Dr. Alan Pollack
Happy New Year!
As we prepare for what promises to be an exciting 2021, in this newsletter we take a look back at last year's successes. Despite 2020's challenges, we thrived, as we continued to consistently provide compassionate and exceptional patient care, and broadened our academic accomplishments.
Last year, we adapted as never before. We learned to live with social distancing and surgical masks; virtual patient visits; and faculty and administrative staff working remotely via Zoom. Our meetings, Grand Rounds, research retreats, and residents' graduation became virtual. All of this became part of our department’s new normal because of the COVID pandemic.
Amid this crisis, we have shown an exceptional work ethic and terrific team collaboration. For example, thanks to incredible teamwork between our medical physics and clinical faculty, the Dwoskin proton therapy center opened on September 15th and our first proton therapy patient was treated.
It is in this team spirit that we bring you the second edition of our department newsletter. As you will see, we have been very productive—publishing peer-reviewed articles, making presentations, and winning competitive extramural grants.
As always, we welcome your feedback and ask that you please send information about accomplishments to Felisa Flores and Roberto Manzano.
Stay safe and healthy! Thank you for continuing to put our patients first and maintaining our unique culture during these stressful times.
Alan Pollack, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
|
|
|
The unique properties of protons will allow us to design novel approaches to treating cancer that build on the expertise of our physicians in conjunction with our exceptional medical physicists and biologists.
|
New Dwoskin Proton Therapy Center treated its first patients in September 2020.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commissioning and testing of Varian ProBeam proton therapy accelerator completed.
After more than a year of construction, installation, and extensive testing by our physics team, our first proton therapy patient was treated on September 15. The Varian ProBeam cyclotron and beam delivery system, known as the Compact system, was officially transferred to UM in late June.
It took seven weeks for our physicists to complete commissioning, validation, and therapist training, according to Dr. Michael Butkus, the project’s lead physicist. He said that the proton physics team, known as the “p-team,” collected data to create beam models for the treatment planning system and to maintain continued quality assurance of the installation. The p-team is composed of: Dr. Butkus, Dr. Taylor D. Harry, Irene Monterroso, M.Sc., and Dr. Mariluz De Ornelas.
Protons can deposit maximum energy with submillimeter precision within a tumor. Proton therapy can expand radiation dose to a tumor, which increases the likelihood of tumor control, while decreasing dose to healthy tissues and minimizing the chances of unwanted side effects. The new proton therapy center exclusively uses intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT), in which a small diameter proton beam is magnetically steered to different locations within a tumor.
According to a July 30th article in the InventUM newsletter, following a generous donation by Steven Dwoskin to Sylvester, the proton therapy center will be known as The Dwoskin Proton Therapy Center. “The unique properties of protons will allow us to design novel approaches to treating cancer that build on the expertise of our physicians in conjunction with our exceptional medical physicists and biologists,” Dr. Alan Pollack said in the article. “Proton therapy is another important option in our armamentarium of sophisticated tools with which to fight cancer at Sylvester.”
The proton therapy center was built for Sylvester behind UM's UHealth Tower on the medical campus. In 2019, the cyclotron, a particle accelerator, was installed. The installation is a single-room system capable of fully rotational IMPT. It includes the cyclotron, scanning technology for IMPT, a fully rotational gantry, robotic patient positioning tools, integrated cone-beam CT imaging, and a comprehensive suite of motion management tools.
|
|
|
|
|
Radiation oncology clinic wins Press Ganey award second year in a row.
The Sylvester Radiation Oncology clinic has received the 2020 Press Ganey Pinnacle of Excellence Award in patient experience. The honor, which is annually awarded to top performing organizations and is based on extraordinary achievement, recognizes groups that have maintained consistently high levels of excellence in patient experience, engagement, or clinical quality performance. Our Radiation Oncology clinic also won the award last year.
In a November 2019 InventUM article about the award, Dr. Alan Pollack said: “The radiation oncology team, from leadership to faculty to nursing to therapy to dosimetry and to the administrative staff, are very patient centric.” He added: “There is a culture that permeates the department, which has clearly resulted in this strong acknowledgement from our patients. We are thrilled to share this recognition with our team.”
