Scholars@Duke
Samantha Thomas

Samantha Thomas

Biostatistician, Principal
Biostatistics & Bioinformatics
samantha.thomas@duke.edu
DUMC 2717, Durham, NC 27710
2424 Erwin Road, 8039 Hock 1 Box 2717, Durham, NC 27710
Office hours

Selected Publications

Exploring actionable targets to address disparities in thyroid cancer survival: A study of patients with aggressive variants of papillary thyroid cancer.

Journal Article Am J Surg · October 2025 BACKGROUND: Despite compromised survival, disparities studies on aggressive variants of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) are sparse. METHODS: Using the NCDB (2004-20), adult Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), Non-Hispanic Asians or Pacific Islanders (NHAPI), Hispani ... Full text Link to item Cite

The association of race and ethnicity with risk-reducing mastectomies in patients with non-BRCA mutations.

Journal Article Am J Surg · September 2025 INTRODUCTION: We compared rates of risk reducing mastectomies (RRM) in patients with breast cancer (BC)-related pathogenic variants. METHODS: Female patients ages ≥18 with a BC-related pathogenic variant, without a concurrent or prior BC diagnosis, were id ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk Stratification for Sentinel Lymph Node Positivity in Older Women With Early-Stage Estrogen Receptor-Positive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Neu-Negative Invasive Breast Cancer.

Journal Article JCO Clin Cancer Inform · March 2025 PURPOSE: Guidelines recommend omission of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for axillary staging in select patients age 70 years and older with early-stage estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 neu-negative (HER2-) inva ... Full text Link to item Cite

Axillary nodal disease burden is not associated with an elevated 21-gene recurrence score in post-menopausal women presenting with a clinically negative axilla.

Journal Article Am J Surg · July 2024 BACKGROUND: The predictive and prognostic value of the recurrence score (RS) has emphasized the importance of tumor biology and has reduced the prognostic implications of limited nodal burden in post-menopausal women with HR+/HER2-invasive breast cancer (I ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient Characteristics Impact Performance of AI Algorithm in Interpreting Negative Screening Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Studies.

Journal Article Radiology · May 2024 Background Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to manage radiologists' workloads. The impact of patient characteristics on AI performance has not been well studied. Purpose To understand the impact of patient characteristics (race and ethnici ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health Care Cost Reductions with Machine Learning-Directed Evaluations during Radiation Therapy - An Economic Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Study.

Journal Article NEJM AI · April 2024 BACKGROUND: Machine learning (ML) may cost-effectively direct health care by identifying patients most likely to benefit from preventative interventions to avoid negative and expensive outcomes. System for High-Intensity Evaluation During Radiation Therapy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survey Study of Clerkship Curriculum on Learner's Choice to Pursue Surgery: Positive Impact of Extracurricular Opportunities.

Journal Article J Surg Educ · September 2023 OBJECTIVE: Prior studies have focused on the role of the learning environment on students' decisions to pursue surgery, but few have analyzed the impact of the clerkship curriculum. This study assessed surgical clerkship curricula across United States (US) ... Full text Link to item Cite

Modifiable patient-reported factors associated with cancer-screening knowledge and participation in a community-based health assessment.

Journal Article Am J Surg · April 2023 BACKGROUND: We sought to identify modifiable factors associated with cancer screening in a community-based health assessment. METHODS: 24 organizations at 47 community events in central North Carolina distributed a 91-item survey from April-December 2017. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Surveillance Imaging after Primary Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ.

Journal Article Radiology · April 2023 Background Guidelines recommend annual surveillance imaging after diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Guideline adherence has not been characterized in a contemporary cohort. Purpose To identify uptake and determinants of surveillance imaging in ... Full text Link to item Cite

The role of tumor phenotype in the surgical treatment of early-stage breast cancer.

Conference Am J Surg · January 2023 BACKGROUND: We investigated whether tumor phenotype influences surgical decision-making, and how that may impact overall survival (OS) for early-stage breast cancer. METHODS: Women aged 18-69 with cT0-2/cN0/cM0 breast cancer in the National Cancer Database ... Full text Link to item Cite

Medullary thyroid cancer with RET V804M mutation: more indolent than expected?

Journal Article Surgery · January 2023 BACKGROUND: Significant genotype-phenotype variability among multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A patients with a RET V804M mutation has been reported. METHODS: Patients with a RET V804M mutation treated at a single center were identified (January 1996-Dec ... Full text Link to item Cite

Experiential Learning Methods for Biostatistics Students: A Model for Embedding Student Interns in Academic Health Centers.

Journal Article Stat · December 2022 This manuscript describes an experiential learning program for future collaborative biostatisticians (CBs) developed within an academic medical center. The program is a collaborative effort between the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Retrospective Study of Lymph Node Yield in Lateral Neck Dissection for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Journal Article Ear Nose Throat J · August 2022 OBJECTIVE: Lateral neck dissection (LND) is important in managing papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs). This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between lymph node yield (LNY) for LND and patient outcomes, specifically postoperative serum thyroglobulin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Disparities at the Intersection of Race and Ethnicity: Examining Trends and Outcomes in Hispanic Women With Breast Cancer.

Journal Article JCO Oncol Pract · May 2022 PURPOSE: We sought to examine tumor subtype, stage at diagnosis, time to surgery (TTS), and overall survival (OS) among Hispanic patients of different races and among Hispanic and non-Hispanic (NH) women of the same race. METHODS: Women 18 years of age or ... Full text Link to item Cite

Malignant phyllodes tumor and primary breast sarcoma; distinct rare tumors of the breast.

Conference J Surg Oncol · May 2022 BACKGROUND: Malignant phyllodes (MP) and primary breast sarcomas (PBS) are rare neoplasms with overlapping histopathologic features. We compared overall survival (OS) and estimated the association of surgery and therapies with OS. METHODS: We utilized the ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Novel Staging System for De Novo Metastatic Breast Cancer Refines Prognostic Estimates.

Journal Article Ann Surg · April 1, 2022 OBJECTIVE: We aim to identify prognostic groups within a de novo metastatic cohort, incorporating both anatomic and biologic factors. BACKGROUND: Staging for breast cancer now includes anatomic and biologic factors, although the guidelines for stage IV dis ... Full text Link to item Cite

Disease characteristics and mortality among Asian women with breast cancer.

Conference Cancer · March 1, 2022 BACKGROUND: Asian women with breast cancer are often studied in aggregate, belying significant intragroup diversity. The authors sought to examine differences in breast cancer characteristics and outcomes among Asian women. METHODS: Asian, non-Hispanic Bla ... Full text Link to item Cite

Role of digital breast tomosynthesis in the evaluation of focal breast pain.

