو تنظير القولون المباشر ورسم مربعات حمراء صغيرة حول السلائل التي قد يتم إغفالها لولاه.  

    يقول الدكتور إيست: “جميعنا نعرف خاصية التعرف على الوجه. فبدلًا من تدريب الذكاء الاصطناعي على التعرف على الوجوه، فإننا ندربه على التعرف على السلائل”. 

    يمكن إضافة الذكاء الاصطناعي إلى تنظير القولون التقليدي للتعرف على السلائل التي قد يتم إغفالها لولاه.  

    سرطان القولون هو ثاني أخطر أنواع السرطان في العالم. شهدت العقود القليلة الماضية ارتفاعًا مطردًا في معدلات الإصابة بسرطان القولون والمستقيم بين الشباب. بالرغم من أن تنظير القولون قد يكون أداة فحص فعّالة، فإن الدكتور إيست يقول إنه ثمة تباينٌ في قدرة أخصائيي التنظير الداخلي على اكتشاف السلائل محتملة التسرطن. 

    وللمفارقة، فإن اكتشاف السلائل هو الأصعب لدى المرضى الذين هم في أمس الحاجة إلى الفحص. إن المرضى بأمراض الأمعاء الالتهابية، مثل: داء كرون أو التهاب القولون التقرحي يكونون عرضة بشكل كبير لخطر الإصابة بسرطان القولون والمستقيم. لكن الآفات في مرحلة ما قبل التسرطن التي تصيبهم يغلب عليها الشكل المسطح أو تكون بارزة قليلًا فقط، على عكس السلائل التي تكون على شكل فُطر بصلي الشكل لدى غير المصابين بأمراض التهاب الأمعاء. 

    تقول نايانتارا كويلهو-برابهو، بكالوريوس الطب والجراحة، طبيب الجهاز الهضمي في مايو كلينك في مدينة روتشستر بولاية مينيسوتا: “يخضع معظم من يصابون بهذه السرطانات لتنظير القولون بانتظام، ومع ذلك يتم إغفال الآفات لأن الأورام تكون دقيقة للغاية”. 

    تعتقد الدكتورة كويلو-برابهو أنه يمكن تدريب الذكاء الاصطناعي على تعقب السلائل المخادعة التي تبدو غير ضارة.  

    وتضيف: “إن مايو كلينك مهيأة دون غيرها لإجراء هذا النوع من الأبحاث. فنحن نجري تنظيرات قولون للمتابعة على 800 إلى 900 مريض بأمراض الأمعاء الالتهابية سنويًا. ونتيجة لذلك، قمنا بتجميع بنك بيانات ضخم يمكننا استخدامه لتطوير أنظمة الذكاء الاصطناعي اللازمة لتحسين طريقة إجرائنا لتنظير القولون لهؤلاء المرضى”. 

    يوفر بنك البيانات هذا ما تسميه الدكتورة كويلو برابهو وخبراء آخرون “الحقيقة على أرض الواقع”، والملاحظات والقياسات الواقعية المستخدمة لتدريب واختبار خوارزميات الذكاء الاصطناعي. وحاليًا يقوم فريقها بتدوين بيانات مجموعة فرعية مكونة من 1000 مريض، عبر مشاهدة فيديوهات تنظير القولون الواحد تلو الآخر، ووضع علامات على الآفات في كل إطار، ومن كل زاوية. وبعد وضع علامات توضيحية على الصور، فسيقوم الباحثون بإرسالها إلى جهاز كمبيوتر لتوليد نوع من خوارزميات “التعلم الآلي” تعمل بالذكاء الاصطناعي وتمكن الآلة من تعلم كيفية التعرف على السلائل لدى المصابين بأمراض التهاب الأمعاء على وجه الخصوص من تلقاء نفسها. 

    تقوم الدكتورة كويلو برابهو، طبيب الجهاز الهضمي، وكادمان ليجيت، دكتور الطب، وزملاؤهما بإنشاء منصة رقمية جديدة للتنظير الداخلي هي الأولى من نوعها تقوم بتصوير جميع الإجراءات الجراحية داخل مايو، وربطها بالسجلات الطبية، ثم دمج الذكاء الاصطناعي مرة أخرى في الإجراءات كلما أمكن ذلك.  

    وتقول: “بمجرد أن نطور الخوارزميات، فإنه يمكننا تشغيلها على فيديوهات الإجراءات التي نقوم بها لاختبار أدائها”.  

    لمزيد من المعلومات، تفضل بزيارة ديسكافريز إيدج.  

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    نبذة عن مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية 

    مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية، الموجودة في لندن، هي شركة فرعية مملوكة بالكامل لـ مايو كلينك، وهي مركز طبي أكاديمي غير هادف للربح. تُصنَّف مايو كلينك في الولايات المتحدة في المرتبة الأولى في تخصصات كثيرة أكثر من أي مستشفى آخر وفقًا لتقرير يو إس نيوز آند وورد ريبورت بسبب: جودة الرعاية. مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية هي المدخل في المملكة المتحدة لتلك التجربة التي لا مثيل لها. تفضل بزيارة مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية لمزيد من المعلومات. 

    نبذة عن مايو كلينك 

    مايو كلينك منظمة غير ربحية تلتزم بالابتكار في الممارسات السريرية والتعليم والبحث وتوفير الرعاية والخبرة لكل من يحتاج إلى التعافي والرد على استفساراته. لمعرفة المزيد من أخبار مايو كلينك، تفضَّل بزيارة شبكة مايو كلينك الإخبارية. 

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    Mayo Clinic

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  • New hope for treatment of rare metabolic disease

    New hope for treatment of rare metabolic disease

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    Newswise — X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is the most common of a group of around 50 rare diseases of the white matter of the brain, the so-called leukodystrophies. The genetic damage in X-ALD is due to a defect in the X chromosome. Affected men suffer from progressive paralysis of the legs, deterioration of balance and sensory disturbances, and develop incontinence and sexual dysfunction. Despite inheritance via the X chromosome, female gene carriers can also be affected. About 30 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of male adults develop encephalitis, which is fatal within two to three years. Worldwide, the disease affects about one person in 20,000 births.

    Now, for the first time, scientists from all relevant leukodystrophy centres in Europe and the US have jointly succeeded in obtaining controlled trial data for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy. Of the 116 patients, 77 received the drug leriglitazone and 39 a placebo. The drug had already shown in preclinical studies that it can prevent neurodegeneration and offer protection against the life-threatening inflammation of the brain. “Our clinical trial has in fact also shown that none of the patients who took the drug were affected by brain inflammation. In contrast, among the participants who were given a placebo, 15 per cent developed this life-threatening form of the disease within two years,” explains study leader and first author Dr Wolfgang Köhler, head of the leukodystrophy outpatient clinic at the Department of Neurology at Leipzig University Hospital.

    The actual aim of the study had been to show that the drug would prevent gait disorders in X-ALD patients from worsening over the course of two years. “This worked particularly well in those who were treated early. The more advanced the gait disorder, the less apparent the effect. Overall, there was no significant difference, so the actual aim of the study was not achieved,” explains Dr Köhler. Nevertheless, many points indicated a clinical effect of the new drug: besides the indication that brain inflammation could be prevented, other effects included improvements in neurological conditions such as balance disorders, which had a positive impact on quality of life.

    Note on financing:

    The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently reviewing the marketing authorisation application of the Spanish pharmaceutical company Minoryx for the drug leriglitazone for the treatment of adult male patients with X-ALD. This study was sponsored by Minoryx.