Winners are identified based on their performance during three years of data collection, in this case, from May 2017 - April 2020. The award considers performance on global survey measures, including, Likelihood to Recommend, Overall Rating, and/or Teamwork, using an average across the designated questions on the Press Ganey survey. The award is bestowed by Press Ganey Associates, which develops and distributes patient satisfaction surveys.
|
|
|
|
|
SCCC receives NCI designation.
Sylvester achieved a long-coveted milestone when it was awarded with the prestigious NCI designation, making it one of just two NCI-designated cancer centers in Florida and one of 71 in the U.S. The National Cancer Institute designation, which was announced in July 2019, recognized Sylvester for its research, its patient treatment, and its outreach to medically underserved communities, achievements highlighted in Sylvester’s 1,300-page application.
In a July 2019 Miami Herald article, Amanda Rosa wrote that Dr. Stephen Nimer, Sylvester's director, said that "the designation gives South Florida patients more than a center with a fancy title; it makes Sylvester eligible to access cancer treatments, drugs and grants that are only available to NCI-designated centers. Sylvester can combine strong research and funding to personally care for individual patients. . . and the designation will also help UHealth attract graduate students, researchers and specialists."
According to a Cancer Discovery article, “the Sylvester Center will receive $2.1 million annually for five years to continue building its programs.” In the October 2019 article, Janet Colwell writes that “to achieve NCI designation, institutions must complete a rigorous application process for a 5-year core grant from the NCI's cancer centers program to fund research infrastructure, advance scientific investigation, foster collaborative programs, and engage the community. Standard core grants—and the accompanying NCI designation—are awarded to institutions demonstrating superior organizational and scientific strengths."
|
|
|
SCCC receives unprecedented anonymous gift.
A $126 million donation to Sylvester, the single largest in the nearly century old history of the University of Miami, was announced on September 1. The unrestricted anonymous gift was made in honor of Dr. Stephen Nimer, Sylvester's director, according to an InventUM newsletter article. According to the article, "the anonymous gift will serve as a matching gift to leverage additional donations of $1 million or more to Sylvester." Moreover, "this matching program will also establish a strong pool of resources for necessary investments in infrastructure, including a new research facility to foster cutting-edge, scientific discovery and interdisciplinary collaboration." Furthermore, "based on the donor’s previous interest in Dr. Nimer’s research priorities, a part of the gift will be dedicated to advancing research in cancer epigenetics and Sylvester’s experimental therapeutics program."
|
|
|
Oct. 14, 2019
There were presentations by these esteemed visitors:
- Dr. Nancy P. Mendenhall (above), medical director at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, who spoke about the role of proton therapy in breast and prostate cancer.
- Dr. James M. Metz, professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, who discussed where proton therapy ranked after a decade at his institution.
- Dr. Upendra Parvathaneni, associate professor and disease site lead for head and neck cancers at the University of Washington department of radiation oncology, who spoke about proton therapy for oropharyngeal cancer at his institution.
- Dr. Charles B. Simone, II, chief medical officer of the New York Proton Center, who talked about proton therapy for thoracic malignancies.
|
|
|
Nov. 13, 2019
There were presentations by:
- Dr. John Chetley Ford: “Quantitative radiomics of daily 0.35t MR images for prediction of tumor response”
- Dr. Ivalylo Mihaylov: “Can we for ‘see’ the abscopal effect?”
- Dr. Benjamin O. Spieler: “Plasma Exosome mRNA analysis for prostate cancer patients on BLaStM protocol"
- Dr. Wensi Tao: “Evaluation of PSMA-targeted theragnostic gold nanoparticles for prostate cancer imaging and radiosensitization”
- Dr. Aaron Wolfson: “Phase Ib trial of preoperative89 Zr-Bev immuno-PET/CT-guided simultaneous integrated boost radiation therapy for patients with locally advanced non-metastatic soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity/chest wall”
|
|
|
Drs. Wensi Tao, Junwei Shi, and Teresa M. Giret.
