HER2 expression in cervical cancer as a potential therapeutic target

BACKGROUND: Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against the HER2 receptor is currently being used in breast and other tumor types. Early studies have shown that a variable proportion of cervical carcinoma tumors overexpress the HER2 receptor as evaluated by diverse techniques and antibodies. Currently it is known that a tumor response to trastuzumab strongly correlates with the level of HER2 expression evaluated by the Hercep Test, thus, it seems desirable to evaluate the status of expression of this receptor using the FDA-approved Hercep Test and grading system to gain insight in the feasibility of using trastuzumab in cervical cancer patients. METHODS: We analyzed a series of cervical cancer cell lines, the primary tumors of 35 cases of cervical cancer patients and four recurrent cases, with the Hercep Test in order to establish whether this tumor type overexpress HER2 at level of 2+/3+ as trastuzumab is currently approved for breast cancer having such level of expression. RESULTS: The results indicate that only 1 out of 35 primary tumors cases overexpress the receptor at this level, however, two out of four recurrent tumors that tested negative at diagnosis shifted to Hercep Test 2+ and 3+ respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The low frequency of expression in primary cases suggests that trastuzumab could have a limited value for the primary management of cervical cancer patients, however, the finding of "conversion" to Hercep Test 2+ and 3+ of recurrent tumors indicates the need to further evaluate the expression of HER2 in the metastatic and recurrent cases

Black girls speak: Struggling, reimagining, and becoming in schools

The current historical moment is marked by extreme forms of racialized violence, antiblackness, and political repression on the one hand, and a surge of highly-energized, highly-visible race-specific forms of political and racialized resistance on the other. Situated within the contradictions, tensions, and possibilities of the times, several exclusively Black counterpublics have emerged in the San Francisco Bay Area in the form of intentional all-Black classes, spatially situated within a larger school. These spaces provide an exceptional opportunity to explore the transformative potential of spaces that eschew theories of a colorblind, post-race society and confront race and racialization directly. To this end, I utilize BlackCrit (Dumas & ross, 2016), Fraser’s (1990) subaltern counterpublic, and hooks’ (1990) notion of homeplaces and the margin, to theorize about what I call, Black educational sovereign spaces, intentional all-Black counterpublics constructed within the context of multi-racial/ethnic, diverse school settings for the purpose of supporting Black students in racially-specific ways. Drawing on interviews with Black girl students and a Black woman educator, and classroom observations, this study explores one distinct Black educational sovereign space: An all Black, all female, young women’s studies class at a public high school in an urban district in Northern California. This manuscript constructs an ethnographic case study that explores both the ways Black girls are racialized and hypersexualized in schools, and also, the numerous ways their production of Black Girl Space facilitates a reimagining of a Black girl identity, and the development of a radical Black subjectivity. This work contributes a theorization of Black space in education and findings have implications for our understanding of the ways purposefully constructed Black educational sovereign spaces can serve to mitigate students’ racialized experiences and facilitate students’ construction of identities that reimagine problematic notions of blackness that confront them in society and in school

Utilizing a Smartphone Application to Improve Health & Wellness within Young Adults

Background:  The Cobb and Douglas counties’ youth population have three paramount health and wellness priorities 1.) Stress management or mental health 2.) Nutrition 3.) Physical activity. Unfortunately, there are barriers to these priorities for the youth population. Cost is the primary obstacle, and for some, cost prohibits them from seeking medical attention, eating healthier foods, or administering self-care. Cobb and Douglas counties offer programs to help this population eliminate barriers, but there is a lack of awareness of where and how to receive these benefits. Purpose: This research intends to assess the youth population’s perspective on health and wellness in Cobb and Douglas counties. This assessment provides essential findings to develop a cohesive strategy to remove the constraints and barriers due to the lack of program awareness of the youth population. Method: Cobb and Douglas Public Health (CDPH) conducted focus groups and asked health and wellness questions to a sample group of youth ages 18–28 years old. CDPH shared the qualitative data to help advance this evaluation project. Results: With the youth population, there is a strong distrust of media, insurance companies, government regulations, and pharmaceutical companies. The participants expressed a need for factual and relevant health and wellness information through various media and event channels. In 2019, 96% of people aged 18–29 used smartphones in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2019). The development of an interactive smartphone app would create engagement and awareness of health and wellness services and activities for the youth population and beyond. This awareness could provide a digital platform for continuous innovative growth of programs benefiting the community’s varying demographics

HAART and the changes of topics in HIV/AIDS counseling during a 11-year period

The purpose of this study is to describe and consider the historical changes of topics in counseling and psychotherapy sessions with HIV positive patients (HIV +Ps) at Hiroshima University Hospital during a 11-year period(1989-1999). All topics were classified into the following 7 categories : (1)notifications ; (2)self-help groups ; (3)quality of life ; (4)lawsuits for HIV-infection ; (5)diseases and therapies ; (6)problems of learning and working, and (7)psychological problems. The historical changes of rates of each category during the period were examined. Of 33 HIV + Ps, 19(57.6%) were hemopiliacs, and 6(18.2%) were homosexuals. The total number of topics was 1,308. The decrease of the rate of category of quality of life, and the increase of the rate of category of psychological problems were confirmed after HAART had been introduced. In the cases of sexually infected HIV + Ps, the lack of any self-help group was found. Finally, the implications of the those findings for counselings and psychotherapies with HIV + Ps in the HAART era were discussed