    More information on this topic:

    All participants in the study currently have the option to continue treatment with leriglitazone for a total of five years as part of an open-label extension study. In addition, follow-up studies are planned in patients with pre-existing involvement of the brain. “This gives us hope that we will also be able to effectively treat patients with advanced, inflammatory brain involvement with a drug in the future, especially those whom we can no longer help with a stem cell transplant. This is only possible at a very early stage of brain inflammation,” explains Dr Köhler.

    A centre for myelin disorders, which include leukodystrophy and multiple sclerosis, is to be established at Leipzig University Hospital before the end of this year, and will be the first of its kind in Germany. “With such rare diseases, it is of utmost importance to bring together the excellence of different areas of treatment and research in order to jointly gain new insights and make further progress,” says initiator Dr Köhler.

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    Universitat Leipzig

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  • Salmonella exposure a risk for colon cancer

    Salmonella exposure a risk for colon cancer

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    Newswise — A new study published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine links exposure to salmonella bacteria to colon cancer risk. 

    The researchers, including a team led by Jun Sun from the University of Illinois Chicago, studied human colon cancer tissue samples and animal models and found that exposure to salmonella was linked with colon cancers that developed earlier and grew larger.  

    The study authors first looked at data from a Netherlands-based retrospective study of colon cancer patients that found tissue samples taken during routine colon cancer surgery with salmonella antibodies tended to be from people who had worse colon cancer outcomes. 

    Using salmonella strains isolated from these tissue samples, Sun and her U.S.-based team studied mice with colon cancer that had been exposed to the bacteria. They observed accelerated tumor growth and larger tumors in mice with salmonella exposure. They also saw that there was increased salmonella translocated to the tumors. 

    “During infection, salmonella hijacks essential host signaling pathways, and these molecular manipulations may cause oncogenic transformation. The current study tells us that more research is needed into the connection between salmonella exposure and colon cancer risk in the USA, and that simply by practicing safe food preparation, we can potentially help to protect ourselves,” said Sun, UIC professor of medicine. 

    Sun’s collaborators in the Netherlands also studied the bacteria in vitro. They combined human cancer cells and pre-cancer cells with the salmonella strain in the lab and measured any growth or changes in the tumor. They saw that even one infection caused transformation and that each salmonella infection exponentially increased the rate of cell transformation. 

    “The mouse and tissue culture experiments show that salmonella infection had a chronic effect to accelerate tumor growth,” said Sun, who also is a member of the University of Illinois Cancer Center at UIC. “This evidence tells us that we need to look closer at salmonella exposure as an environmental risk factor for chronic diseases, such as colon cancer.” 

    Leiden University Medical Center, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, and Utrecht University, all in the Netherlands, collaborated on this study.  

    In addition to Sun, co-authors of “Repetitive non-typhoidal Salmonella exposure is an environmental risk factor for colon cancer and tumor growth” include Daphne van Elsland, Janneke Duijster, Jilei Zhang, Virginie Stevenin, Yongguo Zhang, Lang Zha, Yinglin Xia, Eelco Franz, Lapo Mughini-Gras and Jacques Neefjes. 

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    University of Illinois Chicago

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  • RUSH Introduces the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building

    RUSH Introduces the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building

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    Newswise — Patients seeking world-class clinical expertise will soon have a new destination center with the opening of the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building — home to the RUSH Cancer Center.

    The new $450 million facility was opened for tours and a reception to celebrate its completion on Friday, Jan. 13. The new building is slated to open to patients in early February.

    The Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building will be the premier Chicago area destination for cancer and neuroscience care and provide a wide variety of services, including radiation therapy, infusion therapy, diagnostic imaging, integrative medicine and expanded clinical trials. RUSH Digestive Diseases will begin seeing patients in the building in July 2023.

    The building will help ensure that RUSH provides the kind of care patients want and deserve. It features:

    • Personalized and convenient care — with new and improved features that give patients a health care experience they can’t get anywhere else
    • Design where every detail was developed with patients in mind and décor specifically chosen to promote healing
    • A new industry-leading, first-floor lab that analyzes samples and sends results to providers in minutes
    • Bright, spacious infusion rooms that provide convenience and privacy, with TV monitors and plenty of space for a friend or family member to be with the patient
    • All-gender restrooms
    • An adult changing table
    • Wheelchair storage nooks on each floor of the building
    • A variety of seating options with tables, equipped with charging stations and flexible chair options for patients of all ages and physical abilities
    • Convenient parking
    • Streamlined check-in areas
    • Chicago skyline views from many patient treatment rooms

    “RUSH has a bold vision for the future focused on providing care in convenient ways that patients want and need, in their communities, in their homes and on their mobile devices. The Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building reflects RUSH’s commitment to excellence and innovation,” said Dr. Omar Lateef, CEO of RUSH.

    “RUSH has grown and now reaches from downtown Chicago to Aurora, across suburban communities and to Northwest Indiana, to offer convenient access to the highest level of care to patients where and when they need it. This facility will serve as a hub for much of this care, and it was built around what patients tell us is most important to them.”

    U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin took part in Friday’s event. 

    “RUSH continues to deliver cutting-edge, personalized treatment for a range of different cancers and brain conditions,” he said. “And thanks to federal investments that help make the new Rubschlager Building possible, researchers and clinicians will be able to expand their state-of-the-art treatment and research efforts for patients. This new site will build on RUSH’s legacy of caring for the community, and I’ll continue advocating for the resources they need to save more lives.”

    Located at the northeast corner of Ashland Avenue and Harrison Street on Chicago’s near West Side, the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building is directly connected to a new, six-story, 900-space enclosed parking garage, as well as a fourth-floor walkway joining it to the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Tower on the other side of Ashland Avenue. Each floor of the garage is named after a neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, celebrating the RUSH commitment to the health and wellness of the community.

    The RUSH Cancer Center will care for 127,000 patients by 2027, a nearly 50% increase over current numbers. Consistently ranked among the nation’s best, the RUSH Cancer Center will provide the most advanced cancer care, including nearly 40 cancer care services.

    Among the many elements that place the patient at the center of their care needs, the RUSH Cancer Center will offer private rooms for patients receiving infusions. The security and comfort of these spaces was a priority for designers of the new building, given how much time patients often spend in them.

    The Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building will also house many of RUSH Neurosciences’ highly ranked programs, including neurology and neurosurgery, brain tumor and epilepsy and stroke care and general neurology. RUSH Digestive Diseases, endoscopy and nutrition, as well as RUSH Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, RUSH Plastic Surgery and the RUSH Lung Center also have a home in the new building.

    The enhancements to the delivery of care were born out of a series of patient focus groups that made it clear that comfort, privacy and infection prevention were priorities for them. Optimizing the patient experience was the primary driver of the building’s design as planners approached the project beginning in 2019.

    Understanding that many patients need lab tests like blood draws before appointments, RUSH placed the laboratory on the first floor, adjacent to the lobby, to allow patients to stop there first.  The building will include the latest in lab technology, which allows blood samples to be analyzed quickly on site. This innovation improves patient care by providing accurate, timely information to guide effective treatment decisions and help clinicians diagnose complex cases.

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    Rush University Medical Center

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  • خبير من مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية يشرح لماذا داء الجَزْر ليس مجرد حرقة في المعدة

    خبير من مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية يشرح لماذا داء الجَزْر ليس مجرد حرقة في المعدة

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    لندن – داء الجَزْر المَعدي المريئي هو أحد أكثر اضطرابات الهضم شيوعًا حول العالم. يحدث عندما يعود الحمض من المعدة إلى المريء: يمكن للمعدة مقاومة الأحماض ولكن المريء أقل مقاومة للأحماض. جيمس إيست، دكتور الطب، طبيب الجهاز الهضمي في مايو كلينك للرعاية الصحية في لندن، يقول إن داء الجَزْر قد يكون شائعًا، ولكن قد تحدث مضاعفات إذا ظل مستمرًا وتُرِكَ دون علاج.