|
|
|
Feb. 6, 2020
Our visiting reviewer was Dr. Phuoc T. Tran, clinical director of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences and an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. There were presentations by:
- Dr. Gregory Azzam: “Role of senescence in radiation-induced fibrosis”
- Dr. Sarah Dooley: “Edema progression during MRI-guided glioblastoma radiotherapy”
- Dr. Benjamin Farnia: "Patient reported outcomes and early toxicity from a Phase III randomized trial of moderate vs. ultra hypofractionated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer"
- Dr. Ricardo Llorente: “Gender diversity in academic oncology programs: U.S. and abroad”
- Dr. Jessica Meshman: “Biopsy positivity in prostate cancer patients undergoing mpMRI-targeted radiation dose escalation”
- Dr. Benjamin Rich: "Cohort of patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancer who do not require opioids"
- Dr. Crystal Seldon: "Pathologic response rates after neoadjuvant therapy for sarcoma"
- Dr. Benjamin O. Spieler: "Pathologic response rates after neoadjuvant therapy for sarcoma"
- Dr. Renae Van Wyhe: “Predictors of overall survival among hormone receptor positive patients with oligometastatic breast cancer”
|
|
|
Dr. Pollack and Dr. Tran.
|
|
|
May 6, 2020
In this retreat that took place via Zoom and focused on proton therapy clinical trials, there were presentations by:
- Dr. Cristiane Takita: "Phase II randomized trial PROton vs. photon Therapy APBI for Early stage breast Cancer to decrease Toxicity: the PROTECT trial"
- Dr. Alan Dal Pra: “Preoperative proton- vs photon-based stereotactic MRI-guided focal radiotherapy for high risk prostate cancer”
- Dr. Michael Samuels: “Head/neck cancer proton research concepts” (presented virtually during the continuation of this retreat on July 8, 2020)
|
|
|
Who's zooming who? A virtual sight for quarantined eyes.
|
|
|
Thanks to those who shared their expertise with us: Aug. 2019 - Sept. 2020
- Joe Y. Chang, M.D., Ph.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: "Advancing proton therapy in thoracic malignancies: Beyond proton Bragg peak
- Lei Dong, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania: "Why protons and why now? An introduction to modern proton therapy"
- Steven J. Frank, M.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: "The road ahead to personalizing proton therapy"
- Robert Getzenberg, Ph.D., Nova Southeastern University: "Stressing the cancer microenvironment: A synergistic approach to address the therapeutic resistance of advanced prostate cancer"
- Daphne Haas-Kogan, M.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: "Why is impactful science so hard to translate?"
- Katja M. Langen, Ph.D., Emory Proton Therapy Center: "Proton Therapy: Uncertainties and mitigation techniques"
- Percy Lee, M.D., University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: "Targeting lung cancer: leveraging technology with biology"
- Jean Lundberg Wright, M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center: "The evolving role of radiation in early breast cancer"
- Amichay Meirovitz, M.D., Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem: "Brachytherapy - another way for organ preservation in H&N cancer"
- Nancy P. Mendenhall, M.D., University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute: "Is there a role for proton therapy in prostate cancer?"
- Richard Popple, Ph.D., and John Fiveash, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham: "Single isocenter center treatment planning and delivery for multiple brain metastases"
- William F. Regine, M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine: "Making proton therapy accessible as a 'regional healthcare resource': Overcoming challenges and increasing clinical trial accrual"
- Hui-Kuo G. Shu, M.D., Ph.D., Emory University School of Medicine: "Advances in whole brain MRI to improve glioma imaging"
- Shankar Siva, Ph.D., Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria, Australia: "Ablative radiotherapy and immunotherapy: a match made in heaven"
- Phuoc T. Tran, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: "Implication of epithelial plasticity programs in oligometastatic prostate cancer"
|
|
|
|
Ahmad Algohary, Ph.D., Post-doc Research, Case Western University
Jonathan Cyriac, BA, MS, CMD, Dosimetrist, Miami Cancer Institute
Gus Luciani, RT (T), CMD, Dosimetrist, Miami Cancer Institute
Hainam Luong, RN, BSN, Nurse, Bee Well Home Health Care
Vania Saenz, RN, BSN, Nurse, Internal transfer
Andrew Schall, BA, MS, CMD, Dosimetrist, Memorial Cancer Institute
Ling Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Research, Internal transfer
Boris Zholendz, BA, MS, CMD, Dosimetrist, Miami Cancer Institute
|
CongratulationsResident Graduates
|
|
|
Drs. Butkus, Diwanji, and Pollack interviewed for InventUM article.
