Doubleâ blind, randomized phase 3 trial of lowâ dose 13â cis retinoic acid in the prevention of second primaries in head and neck cancer: Longâ term followâ up of a trial of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Groupâ ACRIN Cancer Research Group (C0590)

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139904/1/cncr30920.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139904/2/cncr30920_am.pd

Effects of amount of information on quantitative judgment.

Individuals sometimes repeatedly perform a judgment task using a given set of cues. Then one or more other cues are added to that set. This dissertation addresses the effects of such cue-addition on the accuracy and process of making quantitative judgments. Conceptual models and statistical procedures for isolating cue-addition effects are developed and tested with two measures, the achievement index (r\sb{a}) and mean squared error (MSE). The empirical results show that conclusions about cue-addition effects depend on the accuracy measure employed. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how the overall accuracy measures, r\sb{a} and MSE, rely on their own component accuracy measures. In terms of the achievement index, r\sb{a}, most of its components decline as the amount of information increases, except for the measure of predictability R\sb{e}. Specifically, when more information is available, judges have a worse overall fit in their predictions and experience greater difficulty capturing the correct policy in utilizing cues. However, for judges whose original cue weights display inverted ordering, adding information which is highly correlated with the initial cues can be beneficial. Judges are usually unable to reliably anticipate nonlinear/configural deviations of criterion values from the predictions of optimal linear models, regardless of the number of cues presented to them. Therefore, whether increased information yields an increase or a decrease in r\sb{a} depends on the tradeoff between the increased inherent predictive power contributed by extra cues and the extra demands on processing capacity made by those cues. To evaluate cue-addition effects on MSE, two of its components are investigated. In terms of the variability of predictions, judges have less variability in their predictions when more information is available. With regard to the criterion prediction bias, it can be either positive or negative, depending on the subjective criterion mean and cue expectations. The results suggest that judges make their criterion predictions via a mechanism akin to that described by balancing/cumulating principles. Finally, a new mathematical model describing the judge's prediction behavior is proposed on the basis of the observed results.Ph.D.PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/105229/1/9116232.pdfDescription of 9116232.pdf : Restricted to UM users only

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 polymorphism is associated with liver cirrhosis in hepatocarcinoma.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) polymorphisms are positively correlated with tumor progression in numerous malignant tumors. However, the association between FGFR4 genetic variants and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not yet been determined. In this study, we investigated the potential associations of FGFR4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with HCC susceptibility and its clinicopathological characteristics.Four SNPs in FGFR4 (rs1966265, rs351855, rs2011077, and rs7708357) were analyzed among 884 participants, including 595 controls and 289 patients with HCC. The samples were further analyzed to clarify the associations between these gene polymorphisms and the risk of HCC, and the impact of these SNPs on the susceptibility and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC. After adjusting for other covariants, HCC patients who carrying at least one A genotype (GA and AA) at rs351855 were observed to have a higher risk of liver cirrhosis compared with those carrying the wild-type genotype (GG) (OR: 2.113, 95% CI: 1.188-3.831). Moreover, the patients with at least one A genotype were particularly showed a high level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP).Our findings suggest that genetic polymorphism in FGFR4 rs351855 may be associated with the risk of HCC coupled with liver cirrhosis and may markedly increase the AFP level in Taiwanese patients with HCC. In addition, this is the first study that evaluated the risk factors associated with FGFR4 polymorphism variants in Taiwanese patients with HCC

A phase II study of sapanisertib (TAK-228) a mTORC1/2 inhibitor in rapalog-resistant advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET): ECOG-ACRIN EA2161

This was a two-stage phase II trial of a mTORC1/2 inhibitor (mTORC: mammalian target of rapamycin complex) Sapanisertib (TAK228) in patients with rapalog-resistant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) (NCT02893930). Approved rapalogs such as everolimus inhibit mTORC1 and have limited clinical activity, possibly due to compensatory feedback loops. Sapanisertib addresses the potential for incomplete inhibition of the mTOR pathway through targeting of both mTORC1 and mTORC2, and thus to reverse resistance to earlier rapamycin analogues. In stage 1, patients received sapanisertib 3 mg by mouth once daily on a continuous dosing schedule in 28-day cycle. This trial adopted a two-stage design with the primary objective of evaluating objective tumor response. The first stage would recruit 13 patients in order to accrue 12 eligible and treated patients. If among the 12 eligible patients at least 1 patient had an objective response to therapy, the study would move to the second stage of accrual where 25 eligible and treated patients would be enrolled. This study activated on February 1, 2017, the required pre-determined number of patients (n = 13) had entered by November 5, 2018 for the first stage response evaluation. The accrual of this trial was formally terminated on December 27, 2019 as no response had been observed after the first stage accrual. Treatment-related grade 3 adverse events were reported in eight (61%) patients with hyperglycemia being the most frequent, in three patients (23%). Other toxicities noted in the trial included fatigue, rash diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. The median PFS was 5.19 months (95% CI [3.84, 9.30]) and the median OS was 20.44 months (95% CI [5.65, 22.54]). Due to the lack of responses in Stage 1 of the study, the study did not proceed to stage 2. Thus the potential to reverse resistance was not evident