Journal Article Clin Imaging · February 2022 RATIONAL AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate the utility of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) in the evaluation of focal breast pain, considering breast density and breast cancer risk. METHODS: Ninety-one cases of focal breast pain evaluated with DBT and ultras ... Full text Link to item Cite

Metastatic breast cancer: Who benefits from surgery?

Journal Article Am J Surg · January 2022 BACKGROUND: We sought to identify characteristics of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients who may benefit most from primary tumor resection. METHODS: Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) was used to categorize non-surgical patients with de novo MBC in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Total Thyroidectomy for Graves' Disease.

Journal Article Thyroid · January 2022 Background: Graves' disease accounts for ∼80% of all cases of hyperthyroidism and is associated with significant morbidity and decreased quality of life. Understanding the association of total thyroidectomy with patient-reported quality-of-life and thyroid ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects and tolerability of exercise therapy modality on cardiorespiratory fitness in lung cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle · December 2021 BACKGROUND: Poor cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a cardinal feature of post-treatment primary lung cancer. The most effective exercise therapy regimen to improve CRF has not been determined. METHODS: In this parallel-group factorial randomized controlle ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trends in Racial, Ethnic, and Sex Representation Among Surgical Faculty Members and Medical Students in the US, 2011-2020.

Journal Article JAMA Surg · December 1, 2021 This cohort study uses existing data on race, ethnicity, and sex among US surgical faculty members and medical students to identify changes between 2011 and 2020. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survival Outcomes Among Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Review of 47,000 Patients.

Conference Ann Surg Oncol · November 2021 BACKGROUND: Although metastatic breast cancer (MBC) remains incurable, advances in therapies have improved survival. Using a contemporary dataset of de novo MBC patients, we explore how overall (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) changed over time. MET ... Full text Link to item Cite

Non-inferiority of fragmented care for high-risk pediatric neuroblastoma patients: a single institution analysis.

Journal Article Pediatr Hematol Oncol · November 2021 Pediatric neuroblastoma (NB) patients receive multi-modal therapy and may experience care fragmented among multiple institutions with a significant travel burden, which has been associated with poor outcomes for some adult cancers. We hypothesized that fra ... Full text Link to item Cite

Limited Reporting of Histopathologic Details in a Multi-Institutional Academic Cohort of Phyllodes Tumors: Time for Standardization.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · November 2021 BACKGROUND: Phyllodes tumors are rare fibroepithelial neoplasms that are classified by tiered histopathologic features. While there are protocols for the reporting of cancer specimens, no standardized reporting protocol exists for phyllodes. METHODS: We pe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Machine Learning Algorithm Prospectively Predicts Survival for High-Risk Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy: A Survival Analysis of SHIELD-RT.

Conference International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · November 2021 Purpose/objective(s)Mortality prediction is critical to appropriate cancer care planning. This has become a topic of interest, with machine learning (ML) tools demonstrating accurate binary predictions for mortality at specific time points. There ... Full text Cite

Mortality in Older Patients with Breast Cancer Undergoing Breast Surgery: How Low is "Low Risk"?

Conference Ann Surg Oncol · October 2021 BACKGROUND: Breast surgery carries a low risk of postoperative mortality. For older patients with multiple comorbidities, even low-risk procedures can confer some increased perioperative risk. We sought to identify factors associated with postoperative mor ... Full text Link to item Cite

Contralateral Axillary Nodal Metastases: Stage IV Disease or a Manifestation of Progressive Locally Advanced Breast Cancer?

Conference Ann Surg Oncol · October 2021 BACKGROUND: Contralateral axillary nodal metastases (CAM) is classified as stage IV disease, although many centers treat CAM with curative intent. We hypothesized that patients with CAM, treated with multimodality therapy, would have improved overall survi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cardiovascular Risk in the Lung Cancer Screening Population: A Multicenter Study Evaluating the Association Between Coronary Artery Calcification and Preventive Statin Prescription.

Journal Article J Am Coll Radiol · September 2021 OBJECTIVE: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a marker of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), the leading cause of death in individuals receiving lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose CT. Our purpose was to determine the proportion of t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Breast cancer in young women: Imaging and clinical course.

Journal Article Breast J · August 2021 The purpose of this study was to characterize presenting imaging findings in women younger than 40 diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the context of pathology and clinical course. Retrospective chart and imaging reviews were performed in patients und ... Full text Link to item Cite

Characterizing participants in the North Carolina Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program: A retrospective review of 90,000 women.

Conference Cancer · July 15, 2021 BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (NC BCCCP) provides breast cancer screening services to underserved women to mitigate disparities in access to care. The authors sought to characterize this understudied population. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of Smartphone Ownership and Internet Use With Markers of Health Literacy and Access: Cross-sectional Survey Study of Perspectives From Project PLACE (Population Level Approaches to Cancer Elimination).

Journal Article J Med Internet Res · June 9, 2021 BACKGROUND: Telehealth is an increasingly important component of health care delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, well-documented disparities persist in the use of digital technologies. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe smartphone a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survival among patients with untreated metastatic breast cancer.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2021 1095 Background: Treatments for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) have significantly improved survival for patients who receive treatment, yet data describing the prognosis for untreated patients is lacking. Therefore, we sought to ... Full text Cite

Impact of machine learning-directed on-treatment evaluations on cost of acute care visits: Economic analysis of SHIELD-RT.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2021 1509 Background: SHIELD-RT was a randomized controlled quality improvement study (NCT03775265) that implemented electronic health record-based machine learning (ML) to direct supplemental visits for high risk (HR) patients underg ... Full text Cite

Disparities in surveillance imaging after breast conserving surgery for primary DCIS.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2021 6516 Background: Due to the elevated risk of ipsilateral invasive breast cancer (iIBC) after diagnosis with primary ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), professional guidelines recommend surveillance screening within 6-12 months (mo) ... Full text Cite

Treatment Patterns and Outcomes of Women with Breast Cancer and Supraclavicular Nodal Metastases.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · April 2021 BACKGROUND: In 2002, breast cancer patients with supraclavicular nodal metastases (cN3c) were downstaged from AJCC stage IV to IIIc, prompting management with locoregional treatment. We sought to estimate the impact of multimodal therapy on overall surviva ... Full text Link to item Cite

Time to surgery among women treated with neoadjuvant systemic therapy and upfront surgery for breast cancer.

Journal Article Breast Cancer Res Treat · April 2021 PURPOSE: Time to surgery (TTS) is a potentially modifiable factor associated with survival after breast cancer diagnosis and can serve as a proxy for quality of oncologic care coordination. We sought to determine whether factors associated with delays in T ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Association of Overall Annual Hospital Volume and Perioperative Outcomes following Free Flap Breast Reconstruction.