The InventUM article highlighted the opening of Sylvester's Dwoskin Proton Therapy Center, now Florida's only proton treatment center that is part of an NCI-designated cancer center.
“Protons have unique attributes, which in some cases will allow for less radiation dose to healthy tissues and organs surrounding the cancer being targeted,” Dr. Alan Pollack said in the September 15 article by Diana Gonzalez. “When the radiation dose to normal structures can be reduced, there can be meaningful reduction of side effects later.”
Dr. Michael Butkus and Dr. Tejan Diwanji are the co-directors of Sylvester’s proton therapy program. Together they help prepare patients' treatment plans.
"Proton therapy is an incredibly intricate and complex treatment that requires expertise at every level to design an individualized treatment plan for each patient,” Dr. Butkus said. “We calculate and adjust how the proton beam delivers the appropriate dose to the tumor.”
“The team at the Dwoskin Proton Therapy Center will guide you through every step of your journey, from a planning CT-scan, to designing custom devices that enhance the accuracy and precision of treatment, to the planning and delivery of each treatment, which can span several weeks,” Dr. Diwanji said.
Drs. Pollack and Diwanji, along with philanthropist Steven Dwoskin, for whom the new proton therapy center was named, were interviewed for a video accompanying the article.
|
|
|
Dr. Mahal interviewed by InventUM about his study about racial differences in prostate cancer genomic profiling.
In the study published in a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine correspondence section on Sept. 10, researchers showed that genomic variations that drive prostate cancer vary significantly among white, Asian, and Black patients, according to a September InventUM article by Josh Baxt.
“Black men are much more likely to develop prostate cancer and more than twice as likely to die from it, and we need to understand why,” Dr. Brandon Mahal, first author on the study, said in the article. “The studies we use to develop prognostic models and novel treatments based on genomics are highly Eurocentric, and there are few Black patients included in them. . . As a result, we risk developing ‘precision’ prognostic tools and ‘precision’ therapeutics that are really only designed for one population. This current trend could widen cancer disparities.”
To better understand prostate cancer genomics in the different groups, the researchers studied genomic sequences in 2,393 patients (2,109 white, 204 Black, and 80 Asian) at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, focusing on mutational profiles in 474 genes. Among the cohort, 1,484 patients had primary tumors and 909 patients had metastatic tumors.
“The most significant thing we found was that Black men with metastatic prostate cancer were much more likely than white or Asian men to have tumor mutations in the androgen receptor,” Dr. Mahal said. “The caveat is, we don’t know what’s driving that difference. It could be underlying population differences or other external factors such as the treatments these patients received, social factors, or even other comorbid diseases."
|
|
|
Drs. Mellon and Diwanji mentioned in InventUM article.
According to a March 2020 InventUM article by Richard Westlund about Sylvester's Brain Tumor initiative, Drs. Eric Mellon and Tejan Diwanji are "skilled in using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for brain and spine tumors, and use advanced technology like the GammaKnife, ViewRay, and HyperArc to help diagnose and treat the varied types of benign and malignant tumors." Dr. Mellon, co-leader of Sylvester’s neuro-oncology site disease group, said: “All of our specialists publish articles regularly on brain tumors, present at international conferences, and collaborate on treatment guideline development."
|
|
|
Dr. Yechieli interviewed for Herald article about childhood cancer radiation treatments.
Dr. Raphael Yechieli was interviewed for a May 2020 Miami Herald article headlined "Childhood cancer radiation treatments can cause later-in-life heart disease." The story, by Steve Rothaus, focused on the experience of Dr. Jorge Orbay, an orthopedic surgeon who had Hodgkin’s disease as a teenager in the 1970s. At that time, "doctors treated him with heavy doses of radiation, which affected his heart later in life."
Dr. Yechieli explained that "radiation to the chest and heart structure is known to cause cardiac toxicity. In combination (with chemotherapies), the risk of cardiac toxicity is even higher." Dr. Yechieli added that nowadays doctors can better “map out the at-risk areas of the heart itself" and that "with intensity-modulated radiation therapy and image-guided radiation therapy, as well as the use of proton therapy, we hope to continue to mitigate these risks going forward, to provide cure with less and less side effects."
|
|
|
Dr. Giret takes virtual exercise classes through Sylvester support services.