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    Mayo Clinic

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  • 妙佑医疗中心专家解释为什么反流病不“只是”胃灼热？

    妙佑医疗中心专家解释为什么反流病不“只是”胃灼热？

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    伦敦 — 胃食管反流病是世界上最常见的消化道疾病之一。当胃酸从胃部上升到食管时就会发生这种状况：胃能抗酸，但食管的抗酸能力却没有那么强。妙佑伦敦医疗中心的胃肠科医生James East（医学博士）说反流病虽然很常见，但如果长期不加以治疗，可能会出现严重的并发症。

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    Mayo Clinic

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  • Sanford Burnham Prebys researchers team up to discover potential pancreatic cancer drugs

    Sanford Burnham Prebys researchers team up to discover potential pancreatic cancer drugs

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    Newswise — LA JOLLA, CALIF. – Jan 05, 2023 – Cosimo Commisso, Ph.D., and Susanne Heynen-Genel, Ph.D., have received a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to advance a new treatment approach for pancreatic cancer. The four-year, $X project will identify potential drugs that can manipulate the pH of cells to stop pancreatic tumors from growing. The promising approach would selectively kill pancreatic cancer cells without affecting surrounding healthy cells.

    “Pancreatic cancer is a growing global health crisis, and there is an urgent need for better ways to treat it,” says Commisso, an associate professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys. “This project will help us find molecules that are the starting points to create new medicines.”

    Pancreatic cancer accounts for just 3% of cancer cases in the United States, but it is so difficult to treat that it is projected to become the second-leading cause of cancer-related death by 2030. According to the NCI, about 49,830 people died from pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2022.

    “Pancreatic cancer tends to be diagnosed late, because it’s an organ lying deep in the body and can grow undetected for years,” says Commisso. “Since I started working in this field more than a decade ago, we’ve managed to double the survival rates for people with pancreatic cancer. But that’s not good enough—the five-year survival rate after diagnosis is only around 10%.”

    Commisso and his team discovered that pancreatic cancer cells have a unique way of regulating their pH—a measure of acidity. Cells need to maintain a pH within a certain range to survive and grow. Pancreatic cancer cells control their pH by packaging up excess acid and storing it separately from the rest of the cell’s fluids. This process doesn’t occur in healthy cells.

    “One really promising aspect of this approach is that once we find the right drug, we’ll be able to kill the cancer cells without causing any damage to the rest of the body,” says Commisso.

    “Metabolic approaches like this are the future of targeted cancer therapy.”
    Transforming Commisso’s discoveries into a real medicine will require the drug discovery capabilities of Heynen-Genel and her team at the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics. 

    “This is such an important grant because it supports the first steps toward translating this novel discovery into a new treatment that could give hope to so many people with pancreatic cancer,” says Heynen-Genel. “This grant helps us lay the groundwork to figure out how this research could be applied in the clinic.”

    The researchers will screen hundreds of thousands of molecules and identify a select few “hits” that have desirable biological effects and chemical properties. Then they will conduct other studies on these hits to see which have the most potential to fight pancreatic cancer with minimal side effects. By the end of the grant, the team will have several drug candidates that can be developed further toward anticancer therapies. 

    “We could find the next major breakthrough in pancreatic cancer treatment, but we have to put in the legwork now to find out,” says Heynen-Genel. “That’s what’s exciting about drug discovery. It feels like it has infinite potential.”

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    Sanford Burnham Prebys

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  • High levels of ammonia in colon tumors inhibits T cell growth and response to immunotherapy

    High levels of ammonia in colon tumors inhibits T cell growth and response to immunotherapy

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    Newswise — High levels of ammonia in tumors leads to fewer T cells and immunotherapy resistance in mouse models of colorectal cancer, new findings from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center revealed. Researchers found that ammonia inhibits the growth and function of T cells, which are vital for anti-tumor immunity. The findings appear in Cell Metabolism.

    “We identified the mechanism of how ammonia dysregulates T cell function and showed that reducing ammonia levels using FDA-approved drugs for hyperammonemia can reduce tumor size in several different models including metastatic colorectal cancer,” says Hannah Bell, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in cancer biology and author on this paper. “Use of this drug also synergizes with immunotherapy. If you treat the mice with immunotherapy when you also treat them with this ammonia reducing agent, you’re able to sensitize the tumors to treatment.”

    “Most colorectal cancers are insensitive to immune therapies,” adds Yatrik Shah, Ph.D., Horace W. Davenport Collegiate Professor of Physiology and first author of the study. “We’ve found that one of the mechanisms that leads to this resistance is likely the high level of ammonia that accumulates in the microenvironment.”

    Bell explains that while there are many factors that contribute to immunotherapy resistance, there are few therapeutic interventions that can reactivate therapy sensitivity. “Our study shows that this is a relatively safe and FDA-approved method that could work alongside immunotherapy to make treatment more effective for patients. This new method provides a potentially direct avenue to treat tumors and reactivate the immune system.”

    How does ammonia accumulate in colorectal tumors in the first place? Ammonia levels are regulated by a balance of production and cellular detoxification. Most ammonia is generated by the microbiota, but Bell and Shah’s work suggests that increased production of ammonia is not what results in accumulation. “Our work demonstrates that tumors have lost the ability to detoxify ammonia leading to build up,” said Shah.

    Further, the accumulation of ammonia is likely not isolated to just colorectal tumors. Shah says this discovery may open doors in explaining resistance to other cancer types as well. “Only about 20-30% of all cancer patients are sensitive to immunotherapy. 70% of patients don’t derive any benefit from it,” Shah said. “Now, we have a mechanism that could explain this resistance in tumors beyond colon cancer.”

    More work needs to be done before researchers can bring these findings into the clinic.

     

    Additional Authors: Amanda K. Huber; Rashi Singhal; Navyateja Korimerla; Ryan J. Rebernick; Roshan Kumar; Marwa O. El-derany; Peter Sajjakulnukit; Nupur K. Das; Samuel A. Kerk; Sumeet Solanki; Jadyn G. James; Donghwan Kim; Li Zhang; Brandon Chen; Rohit Mehra; Timothy L. Frankel; Balázs Győrffy; Eric R. Fearon; Marina Pasca di Magliano; Frank J. Gonzalez; Ruma Banerjee; Daniel R. Wahl; Costas A. Lyssiotis; Michael Green

     

    COI: N/A

     

    Funding: NIH grants: R01CA148828, R01CA245546, R01DK095201, R37CA237421, R01CA248160, R01CA244931 (C.A.L); UMCCC Core Grant P30CA046592 and R35GM130183; T32 training grant GM008322 and F30CA257292. American Heart Association (826245) and NIH grant F30CA257292. NIH F31 fellowship (F31CA247457) and NIH fellowship (F99CA264414).CMB Graduate Program T32GM007315. American Physiological Society postdoctoral fellowship (032650). Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Research fellowship award (623914) and the American Heart Association postdoctoral fellowship (19POST34380588). National Research, Development and Innovation Office (PharmaLab, RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00015 and 2020-1.1.6-JÖVŐ-2021-00013).

     

    DOI: “Microenvironmental ammonia enhances T cell exhaustion in colorectal cancer,” Cell Metabolism. DOI: 10.1172/JCI143691

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    Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan

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  • UNC Health Provider Ushers in First FDA-Approved Medication for Eosinophilic Esophagitis

    UNC Health Provider Ushers in First FDA-Approved Medication for Eosinophilic Esophagitis

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    Newswise — Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an allergic condition of the esophagus that is on the rise throughout the United States. Patients with the condition typically have inflammation throughout their esophagus and trouble swallowing food – known as dysphagia.