Journal Article Plast Reconstr Surg · February 1, 2021 BACKGROUND: Hospital volume has been correlated with improved outcomes in oncologic care and complex surgical procedures. The authors sought to determine the relationship between overall annual hospital volume and perioperative outcomes following free flap ... Full text Link to item Cite

Contemporary Multi-Institutional Cohort of 550 Cases of Phyllodes Tumors (2007-2017) Demonstrates a Need for More Individualized Margin Guidelines.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · January 20, 2021 PURPOSE: Phyllodes tumors (PTs) are rare breast neoplasms, which have little granular data on margins. Current guidelines recommend ≥ 1 cm margins; however, recent data suggest narrower margins are sufficient, and for benign PT, a negative margin may not b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Do Histopathology and Clinical Outcomes of Breast Atypia Vary by Race/Ethnicity?

Journal Article J Surg Res · November 2020 BACKGROUND: The clinical behavior of breast cancer varies by racial and ethnic makeup (REM), but the impact of REM on the clinical outcomes of breast atypia remains understudied. We examined the impact of REM on risk of underlying or subsequent carcinoma f ... Full text Link to item Cite

Performance of preoperative breast MRI based on breast cancer molecular subtype.

Journal Article Clin Imaging · November 2020 PURPOSE: To assess the performance of preoperative breast MRI biopsy recommendations based on breast cancer molecular subtype. METHODS: All preoperative breast MRIs at a single academic medical center from May 2010 to March 2014 were identified. Reports we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Surgery for Men with Breast Cancer: Do the Same Data Still Apply?

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · November 2020 BACKGROUND: Men represent a small proportion of breast cancer diagnoses, and they are often excluded from clinical trials. Current treatments are largely extrapolated from evidence in women. We compare practice patterns between men and women with breast ca ... Full text Link to item Cite

It's not you, It's me: The influence of patient and surgeon gender on patient satisfaction scores.

Journal Article Am J Surg · November 2020 BACKGROUND: Surgeons face the unique challenge of being responsible for both clinical encounters and surgical outcomes. We aim to explore how patient evaluations of surgeons may be influenced by patient and provider factors. METHODS: Patient responses from ... Full text Link to item Cite

System for High-Intensity Evaluation During Radiation Therapy (SHIELD-RT): A Prospective Randomized Study of Machine Learning-Directed Clinical Evaluations During Radiation and Chemoradiation.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · November 1, 2020 PURPOSE: Patients undergoing outpatient radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiation (CRT) frequently require acute care (emergency department evaluation or hospitalization). Machine learning (ML) may guide interventions to reduce this risk. There are limited prosp ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of Smartphone Ownership and Internet Use With Markers of Health Literacy and Access: Cross-sectional Survey Study of Perspectives From Project PLACE (Population Level Approaches to Cancer Elimination) (Preprint)

Journal Article · October 11, 2020 BACKGROUNDTelehealth is an increasingly important component of health care delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, well-documented disparities persist in the use of digita ... Full text Cite

Germline Genetic Mutations in a Multi-center Contemporary Cohort of 550 Phyllodes Tumors: An Opportunity for Expanded Multi-gene Panel Testing.

Conference Ann Surg Oncol · October 2020 BACKGROUND: A paucity of data exists regarding inherited mutations associated with phyllodes tumors (PT); however, some are reported (TP53, BRCA1, and RB1). A PT diagnosis does not meet NCCN criteria for testing, including within Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (TP53 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Surgical Management of the Axilla in Elderly Women With Node-Positive Breast Cancer.

Journal Article J Surg Res · October 2020 BACKGROUND: Elderly women with clinically node-positive (cN+) breast cancer (BC) often have comorbidities that limit life expectancy and complicate treatment. We sought to determine whether the number of lymph nodes (LNs) retrieved among older women with n ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of Lymph Node Ratio With Overall Survival in Patients With Metastatic Papillary Thyroid Cancer.

Journal Article JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg · October 1, 2020 This cohort study examines the association of the lymph node ratio with overall survival in patients with papillary thyroid cancer. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Treatment with Foscarnet after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant (Allo-HCT) Is Associated with Long-Term Loss of Renal Function.

Journal Article Biol Blood Marrow Transplant · September 2020 Despite a well-established risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT), the benefits of using nephrotoxic anti-infective agents to treat serious peritransplant infections often outweigh this risk. While th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Methods for training collaborative biostatisticians.

Journal Article J Clin Transl Sci · August 4, 2020 The emphasis on team science in clinical and translational research increases the importance of collaborative biostatisticians (CBs) in healthcare. Adequate training and development of CBs ensure appropriate conduct of robust and meaningful research and, t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Overall health at diagnosis predicts the risk of complications within the first year after breast cancer diagnosis.

Journal Article Breast Cancer Res Treat · July 2020 PURPOSE: Breast cancer patients with overall poor health are at a greater risk of both complications during treatment and mortality from competing causes. We sought to determine the association of pre-existing comorbidities on treatment-related complicatio ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Case-Control Study Examining Disparities in Clinical Trial Participation Among Breast Surgical Oncology Patients.

Journal Article JNCI Cancer Spectr · April 2020 BACKGROUND: Clinical trial participation among racial and ethnic minorities remains low despite national efforts. We sought to determine how participation in clinical trials by breast surgical oncology patients has changed over time and what characteristic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of Exercise Therapy Dosing Schedule on Impaired Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Patients With Primary Breast Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Journal Article Circulation · February 18, 2020 BACKGROUND: Current exercise guidelines for clinical populations recommend an exercise therapy (ET) prescription of fixed intensity (moderate), duration (40-50 minutes per session), and volume (120-160 min/wk). A critical overarching element of exercise pr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Abstract P3-08-10: Characterization of oncotype DX recurrence score and chemotherapy utilization patterns in young women (≤40) with early stage ER+/HER-, lymph node negative breast cancer

Conference Cancer Research · February 15, 2020 AbstractBackground: Meta-analyses have demonstrated that young women ≤40 (YW) derive the most benefit from chemotherapy (EBCTCG, Lancet. 1998). Oncotype DX was designed to determine the benefit of chemothera ... Full text Cite

Axillary lymph node dissection in node-positive breast cancer: are ten nodes adequate and when is enough, enough?

Conference Breast Cancer Res Treat · February 2020 PURPOSE: National guidelines define adequate axillary lymph node dissections as those yielding ≥ 10 lymph nodes (LNs). We aimed to identify the optimal LN yield among node-positive patients. METHODS: Using the National Cancer Data Base (2010-2015), we cate ... Full text Link to item Cite

Breast cancer tumor histopathology, stage at presentation, and treatment in the extremes of age.

Conference Breast Cancer Res Treat · February 2020 BACKGROUND: Given presumed differences in disease severity between young (≤ 45 years) and elderly (≥ 75 years) women with breast cancer, we sought to compare tumor histopathology, stage at presentation, patterns of care, and survival at the extremes of age ... Full text Link to item Cite

Nodal Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Predicts Receipt of Radiation Therapy After Breast Cancer Diagnosis.