Dr. Teresa M. Giret, an assistant scientist in our department, was interviewed for a May 2020 Miami Herald story headlined "Virtual yoga, music therapy—cancer patients find support online amid COVID-19." In the Rochelle Koff article, Dr. Giret, who discovered that she had breast cancer in 2017, said that she is taking virtual exercise classes through the Sylvester support services program. According to the article, she also "attends a virtual support group with one of her three daughters, tried music therapy, and has had four virtual medical appointments, which have helped with lipedema issues." “Now I have exercises and a routine,” she said.
|
|
|
Drs. Farnia and Freedman recognized by Practical Radiation Oncology journal.
In a February 2020 editorial headlined "Grateful Recognition of PRO Reviewer Apprentices and Reviewers of the Year," Dr. Benjamin Farnia was one of eight reviewer apprentices recognized. PRO editor-in-chief Dr. W. Robert Lee wrote that as part of the journal's reviewer apprentice program, "each of these individuals has completed at least 6 reviews while working closely with an executive editor who provided individualized feedback." Dr. Lee also acknowledged Dr. Laura Freedman as one of the top seven reviewers for 2019: "These individuals have provided multiple timely, high-quality reviews."
|
|
|
A great way to start the New Year.
In a January email message to the department, Dr. Cristiane Takita, professor and residency program director, shared the happy news.
So let's congratulate those who passed two American Board of Radiology exams, radiation and cancer biology and medical physics for radiation oncology: Drs. Ricardo Llorente (fellow), Jessica Meshman, Nirav Patel, and Benjamin Spieler.
Let's also congratulate those who passed their clinical radiation oncology board exam: Drs. Gregory Azzam and Benjamin Farnia. (Dr. David Asher was unable to take his exam because of a COVID-related test site cancellation, but his test was rescheduled for April 2021.)
Dr. Takita wrote that that it was important to recognize the mentors who helped make this success possible. She gave a special shoutout "to all the physics and radiobio teachers from our department: Dr. Joseph Both, the physics course director; Dr. Matthew Studenski, who provided a physics review prior to the ABR boards; Dr. Scott Welford, the radiobio course director; Dr. Brian Marples, who provided a course review prior to the boards exams; and the clinical faculty, who provided lectures throughout the year. We could not accomplish this achievement without this outstanding team of teachers!"
|
|
|
Dr. Meshman honored by CIR Women in Medicine committee.
Dr. Jessica Meshman (PGY-5) was honored at a December 10 virtual event for UM Miller School of Medicine women faculty who have been recently promoted and other award winners. It was organized by UMMSM's Women in Academic Medicine group and the Committee of Interns and Residents. Residents and fellows were recognized for "outstanding research and patient care and for advancing the field of medicine for women."
|
|
|
UM medical student wins first place at annual symposium.
Jacqueline Baikovitz, an MD/MPH student at UM mentored by Drs. Lorraine Portelance and Radka Stoyanova, received a first-place award at the Eastern-Atlantic Student Research Forum at the Miller School of Medicine last February. She won in the Outstanding Clinical Science Oral Presentation category for her project, "Developing an artificial intelligence software to contour the gross tumor volume (GTV) and organs at risk (OAR) for MRI-guided adaptive radiation therapy (ART) for the treatment of intact cervical cancer."
|
|
|
|
|
$2.9 million awarded for prostate cancer study.
Their study, “MRI imaging and biomarkers for early detection of aggressive prostate cancer,” aims to improve the selection of patients for prostate biopsies. Last November, the study received a UO1 National Institutes of Health NCI award. According to a March 2020 article in InventUM, the study's principal investigators "will study undiagnosed men using quantitative multiparametric (mp) MRI to determine if the technology developed by the group, when combined with blood biomarkers, improves the selection of patients who are at a very low risk of having a significant prostate cancer."
In the article, Dr. Pollack, the study's principal investigator, along with Drs. Sanoj Punnen and Radka Stoyanova, said: “Our team has run several clinical trials that provided a framework for the development of software that automates the identification and risk classification of areas in the prostate that should be biopsied." He added: “Our approach takes the guesswork out of needle placement for sampling."
|
|
|
|
|
$1.8 million NCI grant awarded for prostate cancer.