    Without proper treatment, the lining of the esophagus becomes fibrous, and the passage becomes so narrowed, or strictured, that food can lodge in the esophagus, requiring medical attention.

    Historically, obtaining treatment has been difficult for U.S. physicians. There is one approved treatment for EoE in several other countries, but it is not available for use in the United States.

    This left physicians to rely on food elimination diets, off-label treatments, such as stomach acid reducers or asthma steroid medications (which are swallowed to coat the esophagus rather than inhaled), and stretching the esophagus with dilation during endoscopy. However, for many patients these methods were either not available or may not have been very effective.

    To fulfill this need, Evan Dellon, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine and director of the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing, worked with colleagues on a clinical trial that led to approval of dupilumab for treatment in adults and adolescents with eosinophilic esophagitis.

    The drug was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in May 2022 based on a three-part, phase 3 clinical trial. The results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in late December.

    “This study was designed to be a pivotal study for drug approval,” said Dellon, who was both the co-lead and corresponding author on the study. “Dupilumab was approved for eczema several years ago, and then was approved for asthma, and then for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis. Eosinophilic esophagitis is now its fourth indication.”

    Scientifically speaking, EoE is caused by an accumulation of white blood cells, called eosinophils, in the esophagus – a place where they are not normally located. Typically, eosinophils can be found in the stomach, small bowel, and colon, where they are involved in fighting off parasites and infections. But when eosinophils are abnormally present in the esophagus, they release toxic chemicals, causing swelling, irritation, and ultimately the formation of scar tissue.

    Dupilumab is an antibody that blocks, or inhibits, a receptor called interleukin (IL)-4 receptor alpha. As a result, allergic factors IL-13 and IL-4, which are important in the inflammation that EoE patients experience, are suppressed when the receptor is blocked. This kind of drug cannot be taken orally; instead, it is injected under the skin once a week.

    The clinical trial was funded and sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the developer of dupilumab, and recruited 321 patients who were at least 12 years of age and weighed at least 40 kg (88 pounds), had a documented diagnosis of EoE through an endoscopic biopsy, and had not responded to eight weeks of high-dose stomach acid reducer therapy. The patients were separated into different groups to determine dosing and the overall effectiveness in resolving their symptoms and eosinophilic inflammation in the esophagus.

    The study had three parts. In part A, patients were randomized to either weekly dupilumab dosing or weekly placebo shots for 24 weeks. In part B, patients were randomized to one of two dose groups (weekly or every-other-week dupilumab) or to placebo, again for 24 weeks. Patients who completed parts A and B could continue on to part C, where they received open label dupilumab. This allowed the study of two different doses, as well as treatment up to 52 weeks.

    The study successfully met its pre-specified co-primary endpoints. Researchers witnessed a reduction in the eosinophil counts via esophageal biopsy (termed “histologic response”), as well as significant improvement in symptoms of dysphagia. In addition, there was better endoscopic healing with the medication than with placebo. Symptoms were only observed to improve more than placebo with the weekly dose than with a biweekly dose, so the medication was ultimately approved for once-weekly use.

    “In addition to the improvements with the eosinophil counts and symptoms, we also saw that the overall histologic severity, which includes all aspects of inflammation and pathologic changes in the biopsy improved with the Dupilumab,” said Dellon. “There was also evidence of normalization of the molecular changes associated with EoE. In basically every way disease activity was measured in this study, we saw improvements with dupilumab.”

    Because prior treatment guidelines were published prior to the FDA-approval of dupilumab, providers are still working out when it should be used for EoE in clinical practice. For example, should it be reserved for use after attempting other treatments first or should it be provided to patients who have more severe disease features. Dellon believes that initially most doctors will prescribe the therapy for their more severe patients who weren’t responding to prior therapies.

    “All of the patients in this study were non-responsive to proton pump inhibitors,” said Dellon, “So at the present time, this medicine should probably not be used as first-line treatment in most patients, and we are waiting for more data for how dupilumab would work in newly diagnosed EoE patients who have never been treated before.”

    To provide some guidance for use of dupilumab in clinical practice, Dellon worked with colleagues and the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology to develop what is known as a “yardstick”, which has just been published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Essentially, this is a rapid communication that helps doctors choose the best course of treatment, given the patient’s individual situation, clinical severity, and prior treatments, while more formal treatment guidelines are under development.

    About the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing

    The Center for Esophageal Diseases & Swallowing (CEDAS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an exceptional team of professionals that is committed to providing quality healthcare and access to the newest technology and treatment for Barrett’s Esophagus, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, esophageal motility disorders, and other related conditions.

    About UNC School of Medicine  The UNC School of Medicine (SOM) is the state’s largest medical school, graduating more than 180 new physicians each year. It is consistently ranked among the top medical schools in the US, including 5th overall for primary care by US News & World Report, and 6th for research among public universities. More than half of the school’s 1,700 faculty members served as principal investigators on active research awards in 2021. Two UNC SOM faculty members have earned Nobel Prize awards. 

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    University of North Carolina Health Care System

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  • Common immune cells can prevent intestinal healing

    Common immune cells can prevent intestinal healing

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    Newswise — B cells are critical to the proper functioning of the immune system. However, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that they can sometimes do more harm than good, as their numbers greatly increase after bowel damage, preventing the tissue from healing. The results, which are presented in the journal Immunity, can be of significance to the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

    B cells are a type of white blood cell that have an important function in the immune system, in part by producing the antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses. Previous research has shown that people with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, have many more B cells in their intestines than healthy individuals. It has therefore been proposed that B cells might affect the severity of these diseases. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now tried to discover if, and if so how, B cells contribute to IBD.

    Sharp increase during healing

    “We’ve been able to show that the B cell population increases sharply in the colon during the healing of colonic lesions, and that these cells mainly accumulate in areas where the damage is severe,” says principal investigator Eduardo Villablanca, associate professor at the Department of Medicine (Solna), Karolinska Institutet. “This prevents, in turn, the interaction between two other cell types – stromal and epithelial cells – which is needed for the tissue to heal.”

    The researchers studied an experimental model of colitis and tissue from patients with ulcerative colitis, using a range of methods to analyse cell populations. Focusing particularly on how B cells affect healing in the intestinal mucosa, they found that mice lacking B cells recovered much more quickly after bowel damage than regular mice. The finding that the B cells seem to do more harm than good in colonic inflammation can be of significance to the treatment of IBD.

    Drugs that affect B cells

    “There are already approved drugs that affect the B cell response and that are used for other diseases,” says Gustavo Monasterio, postdoc in Dr Villablanca’s research group at Karolinska Institutet and one of the leading authors. “We now want to test if depleting B cells at specific time windows could also work with IBD. We also need to find out if the accumulation of B cells can have a long-term beneficial effect, such as by changing the composition of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.”

    The study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (the Wallenberg Academy Fellow programme) and the German research foundation DFG. Eduardo Villablanca has received research grants from the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-La Roche and co-author Camilla Engblom is scientific consultant for the biotech company 10X Genomics Inc. Julio Saez-Rodriguez receives funding from Glaxo Smith Kline and Sanofi and consultancy fees from Travere Therapeutics.