Journal Article Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys · February 1, 2020 BACKGROUND: Pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is associated with improved overall survival (OS) in patients with breast cancer, but it is unclear how post-NACT response influences radiation therapy administration in p ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Implications for Breast Cancer Restaging Based on the 8th Edition AJCC Staging Manual.

Journal Article Ann Surg · January 2020 OBJECTIVE: We assessed the changes that have resulted from the latest breast cancer staging guidelines and the potential impact on prognosis. BACKGROUND: Contemporary data suggest that combining anatomic staging and tumor biology yields a predictive synerg ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient selection and outcomes of laparoscopic transabdominal versus posterior retroperitoneal adrenalectomy among surgeons in the Collaborative Endocrine Surgery Quality Improvement Program (CESQIP).

Journal Article Surgery · January 2020 BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy can be performed using a transabdominal or posterior retroperitoneal approach. Choosing the optimal approach can be challenging. METHODS: Using data from the Collaborative Endocrine Surgery Quality Improvement Program ... Full text Link to item Cite

Surgery for Men with Breast Cancer: Do the Same Data Still Apply?

Conference ANNALS OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY · 2020 Cite

Adequacy of Lymph Node Yield for Papillary Thyroid Cancer: An Analysis of 23,131 Patients.

Journal Article J Surg Res · December 2019 BACKGROUND: Threshold numbers for defining adequacy of lymph node (LN) yield have been determined for evaluation of occult nodal disease during papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) surgery. This study assesses the prevalence of adequate LN yield and estimates it ... Full text Link to item Cite

Can we improve the gestation-adjusted projection (GAP) method for prediction of birth weight in morbidly obese women?

Journal Article J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med · November 2019 Objective: The gestation-adjusted projection (GAP) is a method to predict birthweight using population birth data and third trimester ultrasound fetal weight. This method usually utilizes population birth weight data from almost 40 years ago. In 2011, a la ... Full text Link to item Cite

Decreasing rates of axillary lymph node dissections over time: Implications for surgical resident exposure and operative skills development.

Conference Am J Surg · October 2019 BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy has supplanted axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in clinically node-negative breast cancer and select node-positive disease. We hypothesized a decreasing rate of both ALND and resident exposure over time. METHODS: ... Full text Link to item Cite

DCIS with Microinvasion: Is It In Situ or Invasive Disease?

Conference Ann Surg Oncol · October 2019 BACKGROUND: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with microinvasion (DCISM) can be challenging in balancing the risks of overtreatment versus undertreatment. We compared DCISM, pure DCIS, and small volume (T1a) invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) as related to hist ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical and pathological stage discordance among 433,514 breast cancer patients.

Journal Article Am J Surg · October 2019 BACKGROUND: We aim to determine clinical and pathological stage discordance rates and to evaluate factors associated with discordance. METHODS: Adults with clinical stages I-III breast cancer were identified from the National Cancer Data Base. Concordance ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The Influence of Age on the Histopathology and Prognosis of Atypical Breast Lesions.

Journal Article J Surg Res · September 2019 BACKGROUND: Although several prognostic variables and risk factors for breast cancer are age-related, the association between age and risk of cancer with breast atypia is controversial. This study aimed to compare the type of breast atypia and risk of unde ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Immediate Breast Reconstruction Allows for the Timely Initiation of Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy.

Journal Article Plast Reconstr Surg · September 2019 BACKGROUND: Complications from breast reconstruction may delay postmastectomy radiation therapy and impact breast cancer outcomes. The authors hypothesized that immediate breast reconstruction may be associated with delays in the initiation of radiation, b ... Full text Link to item Cite

The impact of chemotherapy sequence on survival in node-positive invasive lobular carcinoma.

Journal Article J Surg Oncol · August 2019 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate the impact of chemotherapy sequence on survival by comparing node-positive invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) patients who received neoadjuvant (NACT) and adjuvant (ACT) chemotherapy. METHODS: cT1-4c, cN1-3 IL ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Growth Dynamics of Mammographic Calcifications: Differentiating Ductal Carcinoma in Situ from Benign Breast Disease.

Journal Article Radiology · July 2019 Background Most ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions are first detected on screening mammograms as calcifications. However, false-positive biopsy rates for calcifications range from 30% to 87%. Improved methods to differentiate benign from malignant cal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Decline in Racial Disparities in Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Analysis from 1998 to 2014.

Journal Article Plast Reconstr Surg · June 2019 BACKGROUND: Despite increasing emphasis on reducing racial disparities in breast cancer care in the United States, it remains unknown whether access to breast reconstruction has improved over time. The authors characterized contemporary patterns of breast ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of Non-Linear or Linear Aerobic Training (AT) Dosing Regimens on Impaired Cardiovascular (CV) Function in Patients with Operable Breast Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2019 541 Background: Breast cancer therapy causes marked impairments in CV function predisposing to elevated risk of CV morbidity. We investigated the effects of two AT dosing regimens on CV function in post-treatment patients with op ... Full text Cite

Low- vs. High-Dose Neoadjuvant Radiation in Trimodality Treatment of Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer.

Journal Article J Gastrointest Surg · May 2019 BACKGROUND: The optimal dose of neoadjuvant radiation for locally advanced, resectable esophageal cancer remains controversial in the absence of randomized clinical trials, with conventional practice favoring the use of 50.4 vs. 41.4 Gy. METHODS: Retrospec ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Influence of Marital Status on Contemporary Patterns of Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction.

Journal Article J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg · May 2019 BACKGROUND: Marital status is known to influence quality of life, survival, and treatment decision-making after breast cancer diagnosis. We aimed to determine whether relationship status impacts contemporary patterns of immediate breast reconstruction. MET ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evolving role of Oncotype DX (R) following TailoRx

Conference ANNALS OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY · May 1, 2019 Link to item Cite

Surgical Resection of the Primary Tumor in Women With De Novo Stage IV Breast Cancer: Contemporary Practice Patterns and Survival Analysis.

Journal Article Ann Surg · March 2019 OBJECTIVE: We evaluated patterns of surgical care and their association with overall survival among a contemporary cohort of women with stage IV breast cancer. BACKGROUND: Surgical resection of the primary tumor remains controversial among women with stage ... Full text Link to item Cite

The devil is in the details: Assessing treatment and outcomes of 6,795 patients undergoing remedial parathyroidectomy in the Collaborative Endocrine Surgery Quality Improvement Program.