Dr. Priyamvada (Priya) Rai's study, "Novel mechanisms of ROS/RNS signaling underlying castration-resistant prostate cancer emergence and progression," received the R01 National Institutes of Health NCI grant in July 2020. The study's hypothesis is that decreased soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) activity promotes CRPC growth and that increasing sGC activity will limit CRPC emergence and progression. It will investigate stimulation of sGC activity via riociguat, a repurposed FDA-approved and well-tolerated drug, as a potentially safe and effective approach to reduce CRPC growth and progression.
|
|
|
|
|
Rapid response grant for COVID-19 project awarded.
According to an April 2020 article by Janette Neuwahl Tannen in NEWS@TheU, Dr. Radka Stoyanova's project was one of 24 proposals by UM research teams that received "rapid response grants to undertake innovative projects that will provide critical information about the novel coronavirus." Her project, "Deep learning approaches for analysis of chest radiographic images of COVID-19 cases for clinical management of the disease," aims to "develop a deep learning program that could classify X-ray or CT scan imaging characteristics in COVID-19 patients, which could help radiologists categorize them in those patients who require hospitalization, those who will need intensive care unit admission, and those at risk of death. In addition, such a deep learning network could be used to predict patients’ responses to current experimental drugs."
The grants, which are from UM's Office of the Vice Provost for Research, range from $5,000 to $40,000. They "require faculty members and students to develop and execute research that will somehow broaden our understanding of COVID-19 and begin to mitigate its impacts within the next four months." Faculty had only 10 days to submit proposals and "awardees were selected based on novelty, potential impact on the effort to combat COVID-19, and whether the study could be completed in short turnaround time."
|
|
|
|
|
SCCC and American Cancer Society grant awarded.
Dr. Wensi Tao's study, "Evaluation of PSMA-targeted theragnostic gold nanoparticles for prostate cancer imaging and radiosensitization," received the one-year $45,000 award in September 2019. The study's hypothesis is that PSMA-targeted theragnostic gold nanoparticles (GNPs) will increase the sensitivity of diagnosis and the efficiency of radiotherapy. Its aims are to develop tumor imaging with the GNPs and to determine/optimize control of tumor growth.
|
|
|
|
|
FCBTR grant awarded.
Dr. Scott Welford's study, "Targeting glutamate signaling to improve therapeutic outcome following radiation therapy for brain tumors," received the $50,000 award from the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research, in collaboration with Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, in May 2020.
The study's hypothesis is that targeting glutamate signaling in combination with radiation therapy will protect healthy cells from radiation-induced neurotoxicity while simultaneously exerting anti-tumor effects. The aims are to determine the impact of a brain tumor on glutamate release after radiation and to evaluate the benefit of inhibition of glutamate signaling in sensitizing tumors to radiation while protecting the healthy brain.
|
|
|
ResearchPublications (Mar 2019 - Dec 2020)
|
|
|
|
Aguila B, Morris AB, Spina R, Bar E, Schraner J, Vinkler R, Sohn JW, Welford SM. The Ig superfamily protein PTGFRN coordinates survival signaling in glioblastoma multiforme. Cancer Lett. 462: 33-42, 2019. [Epub 2019 Aug 1.]
Ahmed AA, Ramey SJ, Dean MK, Takita C, Schwartz D, Wilson LD, Vapiwala N, Thomas CR Jr, Shanafelt TD, Deville C, Jagsi R, Holliday E. Socioeconomic factors associated with burnout among oncology trainees. JCO Oncol Pract. 16(4): e415 - e424, April 2020. doi: 10.1200/JOP.19.00703.
Alderuccio JP, Isrow D, Reis I, Iyer SG, Meshman J, Zhao W, Vega F, Chapman J, Markoe A, Lossos IS. Diagnostic bone marrow biopsy in patients with stage I EMZL treated with radiation therapy: needed or not? Blood. 2020. [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jan 24].
Atluri V, Stoyanova R, Soodana-Prakash N, Ritch C, Nahar B, Gonzalgo M, Kava B, Parekh D, Pollack A, Punnen S. Genomic heterogeneity in tissue-based prognostic signatures from prostate biopsies; results from two prospective trials. J Urology. 203: E115, 2020.