    Publication: “B cell expansion hinders the stroma-epithelium regenerative crosstalk during mucosal healing”. Annika Frede, Paulo Czarnewski, Gustavo Monasterio, Kumar P. Tripathi, David A Bejarano, Ricardo O. Ramirez Flores, Chiara Sorini, Ludvig Larsson, Xinxin Luo, Laura Geerlings, Claudio Novella-Rausell, Chiara Zagami, Raoul Kuiper, Rodrigo A Morales, Francisca Castillo, Matthew Hunt, Livia Lacerda Mariano, Yue O. O. Hu, Camilla Engblom, Ana-Maria Lennon-Dumenil, Romy Mittenzwei, Nadine Hövelmeyer, Joakim Lundeberg, Julio Saez-Rodriguez, Andreas Schlitzer, Srustidhar Das, Eduardo J. Villablanca. Immunity, online 2 December 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.11.002.

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    Karolinska Institute

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  • Elizabeth S. John, M.D., Gastroenterologist, Joins Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Group

    Elizabeth S. John, M.D., Gastroenterologist, Joins Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Group

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    Newswise — Montclair, NJ – (November 14, 2022) – Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Group has announced that Elizabeth S. John, M.D., gastroenterologist, has joined the practice.

    A fellowship trained gastroenterologist, Dr. John is passionate about her specialty. “I have always loved gastroenterology as our digestive system really does affect so much of what we do outside of how we digest our food,” Dr. John shares. “The mind-body-gut axis is crucial to understand as our gastrointestinal symptoms can affect our psyche, and alternatively be affected by our psyche. Additionally, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract can have serious implications if not diagnosed early, and as such, I am passionate about teasing out important details of my patients’ symptoms to diagnose, treat, and prevent early.”

    Dr. John received her medical degree from University of Central Florida College of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey before completing her gastroenterology at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Texas.  Dr. John is experienced in research with over 25 publications in academic journals, and over 60 presentations at academic meetings.  She has received number of awards and distinctions from the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Gastroenterological Association, and including the “Top 25 GI Fellows to Know” distinction, the “Early Career Investigator” distinction, the “Radhika Srinivasan Gender-Based Research Award”, and the “Presidential Award”.

    “We are pleased to welcome Dr. John to Mountainside Medical Group,” says Tim O’Brien, chief executive officer. “Our commitment is to the community and by expanding our physician network, we are better equipped to provide the highest level of quality care to area residents.”

    When not treating patients, Dr. John enjoys spending time with family and friends, enjoying the art of music, learning new languages, cooking, and baking, finding ways to promote wellness.

    Virtual care and in-person visits are available.

     

    About Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Group

    The Mountainside Medical Group is a network of physicians specializing in primary care, OB/GYN, endocrinology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, otolaryngology and plastic surgery created by Mountainside Medical Center. We believe people who establish a personal relationship with their doctors experience better health and quality of life. Start well and stay well with Mountainside Medical Group. Offices are located in Montclair, Bloomfield, Caldwell, Glen Ridge, Montville, Nutley, Verona, West Caldwell, and Woodland Park. For more information, visit www.mountainsidemedicalgroup.com

    About Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center

    Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center has been serving Montclair and its surrounding New Jersey communities since 1891. The hospital provides patients access to innovative and effective treatment in specialized centers within the hospital focused on radiology, women’s health, oncology, surgery, bariatrics, neurosciences, stroke, and cardiovascular services. Mountainside is designated as a Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and The New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services and is one of only a few community hospitals licensed by the State to perform emergency cardiac angioplasty and emergency neuro-endovascular procedures. To learn more about Hackensack Meridian Health Mountainside Medical Center visit www.mountainsidehosp.com.

     

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  • Patient-Specific Cancer Tumours Replicated in 3D Bioprinting Advance

    Patient-Specific Cancer Tumours Replicated in 3D Bioprinting Advance

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    Externally peer reviewed: Yes

    Evidence type: Experimental study

    Subjects: Cells

     

    Newswise — Bowel cancer patients could in future benefit from a new 3D bioprinting technology which would use their own cells to replicate the complex cellular environment of solid tumours in 3D models. The University of Bristol-led advance, published in Biofabrication, would allow clinicians to treat the models, known as spheroids, with chemotherapy drugs and radiation to help them understand an individual patient’s resistance to therapies.

    Bowel cancer is the third-most prevalent cancer worldwide, a major cause of cancer-related deaths and is becoming more prevalent globally each year. While current therapies aim to shrink tumours through a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, the heterogenous nature of bowel tumours mean that chemotherapy drugs have variable effects between patients. 

    In this new study, researchers developed a new 3D bioprinting platform with high content light microscopy imaging and processing. Using a mixture of bioinks and colorectal cancer cells, the team show they were able to replicate tumours in 3D spheroids.

    To investigate how the tumours might respond to drugs, dose-response profiles were generated from the spheroids which had been treated separately with chemotherapy drugs oxaliplatin (OX), fluorouracil (5FU), and radiotherapy. The spheroids were then imaged over time. Results from their experiment showed oxaliplatin was significantly less effective against tumour spheroids than in current 2D monolayer culture structures, when compared to fluorouracil.

    Professor Adam Perriman, Professor of Bioengineering from Bristol’s School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and founder of the cell therapy company CytoSeek, and the study’s lead author, explains the technology’s significance: “Clinically predictive models which allow clinicians to identify how well tumours respond to drugs before they are administered in patients, are still an unmet need. Two dimensional (2D) cell monolayer culture remains the standard for modelling in vitro drug effectiveness and safety. However, its poor in vivo predictive capability inhibits its use as a tool for drug discovery, drug repositioning and personalised medicine.

    “We have developed a high-throughput bioprinted bowel cancer spheroid platform with high levels of automation, information content, and low cell number requirement that mimics the 3D characteristics of tumours, and show that some tumours are more resistant to chemotherapy.

    “We anticipate that this new platform technology could have significant impact in human disease modelling for evaluation of oncology drug-response in 3D. This is a big step towards personalised medicine and helping to understand why certain patients respond to chemotherapy.”

    The study was supported by grants from the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, the EPSRC and the BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthetic Biology.

    Paper

    A rapid high throughput bioprinted colorectal cancer spheroid platform for in vitro drug- and radiation-response by Adam W. Perriman et al. in Biofabrication.

    Ends

    Notes to editors

    Image available to download

    https://fluff.bris.ac.uk/fluff/u2/ficmc/co3MHXxxn_reIM5Lx2lUhA9MO/

    Caption: Electron micrograph of a grown, hydrogel-embedded tumour spheroid.

    Credit: University of Bristol

    Issued by the University of Bristol, UK.

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    University of Bristol

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  • Cellular Cilium an Early Sign of Mesothelioma Differentiation

    Cellular Cilium an Early Sign of Mesothelioma Differentiation

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    Newswise — A new study investigated the expression of the primary cilium in mesothelioma, finding that primary cilia is preferentially lost in the more aggressive subtype of mesothelioma and further research may confirm its potential prognostic and diagnostic value.

    This is the first evidence that different mesothelioma, characterized by different levels of aggressiveness, show a different pattern of primary cilium expression.  

    Primary cilium is an organelle protruding from the cell membrane that, like an antenna, collects signals from the extracellular space and transduces information into cells. Many tumors do not express the primary cilium thereby overriding its tumor suppressor function.

    Despite the importance of the primary cilium, there is still a lot to understand about its functions.

    The study, published in the journal Cancers, was directed by Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Medical Biotechnology of the University of Siena and President of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO). 

    “With this study we have identified a possible marker of the heterogeneity of this orphan disease, mesothelioma, a tumor with still poor prognosis,” said prof. Giordano. “The improvement of existing treatments for mesothelioma is mainly hampered by the heterogeneity that characterizes it.”