Journal Article Surgery · January 2019 BACKGROUND: Multi-institutional data describing remedial parathyroidectomy compared with index parathyroidectomy are scarce. METHODS: Using data in the Collaborative Endocrine Surgery Quality Improvement Program (2014-2017), baseline characteristics and ou ... Full text Link to item Cite

Treatment with Foscarnet after Allogeneic Hematopoietic-Cell Transplant (AlloHCT) Is Associated with Long-Term Loss of Renal Function

Conference Blood · November 29, 2018 AbstractIntroduction: Despite a well-established risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in 20-30% of patients undergoing AlloHCT, the benefits of treating serious infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), wit ... Full text Cite

Axillary Nodal Evaluation in Elderly Breast Cancer Patients: Potential Effects on Treatment Decisions and Survival.

Conference Ann Surg Oncol · October 2018 BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that surgical lymph node (LN) evaluation may be omitted in select elderly breast cancer patients as it may not influence adjuvant therapy decisions. To evaluate differences in adjuvant therapy receipt and overall survival ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Association of Extent of Axillary Surgery and Survival in Women with N2-3 Invasive Breast Cancer.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · October 2018 BACKGROUND: Although surgical management of the axilla for breast cancer continues to evolve, axillary lymphadenectomy remains the standard of care for women with advanced nodal disease. We sought to evaluate national patterns of care in axillary surgery, ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Clinical Significance of Breast-only and Node-only Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NACT): A Review of 20,000 Breast Cancer Patients in the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB).

Journal Article Ann Surg · October 2018 OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the association between overall survival (OS) and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in breast cancer patients varies with tumor subtype and anatomic extent of pathologic complete response (pCR). BACKGROUND: pCR aft ... Full text Link to item Cite

It’s Not You, It’s Me: The Influence of Surgeon Gender on Patient Satisfaction Scores

Conference Journal of the American College of Surgeons · October 2018 Full text Cite

Metaplastic Breast Cancer Treatment and Outcomes in 2500 Patients: A Retrospective Analysis of a National Oncology Database.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · August 2018 BACKGROUND: Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is characterized by chemoresistance and hematogenous spread. We sought to identify factors associated with improved MBC outcomes and increased likelihood of MBC diagnosis. METHODS: Women ≥ 18 years of age with st ... Full text Link to item Cite

Penetrating trauma in children on the United States-Mexico border: Hispanic ethnicity is not a risk factor.

Journal Article Injury · July 2018 INTRODUCTION: The United States-Mexico border is perceived as dangerous by the media and current political leaders. Hispanic ethnicity, low socioeconomic status, male gender and adolescent age have previously been identified as risk factors for penetrating ... Full text Link to item Cite

Feasibility, safety, and efficacy of aerobic training in pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer: A randomized controlled trial.

Journal Article Cancer · June 15, 2018 BACKGROUND: The investigation of exercise training in metastatic breast cancer has received minimal attention. This study determined the feasibility and safety of aerobic training in metastatic breast cancer. METHODS: Sixty-five women (age, 21-80 years) wi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Novel Methods for Reporting of Exercise Dose and Adherence: An Exploratory Analysis.

Journal Article Med Sci Sports Exerc · June 2018 PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore whether methods adapted from oncology pharmacological trials have utility in reporting adherence (tolerability) of exercise treatment in cancer. METHODS: Using a retrospective analysis of a randomized trial ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pediatric phyllodes tumors: A review of the National Cancer Data Base and adherence to NCCN guidelines for phyllodes tumor treatment.

Journal Article J Pediatr Surg · June 2018 BACKGROUND: Phyllodes tumors are fibroepithelial breast lesions that are uncommon in women and rare among children. Due to scarcity, few large pediatric phyllodes tumor series exist. Current guidelines do not differentiate treatment recommendations between ... Full text Link to item Cite

Extent of axillary surgery in women with Stage IV breast cancer

Conference ANNALS OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY · June 1, 2018 Link to item Cite

Restaging de novo metastatic breast cancer to refine prognostic estimates.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2018 Full text Cite

Impact of Micro- and Macroscopically Positive Surgical Margins on Survival after Resection of Adrenocortical Carcinoma.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · May 2018 PURPOSE: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, aggressive cancer; complete surgical resection offers the best chance for long-term survival. The impact of surgical margin status on survival is poorly understood. Our objective was to determine the assoc ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Effect of Hospital Volume on Breast Cancer Mortality.

Journal Article Ann Surg · February 2018 OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether hospital volume was associated with mortality in breast cancer, and what thresholds of case volume impacted survival. BACKGROUND: Prior literature has demonstrated improved survival with treatment a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pediatric thyroid cancer patients referred to high-volume facilities have improved short-term outcomes.

Journal Article Surgery · February 2018 BACKGROUND: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy in children, albeit still rare. This study sought to measure the association between outcomes and case volume of the treatment facility for pediatric patients with thyroid cancer. METHODS: ... Full text Link to item Cite

Each procedure matters: threshold for surgeon volume to minimize complications and decrease cost associated with adrenalectomy.

Journal Article Surgery · January 2018 BACKGROUND: An association has been suggested between increasing surgeon volume and improved patient outcomes, but a threshold has not been defined for what constitutes a "high-volume" adrenal surgeon. METHODS: Adult patients who underwent adrenalectomy by ... Full text Link to item Cite

Subtotal vs. total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation for patients with renal hyperparathyroidism have similar outcomes.

Journal Article Am J Surg · November 2017 BACKGROUND: The optimal surgery for patients with renal hyperparathyroidism has been controversial, as either subtotal parathyroidectomy (subtotal PTX) or total parathyroidectomy with auto-transplantation (total PTX-AT) may be employed. METHODS: Adult pati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient Age and Tumor Subtype Predict the Extent of Axillary Surgery Among Breast Cancer Patients Eligible for the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Trial Z0011.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · November 2017 BACKGROUND: The American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z0011 trial established the safety of omitting axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) for early-stage breast cancer patients with limited nodal disease undergoing lumpectomy. We examined t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Projecting Survival in Papillary Thyroid Cancer: A Comparison of the Seventh and Eighth Editions of the American Joint Commission on Cancer/Union for International Cancer Control Staging Systems in Two Contemporary National Patient Cohorts.

Journal Article Thyroid · November 2017 BACKGROUND: This study aims to compare the seventh and eighth editions of the American Joint Commission on Cancer/Union for International Cancer Control (AJCC/UICC) tumor, node, metastasis staging system for patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adult Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation Using Myeloablative Thiotepa, Total Body Irradiation, and Fludarabine Conditioning.

Conference Biol Blood Marrow Transplant · November 2017 Treatment-related mortality (TRM) remains elevated in adult patients undergoing umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT), including an early rise in TRM suggestive of excessive toxicity associated with the standard myeloablative total body irradiation ( ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Impact of Biologically Equivalent Dose on Tumor Control in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Conference International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics · October 2017 Full text Cite

Rethinking the Current American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM Staging System for Medullary Thyroid Cancer.