Avkshtol V, Ruth KJ, Ross EA, Hallman MA, Greenberg RE, Price RA Jr, Leachman B, Uzzo RG, Ma C, Chen D, Geynisman DM, Sobczak ML, Zhang E, Wong JK, Pollack A, Horwitz EM. Ten-Year update of a randomized, prospective trial of conventional fractionated versus moderate hypofractionated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2020 May 20; 38 (15): 1676-1684. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.01485. Epub 2020 Mar 2.
Binder C, Mruthyunjaya P, Schefler AC, Seider MI, Crilly R, Hung A, Meltsner S, Mowery Y, Kirsch DG, Teh BS, Jennelle RLS, Studenski MT, Liu W, Lee C, Hayman JA, Kastner B, Hadsell M, Skalet AH. Practice patterns for the treatment of uveal melanoma with iodine-125 plaque brachytherapy: Ocular oncology study consortium report 5. Ocul Oncol Pathol. 6 (3): 210-218. 2020 May. doi: 10.1159/000504312. [Epub ahead of print 2019 Dec 11.]
Brovold N, King A, Xu Y, Diwanji T, Pollack A, Dogan N. Assessment of robustly optimized intensity modulated proton therapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy for prostate cancer. Med Phys. 46: E625, 2019.
Buyyounouski MK, Bagshaw HP, Heidari N, Pollack A, Stoyanova R, Horwitz EM, Morton G, Kishan AU, Scheinker D, Martinez A. A patient-centric, systematic, quantitative, and visual approach to prostate cancer treatment decision making. Int J Radiat Oncol. (Suppl.) 105(1):S135, 2019. doi: DOI 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.125.
Campbell SR, Agrawal S, Tom MC, Efstathiou JA, Zietman AL, Michalski JM, Abramowitz MC, Pollack A, Spratt DE, Hearn JWD, Stephans KL, Tendulkar RD. Impact of post-prostatectomy prostate specific antigen (PSA) kinetics on outcomes of salvage radiotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol. (Suppl.) 105 (1): S38-S9, 2019. doi: DOI 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.457.
Chang YC, Mahan J, Subhawong Ty K, Wilky BA, Breto AL, Diwanji T, Yechieli R, Stoyanova R. Quantitative imaging features of habitats in soft tissue sarcomas are associated with treatment response: a pilot study. Cancer Stud Ther J. 4 (3): 1–6, 2019 June.
Dal Pra A, Abramowitz M, Pollack A. Local treatment in metastatic prostate cancer: A cultural shift confronts power and selection. Eur Urol. 75(3): 419-422, 2019 Mar. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2018.11.054.
Dal Pra A, Pollack A. Using hormone therapy with salvage radiotherapy according to presalvage PSA levels. Nat Rev Urol. 2020 May 18. doi: 10.1038/s41585-020-0333-9. Online ahead of print.
Danielpour D, Gao Z, Zmina PM, Shankar E, Shultes BC, Jobava R, Welford SM, Hatzoglou M. Early cellular responses of prostate carcinoma cells to sepantronium bromide (YM155) involve suppression of mTORC1 by AMPK. Sci Rep. 9:11541, 2019.
Dean MK, Studenski MT, Paez-Escamilla MA, Walter SD, Kwon D, Markoe AM, Harbour JW, Samuels SE. Dosimetric comparison of circular eye physics and collaborative ocular melanoma study plaques to treat uveal melanoma. Brachytherapy. 18 (3): 404 - 410, 2019 May - Jun.
De Bruycker A, Tran PT, Achtman AH, Ost P, GAP6 consortium (Boutros PC, Buzza M, Corcoran NM, Dal Pra A, Emmenegger U, Fraser M, Hovens CM, Koontz BF, Lapointe J, Vela I). Clinical perspectives from ongoing trials in oligometastatic or oligorecurrent prostate cancer: An analysis of clinical trials registries. World J Urol. 2020 Jan 18. doi: 10.1007/s00345-019-03063-4. [Online ahead of print.]
Delgadillo R, Ford JC, Abramowitz MC, Dal Pra A, Pollack A, Stoyanova R. The role of radiomics in prostate cancer radiotherapy. Strahlenther Onkol. 196: 900-912, 2020 Oct. doi: 10.1007/s00066-020-01679-9. [Epub 2020 Aug 21.]
