Expression in Aromatase Inhibitor Responder vs. Non-Responder HR+ Breast Cancer Cohorts

Hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer patients have an excellent prognosis with over 85% cure rates. However, 20,000 women with HR+ breast cancer die annually from tumor recurrence. Those at highest risk for recurrence are those women whose tumors continue to proliferate through estrogen blockade (Figure 4). Addition of chemotherapy for these patients failed to improve outcomes. We retrospectively identified women with HR+ breast cancer treated neoadjuvantly with aromatase inhibitors (AI), and selected matched patient cohorts for responders and non-responders determined by post-AI Ki67 o

Transcriptional and immunohistological assessment of immune infiltration in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is characterized by a complex tumor environment with a wide diversity of infiltrating stromal and immune cell types that impact the tumor response to conventional treatments. However, even in this poorly responsive tumor the extent of T cell infiltration as determined by quantitative immunohistology is a candidate prognostic factor for patient outcome. As such, even more comprehensive immunophenotyping of the tumor environment, such as immune cell type deconvolution via inference models based on gene expression profiling, holds significant promise. We hypothesized that RNA-Seq can provide a comprehensive alternative to quantitative immunohistology for immunophenotyping pancreatic cancer. We performed RNA-Seq on a prospective cohort of pancreatic tumor specimens and compared multiple approaches for gene expression-based immunophenotyping analysis compared to quantitative immunohistology. Our analyses demonstrated that while gene expression analyses provide additional information on the complexity of the tumor immune environment, they are limited in sensitivity by the low overall immune infiltrate in pancreatic cancer. As an alternative approach, we identified a set of genes that were enriched in highly T cell infiltrated pancreatic tumors, and demonstrate that these can identify patients with improved outcome in a reference population. These data demonstrate that the poor immune infiltrate in pancreatic cancer can present problems for analyses that use gene expression-based tools; however, there remains enormous potential in using these approaches to understand the relationships between diverse patterns of infiltrating cells and their impact on patient treatment outcomes

PANC Study (Pancreatitis: A National Cohort Study): national cohort study examining the first 30 days from presentation of acute pancreatitis in the UK

Abstract Background Acute pancreatitis is a common, yet complex, emergency surgical presentation. Multiple guidelines exist and management can vary significantly. The aim of this first UK, multicentre, prospective cohort study was to assess the variation in management of acute pancreatitis to guide resource planning and optimize treatment. Methods All patients aged greater than or equal to 18 years presenting with acute pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria, from March to April 2021 were eligible for inclusion and followed up for 30 days. Anonymized data were uploaded to a secure electronic database in line with local governance approvals. Results A total of 113 hospitals contributed data on 2580 patients, with an equal sex distribution and a mean age of 57 years. The aetiology was gallstones in 50.6 per cent, with idiopathic the next most common (22.4 per cent). In addition to the 7.6 per cent with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, 20.1 per cent of patients had a previous episode of acute pancreatitis. One in 20 patients were classed as having severe pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria. The overall mortality rate was 2.3 per cent at 30 days, but rose to one in three in the severe group. Predictors of death included male sex, increased age, and frailty; previous acute pancreatitis and gallstones as aetiologies were protective. Smoking status and body mass index did not affect death. Conclusion Most patients presenting with acute pancreatitis have a mild, self-limiting disease. Rates of patients with idiopathic pancreatitis are high. Recurrent attacks of pancreatitis are common, but are likely to have reduced risk of death on subsequent admissions. </jats:sec

Visualization of election data: Using interaction design and visual discovery for communicating complex insights

State elections results in India yield variegated and unique set of insights. Often it is hard to grasp the nuances of local electoral dynamics, and harder to communicate it to an audience not deeply engaged in the local political process, or to an audience from outside the state. While national news outlets do a fairly good job of analyzing and communicating the federal elections, the state elections in contrast have largely remained devoid of rigorous analysis and insightful communication. In this paper, using the data from the Assembly elections that took place in the state of Tamil Nadu in May 2016, we present a process and a set of interaction design and visualization methods to present complex insights. The general principles thus derived, will not only aid analysts and journalists to present their insights more effectively, but also empower the readers, depending on their level of interest and civic engagement, to go beyond what is presented and to discover new insights for themselves

communities) Elearningpost.com, 2000. This paper was written by Maish R. Nichani.

Learning through social interaction (online communities)