Journal Article JAMA Surg · September 1, 2017 IMPORTANCE: Controversy exists around the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system for medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Because of the rarity of the disease and limited available data, the staging system for MTC has been largely extrapol ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impaired calcium sensing distinguishes primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) patients with low bone mineral density.

Journal Article Metabolism · September 2017 CONTEXT: A subset of PHPT patients exhibit a more severe disease phenotype characterized by bone loss, fractures, recurrent nephrolithiasis, and other dysfunctions, but the underlying reasons for this disparity in clinical presentation remain unknown. OBJE ... Full text Link to item Cite

Nationwide trends and outcomes associated with neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer: An analysis of 18 243 patients.

Conference J Surg Oncol · August 2017 BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant therapy has theoretical benefits for pancreatic cancer; however, its association with perioperative outcomes remains controversial. This study sought to evaluate variation in use of neoadjuvant therapy and outcomes following pancrea ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Impact of Pathologically Positive Lymph Nodes in the Clinically Negative Neck: An Analysis of 39,301 Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancer.

Journal Article Annals of surgical oncology · July 2017 PurposeManagement of patients with low-risk papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) with clinically uninvolved lymph nodes (cN0 LNs), but who harbor metastatic central LNs (pN1a), remains unclear. The number of central LNs examined, radioactive iodine (RAI ... Full text Cite

Transplantation of Ex Vivo Expanded Umbilical Cord Blood (NiCord) Decreases Early Infection and Hospitalization.

Journal Article Biol Blood Marrow Transplant · July 2017 Delayed hematopoietic recovery contributes to increased infection risk following umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation. In a Phase 1 study, adult recipients of UCB stem cells cultured ex vivo for 3 weeks with nicotinamide (NiCord) had earlier median n ... Full text Link to item Cite

Phase III Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial of Celecoxib in Addition to Standard Chemotherapy for Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer With Cyclooxygenase-2 Overexpression: CALGB 30801 (Alliance).

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · July 1, 2017 Purpose Tumor overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been associated with worse outcome in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 30203, we found that the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib in addition to chemot ... Full text Link to item Cite

Racial Disparities in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Have We Bridged the Gap?

Journal Article Thyroid · June 2017 BACKGROUND: Racial disparities in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) exist in the United States. There is a paucity of data examining their temporal trends. It was hypothesized that racial disparities in care provided to patients with DT ... Full text Link to item Cite

A population-based analysis of treatment and outcomes in 2,500 metaplastic breast cancer patients.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2017 532 Background: Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is a rare, aggressive variant that is often triple negative (TN). Current guidelines recommend use of standard receptor-based treatment for MBC despite evidence of chemoresistance. ... Full text Cite

The epidemiology of metaplastic breast cancer: A review of 2,500 cases from the national cancer database.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2017 1570 Background: Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) is a rare, aggressive, sarcomatoid breast cancer that was first described in 1973 but only became recognized as a histologically distinct entity in 2000. Given the paucity of data ... Full text Cite

Temporal associations between prognostic indicators and overall survival after breast cancer.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2017 e18144 Background: Breast oncologists have little guidance on predicting long term outcomes after interval survival. We aim to evaluate the association of overall survival (OS) with select factors at multiple time points. Methods ... Full text Cite

Impact of insurance status on treatment for stage 0-IV breast cancer.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2017 6532 Background: Health insurance can influence utilization of cancer care. We sought to determine whether insurance status impacts treatment patterns and survival in women with stage 0-IV breast cancer. Methods: Women ages 18-69 ... Full text Cite

Role of axillary node dissection after mastectomy with positive sentinel nodes.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2017 554 Background: The ACOSOG Z11 trial demonstrated that sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) alone was safe for women with early stage node positive cancer undergoing breast conservation therapy with radiation. Little data exists reg ... Full text Cite

Randomized Trial of Pleural Fluid Drainage Frequency in Patients with Malignant Pleural Effusions. The ASAP Trial.

Journal Article Am J Respir Crit Care Med · April 15, 2017 RATIONALE: Patients with malignant pleural effusions have significant dyspnea and shortened life expectancy. Indwelling pleural catheters allow patients to drain pleural fluid at home and can lead to autopleurodesis. The optimal drainage frequency to achie ... Full text Link to item Cite

Defining a Hospital Volume Threshold for Minimally Invasive Pancreaticoduodenectomy in the United States.

Conference JAMA Surg · April 1, 2017 IMPORTANCE: There is increasing interest in expanding use of minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy (MIPD). This procedure is complex, with data suggesting a significant association between hospital volume and outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of minimally invasive vs. open distal pancreatectomy on use of adjuvant chemoradiation for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Journal Article American journal of surgery · April 2017 BackgroundPublished data examining the impact of minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy (MIDP) on survival are generally limited to experiences from high-volume institutions. Our aim was to compare utilization of adjuvant chemoradiation and time ... Full text Cite

Improving Timely Resident Follow-Up and Communication of Results in Ambulatory Clinics Utilizing a Web-Based Audit and Feedback Module.

Journal Article J Grad Med Educ · April 2017 BACKGROUND: Failure to follow up and communicate test results to patients in outpatient settings may lead to diagnostic and therapeutic delays. Residents are less likely than attending physicians to report results to patients, and may face additional barri ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Is There a Minimum Number of Thyroidectomies a Surgeon Should Perform to Optimize Patient Outcomes?

Journal Article Ann Surg · February 2017 OBJECTIVE: To determine the number of total thyroidectomies per surgeon per year associated with the lowest risk of complications. BACKGROUND: The surgeon volume-outcome association has been established for thyroidectomy; however, a threshold number of cas ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Burden of Burnout.

Journal Article Am J Med Qual · 2017 This study sought to determine burnout prevalence and factors associated with burnout in internal medicine residents after introduction of the 2011 ACGME duty hour rules. Burnout was evaluated using an anonymized, abbreviated version of the Maslach Burnout ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Incorporating Patient Acuity Rating Score Into Patient Handoffs and the Correlation With Rapid Responses and Unexpected ICU Transfers.

Journal Article Am J Med Qual · 2017 Handoffs and rapid response team (RRT) activations have been a focus for quality improvement in hospital medicine. This study aimed to incorporate a previously used scoring system (1-7) for severity of illness on initial encounter as a handoff adjunct and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Using antifibrinolytics in the peripartum period - concern for a hypercoagulable effect?