    “This study underlines the importance of tailored therapies for mesothelioma patients,” said Cristiana Bellan, Professor at the Department of Medical Biotechnology of the University of Sien, “and in this context our analysis can help identify which patients could benefit from specific treatment.”

    Journal Reference:  Barbarino, M. et al. Analysis of Primary Cilium Expression and Hedgehog Pathway Activation in Mesothelioma Throws Back Its Complex Biology. Cancers 2022, 14, 5216. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14215216

     

    About the Sbarro Health Research Organization

    The Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) is non-profit charity committed to funding excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses and to foster the training of young doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism. To learn more about the SHRO please visit www.shro.org

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  • Controlling Gut Flora Can Reduce Mortality in Critically Ill Patients on Life Support

    Controlling Gut Flora Can Reduce Mortality in Critically Ill Patients on Life Support

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    Newswise — Preventing severe lung infections in mechanically ventilated intensive care patients by applying topical antibiotics to the upper digestive tract results in a clinically meaningful improvement in survival, new research shows. 

    The results are being presented during the ‘Hot Topics’ session of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine annual congress in Paris and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

    Professor John Myburgh AO, lead author and Director of the Critical Care Division at The George Institute for Global Health, said that ventilator-associated pneumonia is a major cause of death and disability in critically ill patients being mechanically ventilated in intensive care units.

    “While the concept of ‘selective decontamination’ of the digestive tract, or ‘SDD’, has been around for decades, this is the first large-scale randomised clinical trial that used a high-quality commercially prepared product specifically designed to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia in these patients,” he said.

    “In nearly 3,000 patients treated with SDD, we saw a reduction in death of around two percent, equivalent to one death prevented for every 50 patients treated.”

    SDD is an infection-control measure where non-absorbed antibiotics and antifungal agents are applied to the mouth and stomach, combined with a short course of intravenous antibiotics.

    This inhibits the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by harmful bacteria and overgrowth of fungi that normally live in the upper part of the gut but enter and infect the lungs once patients are placed on a ventilator.

    While SDD may reduce infections and prevent deaths, it has not been widely adopted as the evidence was not considered strong enough and there are widely held concerns about the potential risk of causing antibiotic resistance.

    To address this uncertainty, the Selective Decontamination of the Digestive tract in the Intensive Care Unit (SuDDICU) trial was designed to determine whether adding SDD to the usual care of ICU patients would reduce all-cause hospital mortality compared to usual care alone.

    The SuDDICU trial recruited 5,982 mechanically ventilated adults from 19 ICUs in Australia between April 2018 and May 2021. Each ICU delivered either SDD with usual care or usual care alone for 12 months and then crossed over to the other option for a second 12-month period.

    The study found that while SDD with standard care compared to standard care alone did not result in a statistically significant reduction in in-hospital mortality (27.0% vs 29.1% respectively), the range of values included a clinically important benefit.

    “Moreover, we saw that SDD was also associated with a significant reduction in new hospital-acquired infections and there were no adverse events related to the administration of SDD itself,” said Professor Myburgh.

    George Institute investigators combined the results with those of other major randomised clinical trials of SDD conducted over the last 20 years in a systematic review and meta-analysis, also being published in JAMA and presented at the conference by senior author, Associate Professor Anthony Delaney.

    “This review provides a high degree of certainty for clinicians to administer SDD to critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients in their ICUs to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and the potential increased risk of death,” A/Prof Delaney said.

    Professor Myburgh added that SDD alongside other important strategies reinforces the importance of effective and safe preventive medicine in this vulnerable patient population.

    “We now plan to extend our trial to low and middle-income countries where mortality rates and the incidence of infections with antimicrobial resistant organisms are higher,” he said.

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  • New Clinical Advances in Gastroenterology Presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 87th Annual Scientific Meeting

    New Clinical Advances in Gastroenterology Presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 87th Annual Scientific Meeting

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    Newswise — Gastroenterologists and other health care professionals will convene at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC, for the premier clinical gastroenterology event—the American College of Gastroenterology’s 87th Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course (ACG 2022) to review the latest scientific advances in gastrointestinal (GI) research, treatment of digestive diseases and clinical practice management.

    This year’s scientific presentations reveal significant findings and innovative technologies for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases and serious GI-related health issues, including inflammatory bowel disease, bariatric surgery, colorectal cancer screening and prevention, liver disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), GI bleeding, Barrett’s esophagus, as well as irritable bowel syndrome.

    • Can digital tools help physicians improve colonoscopy adherence rates?
    • What racial/ethnic disparities exist in the use of certain IBD medications?
    • Are pregnancy complications more likely among patients who have had bariatric surgery or took biologic medications?
    • Can virtual reality therapy help improve functional dyspepsia?
    • How has America’s fast-food fixation affected our liver health?
    • How can physicians combat health misinformation their patients find on social media?

    These are some of the intriguing clinical questions answered in the Newsworthy Abstracts selected by the ACG Public Relations Committee, with additional perspective on findings and explanation of what the clinical science means for patients provided by authors. Following the links below, reporters can explore these Newsworthy Abstracts and Author Insights and connect with these researchers for media stories. 

    Please note that all research presented at ACG 2022 is strictly embargoed until Sunday, October 23, 2022, at 12:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

    Helpful Links for Media Visit Press Info ACG Annual Scientific Meeting page of gi.org
    Explore ACG’s Press Room logistics, press releases, media advisories and links to author insights, commentary, and perspective on noteworthy clinical findings in gastroenterology and hepatology presented at the ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting.
    [https://gi.org/media/press-info-scientific-meeting]

    Newsworthy Abstracts and Author Insights
    Nominated by the ACG Public Relations Committee, this group of abstracts features scientific findings that are innovative, noteworthy for the lay reader, relevant to those who suffer from common GI problems, and which represent a significant advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of GI diseases. The Committee aims to identify novel and thought-provoking abstracts which reinforce key public health messages, such as the importance of CRC screening, particularly for minority and at-risk populations, or which feature common GI problems in a new way.
    [https://gi.org/media/press-info-scientific-meeting/featured-science]  

    Featured Lectures
    Learn more about the featured lectures by renowned experts which will showcase innovative and challenging issues in clinical gastroenterology at ACG 2022
    [https://gi.org/2022/10/17/featured-lectures-at-acg-2022] 

    Navigating the Abstracts

    ACG 2022 Abstract Guide
    Look at pages 4-7 for the Abstract Award recipients. Look at pages 8-12 for the Presidential Poster Award recipients. ACG’s Presidential Posters are highly meritorious projects selected by the ACG Educational Affairs Committee. 

    Conference Platform
    Tip: Search all of the abstracts on the ACG 2022 Conference Platform:
    [https://www.eventscribe.net/2022/ACG2022/index.asp]

    • General Search: use the search bar at the top of the page. This search will pull any and every instance of an entered name or keyword(s).
    • Oral Papers: On the left sidebar, select “Presentations” and “Browse by Oral Abstracts.” The search will pull in all of the oral abstracts.
    • Posters: select the “Posters” option and in the new window that opens, browse by title, category (organ system), presenter, number, day and session, or award recipients using the left sidebar. Note: the ePoster Hall with final visual posters will open on Sunday, October 23, at 12pm ET.

    Media Interview Requests
    Press room and video recording facilities will be available on site at the Charlotte Convention Center. To arrange an interview with any ACG experts or abstract authors, please contact Becky Abel of ACG via email at mediaonly [at] gi.org. From Sunday, October 23, to Wednesday, October 26, in the ACG Press Room (W205 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC). 

    About the American College of Gastroenterology
    Founded in 1932, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is an organization with an international membership of over 17,000 individuals from 86 countries. The College’s vision is to be the preeminent professional organization that champions the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of digestive disorders, serving as a beacon to guide the delivery of the highest quality, compassionate, and evidence-based patient care. The mission of the College is to enhance the ability of our members to provide world class care to patients with digestive disorders and advance the profession through excellence and innovation based upon the pillars of Patient Care, Education, Scientific Investigation, Advocacy and Practice Management. www.gi.org

    Visit the ACG Website Media & Press section for all news, featured research, and expert insights related to the ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course. Follow ACG on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and share your live updates using #ACG2022.

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    American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)

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  • Featured Lectures at the 2022 ACG Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course

    Featured Lectures at the 2022 ACG Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course

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    Newswise — The featured lectures at the 2022 ACG Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course showcase innovative and challenging issues in clinical gastroenterology. This year’s lectures highlight new approaches to inflammatory bowel disease, clinician-led research, optimizing colorectal cancer screening outreach, living with purpose, and the central role of the gut in overall health. All the 2022 featured lectures are at the invitation of ACG President Samir A. Shah, MD, FACG except for The American Journal of Gastroenterology Lecture which was invited by Co-Editors-in-Chief Jasmohan S. Bajaj, MD, MS, FACG and Millie D. Long, MD, MPH, FACG. Access is available for press to view livestreams of the lectures through the ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting virtual platform.

    David Sun Lecture – The Two Most Important Days: Reflections on Lasting Happiness and Living With Purpose
    Sanjiv Chopra, MD
    Saturday, October 22, 10:00 am–10:30 am EDT
    Ways to achieve happiness and live your life’s purpose, no matter the challenges faced along the way. 

    President’s Address – ACG President, Samir A. Shah, MD, FACG, introduced by ACG President-Elect Daniel J. Pambianco, MD, FACG
    Monday, October 24, 9:00 am–9:30 am EDT

    The American Journal of Gastroenterology Lecture – The Transformative Power of Research Carried Out by Busy Clinicians
    Patrick S. Kamath, MD
    Monday, October 24, 3:05 pm–3:35 pm EDT
    How clinicians can participate in research that moves the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology forward.

    Edward Berk Distinguished Lecture – The Promise and Progress of New Approaches to Treating the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
    Bruce E. Sands, MD, MS, FACG
    Tuesday, October 25, 10:05 am–10:30 am EDT
    Efficacy and safety of newer agents for IBD, and the potential for combination therapy and precision medicine approaches to treat Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. 

    Emily Couric Memorial Lecture – Colon Cancer Screening: What Do We Need to Build and Who Will Come?
    Aasma Shaukat, MD, MPH, FACG
    Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 pm–5:00 pm EDT
    Current colon cancer screening tests and strategies to increase screening uptake in all populations. 

    David Y. Graham Lecture – Why Do All Diseases Start in the Gut?
    Emeran A. Mayer, MD
    Wednesday, October 26, 10:20 am–10:50 am EDT
    A better understanding of how the gut connectome translates microbial signals into health and disease.

     

    About the American College of Gastroenterology
    Founded in 1932, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is an organization with an international membership of over 17,000 individuals from 86 countries. The College’s vision is to be the preeminent professional organization that champions the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of digestive disorders, serving as a beacon to guide the delivery of the highest quality, compassionate, and evidence-based patient care. The mission of the College is to enhance the ability of our members to provide world class care to patients with digestive disorders and advance the profession through excellence and innovation based upon the pillars of Patient Care, Education, Scientific Investigation, Advocacy and Practice Management. www.gi.org

    Visit the ACG Website Media & Press section for all news, featured research, and expert insights related to the ACG 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course. Follow ACG on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and share your live updates using #ACG2022.

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    American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)

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  • Alcoholic Pancreatitis Patients with Continued Alcohol Intake May Finally Have Therapeutic Options

    Alcoholic Pancreatitis Patients with Continued Alcohol Intake May Finally Have Therapeutic Options

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    Newswise — Many alcoholic pancreatitis patients continued drinking during COVID-19. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researchers study the effects of continued alcohol intake and seek better treatment for alcohol-associated pancreatic disease.

    Researchers at the Miller School are looking for solutions to the continued effects of alcohol use, its harmful impact, and treatment. Understanding the mechanisms of alcohol abuse has gained importance, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher alcohol consumption led to an increased burden of pancreatic diseases in society.

    In a study titled “Urolithin A attenuates severity of chronic pancreatitis associated with continued alcohol intake by inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling,” published in the American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, researchers examine the short- and long-term consequences of this increased alcohol effect on pancreatic diseases and work together on innovative approaches to better understand how to treat pancreatitis patients with continued alcohol intake.

    Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas often associated with long-term alcohol consumption, a potential risk factor for the induction of acute pancreatitis. Recurrent attacks of acute pancreatitis results in chronic pancreatitis. Each year, about 275,000 hospital stays for acute pancreatitis and 86,000 hospital stays for chronic pancreatitis occur across the U.S., according to the statistics released by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

    Acute pancreatitis appears suddenly and can typically be resolved in days with treatment in most patients. However, acute pancreatitis can also cause severe life-threatening conditions in some cases. Recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis instigate irreversible damage to the pancreas, causing weight loss, pain, diabetes, and even pancreatic cancer.

    Alcohol Use Spiked during COVID-19

    Total alcohol sales almost tripled in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, subsequently increasing the number of patients diagnosed with alcohol-associated pancreatitis. Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with 40-70% of pancreatitis cases. Without moderation, alcohol use harshly impacts both the liver and pancreas, causing fat accumulation and inflammation, disrupting normal function.

    With repeated episodes of binge drinking (four to five drinks in two hours), the pancreas eventually builds up scar tissues with persistent inflammation, weakening its endocrine and exocrine functions needed to digest food and regulate blood sugar levels. This chronic insult to the organ can cause excruciating pain, malnutrition, diabetes, and death.

    “We are developing novel models to study and to prevent inflammation or reverse the pancreatic damage caused due to excess alcohol intake,” said lead author Nagaraj Nagathihalli, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery in the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology.

    Continued Alcohol Use Perpetuates Pancreatic Injury in Mice Models

    Accumulating scientific evidence suggests that continued alcohol consumption with established alcoholic pancreatitis instigates irreversible pancreatic damage due to recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis by fostering a continuous fibro-inflammatory microenvironment within the pancreas.

    “The molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of alcoholic pancreatitis with continuous alcohol intake remains ambiguous; treatment options and preventative care strategies are restricted due to limited experimental animal models that successfully recapitulate human pancreatitis arising from prolonged or continued alcohol use after established pancreatic injury,” said Dr. Nagathihalli.

    “In this study, using an established alcoholic pancreatitis mice model, we have addressed two of the major unanswered questions with regards to the pathogenesis of pancreatitis. We’ve characterized the pancreas-specific signaling pathways in this process and determined if utilizing novel therapeutic agents can attenuate the severity of alcoholic pancreatitis progression, despite continued alcohol triggers” said first author of the study Siddharth Mehra, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Miller School’s Department of Surgery.

    Preventing Alcohol-associated Chronic Pancreatitis May Benefit Patients with Difficulty in Alcohol Abstinence

    The microbiome has been implicated in gastrointestinal inflammation as a critical mediator of overall gut health. Urolithin A is a natural compound synthesized by gut bacteria from ingested ellagitannins, a class of hydrolyzable tannins found mainly in pomegranate, berries, and nuts. Previous work from the group has shown that Urolithin A is a potent anti-inflammatory agent in several pre-clinical disease models and exhibits anti-tumor activity in gastrointestinal cancers.