Journal Article J Neonatal Perinatal Med · 2017 INTRODUCTION: Although antifibrinolytic agents are used to prevent and treat hemorrhage, there are concerns about a potential increased risk for peripartum venous thromboembolism. We sought to determine the impact of tranexamic acid and ɛ-aminocaproic acid ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Exploring the Relationship Between Patient Age and Cancer-Specific Survival in Papillary Thyroid Cancer: Rethinking Current Staging Systems.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · December 20, 2016 Purpose Patient age is considered to play a unique prognostic role in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), with a distinct staging dichotomization at 45 years of age. This is based on older, limited data demonstrating a marked rise in mortality around the ages ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adult Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation Using Myeloablative Total Body Irradiation, Fludarabine, and Thiotepa Conditioning

Conference Blood · December 2, 2016 AbstractIntroduction: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) extends the curative potential of stem cell transplantation to adult patients without a suitable donor. The most commonly used myeloablative preparative regim ... Full text Cite

State Insurance Mandates and Multiple Birth Rates After In Vitro Fertilization.

Journal Article Obstet Gynecol · December 2016 OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between state-mandated insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the incidence of multiple birth while controlling for differences in baseline patient characteristics. METHODS: We conducted a retrospectiv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Universal Mask Usage for Reduction of Respiratory Viral Infections After Stem Cell Transplant: A Prospective Trial.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · October 15, 2016 BACKGROUND: Respiratory viral infections (RVIs) are frequent complications of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Surgical masks are a simple and inexpensive intervention that may reduce nosocomial spread. METHODS: In this prospective single-center ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Use of Re-irradiation in Locally Recurrent, Non-metastatic Rectal Cancer.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · October 2016 BACKGROUND: The optimal approach to patients with locally recurrent, non-metastatic rectal cancer is unclear. This study evaluates the outcomes and toxicity associated with pelvic re-irradiation. METHODS: Patients undergoing re-irradiation for locally recu ... Full text Link to item Cite

How Many Lymph Nodes Are Enough? Assessing the Adequacy of Lymph Node Yield for Papillary Thyroid Cancer.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · October 1, 2016 PURPOSE: Patients who undergo surgery for papillary thyroid cancer with only a limited lymph node examination are thought to be at risk for potentially harboring occult disease. However, this risk has not been objectively quantified and may have implicatio ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Use of Reirradiation in Locally Recurrent, Nonmetastatic Rectal Cancer.

Journal Article Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys · October 1, 2016 Full text Link to item Cite

Vanishing Thyroid Tumors: What Are They, and What Do They Mean for Patients?

Conference Journal of the American College of Surgeons · October 2016 Full text Cite

Safety and Efficacy of Radiation Therapy in Advanced Melanoma Patients Treated With Ipilimumab.

Journal Article Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys · September 1, 2016 PURPOSE: Ipilimumab and radiation therapy (RT) are standard treatments for advanced melanoma; preclinical models suggest the potential for synergy. However, limited clinical information exists regarding safety and optimal timing of the combination. METHODS ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes and toxicity of stereotactic radiosurgery for melanoma brain metastases in patients receiving ipilimumab.

Journal Article Melanoma Manag · September 2016 PURPOSE: Patients with melanoma treated with ipilimumab and radiosurgery (stereotactic radiosurgery [SRS]) were reviewed for efficacy/safety. METHODS: Patients who received ipilimumab and SRS for brain metastases were analyzed for control of SRS-treated me ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lymphovascular invasion is associated with survival for papillary thyroid cancer.

Journal Article Endocr Relat Cancer · July 2016 Data are limited regarding the association between tumor lymphovascular invasion and survival for patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). This study sought to examine lymphovascular invasion as an independent prognostic factor for patients with PTC u ... Full text Link to item Cite

Knowledge of pathologically versus clinically negative lymph nodes is associated with reduced use of radioactive iodine post-thyroidectomy for low-risk papillary thyroid cancer.

Journal Article Endocrine · June 2016 Cervical lymph node metastases are common in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Clinically negative lymph nodes confer uncertainty about true lymph node status, potentially prompting empiric postoperative radioactive iodine (RAI) administration even in low-ri ... Full text Link to item Cite

Doctor Who? A Quality Improvement Project to Assess and Improve Patients' Knowledge of Their Inpatient Physicians.

Journal Article J Grad Med Educ · May 2016 Background Patient-physician communication is an integral part of high-quality patient care and an expectation of the Clinical Learning Environment Review program. Objective This quality improvement initiative evaluated the impact of an educational audit a ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Obstetric hemorrhage survey: Attitudes and practices of maternal-fetal medicine fellows.

Journal Article Journal of neonatal-perinatal medicine · May 2016 ObjectiveTo evaluate experiences related to obstetric hemorrhage and suspected abnormal placentation among first year maternal-fetal medicine fellows.Study designA cross-sectional anonymous survey was administered at the Society for Mater ... Full text Cite

Is There a Minimum Number of Thyroidectomies a Surgeon Should Perform to Optimize Patient Outcomes?

Journal Article Ann Surg · March 8, 2016 : Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text OBJECTIVE:: To determine the number of total thyroidectomies per surgeon per year associated with the lowest risk of complications. BACKGROUND: The surgeon volume-outcome association has been establis ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ventricular-Arterial Coupling in Breast Cancer Patients After Treatment With Anthracycline-Containing Adjuvant Chemotherapy.

Conference Oncologist · February 2016 BACKGROUND: Anthracycline-containing chemotherapy (Anth-C) is associated with long-term cardiovascular mortality. Although cardiovascular risk assessment has traditionally focused on the heart, evidence has demonstrated that vascular dysfunction also occur ... Full text Link to item Cite

The role of soluble and insoluble gastric fluid components in the pathogenesis of obliterative bronchiolitis in rat lung allografts.

Journal Article Transpl Int · February 2016 Repetitive gastric fluid aspirations have been shown to lead to obliterans bronchiolitis (OB), but the component or components of gastric fluid that are responsible are unknown. This study investigates the role of particulates and, separately, soluble mate ... Full text Link to item Cite

Minimally invasive follicular carcinoma: predictors of vascular invasion and impact on patterns of care.

Journal Article Endocrine · January 2016 Some studies have reported that minimally invasive follicular carcinoma (MIFC) with vascular invasion is associated with compromised prognosis, leading to an ongoing debate regarding extent of surgery for MIFC. Our goal was to identify predictors of vascul ... Full text Link to item Cite

Myeloablative conditioning with total body irradiation for AML: Balancing survival and pulmonary toxicity.

Conference Adv Radiat Oncol · 2016 PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare leukemia-free survival (LFS) and other clinical outcomes in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia who underwent a myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplant with and without total body irradiation (TB ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Ductal metaplasia in oesophageal submucosal glands is associated with inflammation and oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Journal Article Histopathology · December 2015 AIMS: Recent studies have suggested that oesophageal submucosal gland (ESMG) ducts harbour progenitor cells that may contribute to oesophageal metaplasia. Our objective was to determine whether histological differences exist between the ESMGs of individual ... Full text Link to item Cite

An evaluation of physician predictions of discharge on a general medicine service.

Journal Article J Hosp Med · December 2015 The goal of this study was to evaluate general medicine physicians' ability to predict hospital discharge. We prospectively asked study subjects to predict whether each patient under their care would be discharged on the next day, on the same day, or neith ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Impact of Timeliness of Resection and Thyroidectomy Margin Status on Survival for Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: An Analysis of 335 Cases.

Journal Article Annals of surgical oncology · December 2015 BackgroundControversies regarding anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) surround aggressiveness of tumor resection in the presence of extrathyroidal extension and the impact of delayed surgery on patient survival. Our goal was to analyze the survival im ... Full text Cite

Patterns of Use and Short-Term Outcomes of Minimally Invasive Surgery for Malignant Pheochromocytoma: A Population-Level Study.

Journal Article World J Surg · August 2015 BACKGROUND: Malignant pheochromocytoma is rare, and there is a scarcity of data on the use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for treatment. The aims of this study were to analyze patterns of use of MIS for malignant pheochromocytoma in the U.S. and compa ... Full text Link to item Cite

The highest utilizers of care: individualized care plans to coordinate care, improve healthcare service utilization, and reduce costs at an academic tertiary care center.

Journal Article J Hosp Med · July 2015 BACKGROUND: High utilizers are medically and psychosocially complex, have high rates of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions, and contribute to rising healthcare costs. OBJECTIVE: Develop individualized care plans to reduce unnecessary ... Full text Link to item Cite

Response to the Letter by Katiman E., et al.

Other The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · June 2015 Full text Cite

Quality of life after isolated limb infusion for in-transit melanoma of the extremity.

Journal Article Ann Surg Oncol · May 2015 BACKGROUND: Isolated limb infusion (ILI) has been associated with persistent edema, numbness, pain, and functional impairment of the treated limb. However, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has not yet been assessed using a validated questionnaire. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adjuvant radioactive iodine therapy is associated with improved survival for patients with intermediate-risk papillary thyroid cancer.

Journal Article J Clin Endocrinol Metab · April 2015 CONTEXT: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. The long-term prognosis is generally excellent. Due to a paucity of data, debate exists regarding the benefit of adjuvant radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) for intermediate-ris ... Full text Link to item Cite

Quantitative measures of physical functioning after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma: a feasibility study.

Journal Article Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk · February 2015 BACKGROUND: The safety and feasibility of the symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) has not been rigorously tested in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) after high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cel ... Full text Link to item Cite

Therapeutic bronchoscopy improves spirometry, quality of life, and survival in central airway obstruction.

Journal Article Respiration · 2015 BACKGROUND: Central airway obstruction (CAO) occurs in patients with primary or metastatic lung malignancy and nonmalignant pulmonary disorders and results in significant adverse effects on respiratory function and quality of life. OBJECTIVES: The objectiv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Response to the letter by Katiman E., et al

Other Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism · January 1, 2015 Full text Cite

Effect of antifibrinolytic drugs on in vitro clot formation among peripartum women

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY · January 1, 2015 Link to item Cite

Prediction of birthweight from third-trimester ultrasound in morbidly obese women.

Journal Article Am J Obstet Gynecol · October 2014 OBJECTIVE: The gestation-adjusted projection method (GAP method) uses third trimester ultrasound fetal weight to predict birthweight. Our study sought to assess if the accuracy of the GAP method in morbidly obese women depended on (1) ultrasound timing or ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing prior to myeloablative allo-SCT: a feasibility study.

Journal Article Bone Marrow Transplant · October 2014 The feasibility of symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) prior to allo-SCT was assessed in addition to the prognostic value of CPET-derived measures. CPET was performed prospectively on 21 patients with hematologic malignancies, with asse ... Full text Link to item Cite

In reply.

Journal Article Obstet Gynecol · October 2014 Full text Link to item Cite

Pre-exercise participation cardiovascular screening in a heterogeneous cohort of adult cancer patients.

Journal Article Oncologist · September 2014 BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of pre-exercise participation ("preparticipation") health screening in a heterogeneous cohort of adult cancer patients. METHODS: Patients (n = 413) with histologically confirmed solid or h ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Novel Approach to Practice-Based Learning and Improvement Using a Web-Based Audit and Feedback Module.

Journal Article J Grad Med Educ · September 2014 BACKGROUND: Systematically engaging residents in large programs in quality improvement (QI) is challenging. OBJECTIVE: To coordinate a shared QI project in a large residency program using an online tool. METHODS: A web-based QI tool guided residents throug ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Effects of nonlinear aerobic training on erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular function following radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer.

Journal Article Eur Urol · May 2014 UNLABELLED: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major adverse effect of radical prostatectomy (RP). We conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of aerobic training (AT) compared with usual care (UC) on ED prevalence in 50 men (n=25 per gr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survey of peripartum hysterectomy experiences: anticipated, unplanned, or averted.

Journal Article Obstetrics and gynecology · May 2014 INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the experiences related to peripartum hysterectomy among first-year maternal-fetal medicine Fellows in the United States. METHODS: A cross-sectional anonymous survey was administered at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine firs ... Full text Cite

Utility of 3-dimensional echocardiography, global longitudinal strain, and exercise stress echocardiography to detect cardiac dysfunction in breast cancer patients treated with doxorubicin-containing adjuvant therapy.

Journal Article Breast Cancer Res Treat · February 2014 Conventional resting left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) assessments have limitations for detecting doxorubicin (DOX)-related cardiac dysfunction. Novel resting echocardiographic parameters, including 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) and global l ... Full text Link to item Cite

791: Immunohistochemical distribution of toll-like receptors in human fetal membranes

Conference American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · January 2014 Full text Cite

Cardiorespiratory fitness in breast cancer patients: a call for normative values.

Journal Article Journal of the American Heart Association · January 2014 BackgroundThere is emerging evidence that adjuvant treatments for breast cancer negatively impact cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or Vo2max, a key predictor of cardiovascular risk. Although a number of studies have measured CRF in breast cancer pa ... Full text Cite

Prognostic validation of the body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity (BODE) index in inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer.

Journal Article J Thorac Oncol · December 2013 INTRODUCTION: To investigate the prognostic utility of the body mass index, severity of airflow obstruction, measures of exertional dyspnea, and exercise capacity (BODE) index in patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: One hun ... Full text Link to item Cite

The influence of adjuvant therapy on cardiorespiratory fitness in early-stage breast cancer seven years after diagnosis: the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study.

Journal Article Breast Cancer Res Treat · April 2013 We examined cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) levels in early stage breast cancer patients and determined whether CRF differs as a function of adjuvant therapy regimen. A total of 180 early breast cancer patients representing three treatment groups (surgery ... Full text Link to item Cite