    “Our studies have demonstrated that Urolithin A is well tolerated and does not elicit any adverse toxic effects at clinically relevant doses in mice. However, despite the promising effect of Urolithin A in several malignancies and inflammatory disorders, the benefit of this microbial metabolite in the prevention of pancreatitis had not been investigated,” says Dr. Nagathihalli. The FDA recognizes Urolithin A as a “safe dietary supplement.”

    “In animal experiments, we have shown that Urolithin A can help improve the effectiveness of treating alcoholic pancreatitis despite continued alcohol intake,” said Dr. Mehra.

    Co-authors of the study include Dr. Chanjuan Shi of Duke University; Dr. Michael VanSaun of the University of Kansas; Dr. Venkatakrishna Jala of the University of Louisville; and Supriya Srinivasan, Ph.D., Samara Singh, Zhiqun Zhou, M.D., Vanessa Garrido, Ph.D., Iago Castro Silva, M.D., Tulasigeri Totiger, Ph.D., Austin Dosch, M.D., Xizi Dai, Ph.D., Rajinder Dawra, Ph.D., Jashodeep Datta, M.D., and Nipun Merchant, M.D., of the Miller School of Medicine.

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    University of Miami Health System, Miller School of Medicine

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  • Timely Surveillance with Chest Imaging May Benefit Colorectal Cancer Patients

    Timely Surveillance with Chest Imaging May Benefit Colorectal Cancer Patients

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    Key takeaways: 

    • Up to 50% of colorectal patients may develop metastatic cancer that has spread to other areas of the body. 
    • One of the most frequent areas colorectal cancer spreads to is the lungs, affecting up to 18% of patients with colorectal cancer; these patients often face a poor prognosis, especially if caught at a late stage. 
    • New study investigated optimal timing intervals and key clinical factors, including genetic factors and tumor characteristics, that may reveal which patients are at risk for developing lung metastases. 

    Newswise — SAN DIEGO: Colorectal cancer patients with certain clinical characteristics may benefit from more frequent chest imaging to help identify and target cancer that has spread to the lungs, according to new research presented at the Scientific Forum of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2022. These findings have the potential to improve long-term outcomes of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. 

    Despite improved survival rates, colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.1 Though rates of colorectal cancer have declined among people 65 and older, largely thanks to increased screening efforts, rates among younger adults are rising.2 When the cancer is caught early, many patients can remain disease-free for the rest of their lives after surgical treatment, but colorectal cancer can spread (metastasize) in up to 50% of patients.3 One of the most common areas colorectal cancer spreads to is the lungs, affecting up to 18% of patients with colorectal cancer.4 Detecting cancerous nodules in the lung early provides patients with the best outcomes, but there are no evidence-based standards for when and how often to screen colorectal cancer patients with chest CT or PET scans. 

    “After patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, many of them want to better understand what their cancer diagnosis entails in terms of their surveillance and survivorship for the rest of their life, but we currently lack data and uniform guidelines to support how often these patients should be screened with chest imaging,” said co-author Mara Antonoff, MD, FACS, associate professor, thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, where she also serves as program director of education. “With this study, we sought to develop a strategy that is evidence-based to determine how frequently, at what intervals, and for how long patients at risk of developing lung metastases should undergo imaging of their chest.” 

    Dr. Antonoff specializes in thoracic surgical oncology and has a clinical interest in colorectal cancer that has spread to the lungs. She is leading a multi-institutional study, under the umbrella of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Thoracic Surgery Oncology Group (TSOG) (TSOG 103), on developing optimal treatment strategies for colorectal cancer patients whose cancer spread is limited to the lungs. 

    To identify which colorectal cancer patients may benefit from early chest imaging and at what time intervals, Dr. Antonoff and an interdisciplinary team of researchers at MD Anderson – including cardiothoracic surgeons, colorectal cancer surgeons, and gastrointestinal oncologists – collaborated on this research project to investigate evidence-based surveillance guidelines for colorectal patients who are at risk of developing lung metastases. 

    Study details 

    Using two MD Anderson cancer databases that included both colorectal cancer patients and thoracic cancer patients, the study team retrospectively reviewed data from patients with colorectal cancer who did and did not develop lung metastases. Patients were grouped according to the development of lung metastases and the timing of their diagnosis. The team used statistical methods to investigate which clinical characteristics, such as age or genetic factors, correlated most with the risk of developing lung metastases.  

    Key findings 

    • Of 1,600 patients with colorectal cancer, 233 (14.6%) developed pulmonary (lung) metastases, with a median time of 15.4 months following colorectal surgery.  
    • The team identified age, neoadjuvant or adjuvant systemic therapy (such as chemotherapy or immunotherapy), lymph node ratio, lymphovascular and perineural invasion (high-risk tumor characteristics observed under a microscope), and presence of KRAS genetic mutations as risk factors for developing lung metastases. 
    • Further data analysis revealed that patients who required systemic therapy around the time of their surgical operation for colorectal cancer, who had an elevated lymph node ratio, and a KRAS mutation, were at risk of developing lung metastases within three months of surgery. 
    • The authors concluded that these patients may benefit from more frequent surveillance with chest CT or PET scans. 

    Nathaniel Deboever, MD, general surgery resident, UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School, and the lead author of the study, noted that while these risk factors are not necessarily surprising from a clinical perspective, they highlight the need to adequately screen certain colorectal cancer patients after surgical treatment. In some cases, removing cancerous lung nodules surgically early on can significantly improve outcomes. 

    “A concrete clinical application of this research, following validation, is to build evidence-based guidelines affecting chest surveillance in patients with resected colorectal cancer,” said Dr. Deboever, who completed this research as part of his research fellowship with the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at MD Anderson. “These guidelines will hopefully allow high-risk patients to undergo radiographic screening in a timely manner, permitting the early diagnosis of pulmonary disease.” 

    Next steps 

    In future research, the team plans to validate findings in a separate group of patients, with the hope of formalizing chest surveillance protocols for widespread clinical adoption. Drs. Antonoff and Deboever noted that as colorectal cancer research evolves, sensitive blood tests to detect cancer or advanced radiographic screening methods using artificial intelligence may also play an important role in monitoring patients. 

    “There are many patients who receive cancer care outside of cancer hospitals, so having algorithms, pathways, and recommended protocols can be very helpful for providers who care for a lot of different diseases with rapidly changing recommendations,” Dr. Antonoff said. “I think this research is really just the tip of the iceberg.” 

    This study was funded by the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center, which included financial support from the Mason Family Philanthropic Research Fund.  

    Study coauthors are Erin M. Bayley, MD, MS; Brian K. Bednarski, MD, FACS; and Van Morris, MD. 

    Dr. Deboever and Dr. Antonoff have no disclosures to report.    

    Citation: Deboever N, et al. Do Resected Colorectal Cancer Patients Need Early Chest Imaging? Impact of Clinicopathologic Characteristics on Time to Development of Pulmonary Metastases, Scientific Forum, American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2022.  

    ________________________ 

    1Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer. American Cancer Society, January 12, 2022. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html 

    2Colorectal Cancer Rates Rise in Younger Adults. American Cancer Society, March 5, 2020. https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/colorectal-cancer-rates-rise-in-younger-adults.html  

    3Leporrier J, Maurel J, Chiche L, et al. A population-based study of the incidence, management and prognosis of hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer. British Journal of Surgery 2006: 93(4), 465-474. 

    4Gonzalez M, Gervaz P. Risk factors for survival after lung metastasectomy in colorectal cancer patients: systematic review and meta-analysis. Future oncol. 2015: 11(2s):31-3. 

    # # #  

    About the American College of Surgeons  

    The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 84,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. “FACS” designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.   

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    American College of Surgeons (ACS)

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