Elshaikh M, Modh A, Jhingran A, Biagioli M, Coleman R, Gaffney D, Harkenrider M, Heskett K, Jolly S, Kidd E, Lee LJ, Li L, Portelance L, Sherertz T, Venkatessan AM, Wahl A, Yashar CM, Small W. Executive summary of the American Radium Society ®appropriate use criteria for management of uterine carcinosarcoma. 158 (2): 460-466, 2020 Aug. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.04.683. Epub 2020 May 29.
Engel S, Awerbuch A, Kwon D, Picado O, Yechieli R, Yakoub D, Portelance L. Optimal radiation dosing in concurrent neoadjuvant chemoradiation for resectable esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis. J Gastrointest Oncol. 10: 391-399, 2019.
Ezzati AO, Studenski MT. Design of a neutron applicator to reduce damage in cardiac implantable electronic devices. Eur. Phys. J. Plus. 134, 2019.
Feng FY, Sandler HM, Huang HC, Simko J, Davicioni E, Nguyen PL, Efstathiou JA, Dicker AP, Dignam JJ, Seiferheld W, Lukka H, Bahary JP, Pisansky TM, Hall WA, Shah AI, Pugh SL, Pollack A, Spratt DE, Shipley WU, Tran PT. Transcriptome profiling of NRG Oncology/RTOG 9601: Validation of a prognostic genomic classifier in salvage radiotherapy prostate cancer patients from a prospective randomized trial. J Clin Oncol. (Suppl.) 38(6): S276, 2020.
Grant SR, Noticewala SS, Mainwaring W, Lin TA, Miller AB, Jethanandani A, Espinoza AF, Gunn GB, Fuller CD, Thomas CR Jr, Portelance L, Ludmir EB. Non-English language validation of patient-reported outcome measures in cancer clinical trials. Support Care Cancer. 2020. [Epub ahead of print.]
Grizzle WE, Kittles RA, Rais‐Bahrami S, Shah E, Adams GW, DeGuenther MS, Kolettis PN, Nix JW, Bryant JE, Chinsky R, Kearns JE, Dehimer K, Terrin N, Chang H, Gaston SM. Self‐identified African Americans and prostate cancer risk: West African genetic ancestry is associated with prostate cancer diagnosis and with higher Gleason sum on biopsy. Cancer Medicine 2019 Nov; 8 (16): 6915-6922. doi: 10.1002/cam4.2434. Epub 2019 Sep 30.
Held T, Windisch P, Akbaba S, Lang K, Farnia B, Liermann J, Bernhardt D, Plinkert P, Freudlsperger C, Rieken S, Herfarth K, Debus J, Adeberg S. Rare entities in head-and-neck cancer: salvage re-irradiation with carbon ions. Radiat Oncol 14: 202, 2019.
Iakymenko OA, Lugo I, Kwon D, Zhao W, Hayee A, Punnen S, Parekh DJ, Pollack A, Ritch CR, Gonzalgo ML, Stoyanova R, Jorda M, Kryvenko ON. Prostatic ductal adenocarcinoma controlled for cancer grade and tumor volume does not have an independent effect on adverse radical prostatectomy outcomes compared to usual acinar prostatic adenocarcinoma. Urology. 2020 Mar; 137: 108-114. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2019.10.014. Epub 2019 Nov 9.
Jairath NK, Dal Pra A, Vince R Jr, Dess RT, Jackson WC, Tosoian JJ, McBride SM, Zhao SG, Berlin A, Mahal BA, Kishan AU, Den RB, Freedland SJ, Salami SS, Kaffenberger SD, Pollack A, Tran P, Mehra R, Morgan TM, Weiner AB, Mohamad O, Carroll PR, Cooperberg MR, Karnes RJ, Nguyen PL, Michalski JM, Tward JD, Feng FY, Schaeffer EM, Spratt DE. A systematic review of the evidence for the decipher genomic classifier in prostate cancer. Eur Urol. S0302-2838(20)30885-X, 2020 Dec 5. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2020.11.021. [Online ahead of print.]
Janssen QP, Buettner S, Suker M, Beumer BR, Addeo P, Bachellier P, Bahary N, Bekaii-Saab T, Bali MA, Besselink MG, Boone BA, Chau I, Clarke S, Dillhoff M, El-Rayes BF, Frakes JM, Grose D, Hosein PJ, Jamieson NB, Javed AA, Khan K, Kim K, Kim SC, Kim SS, Ko AH, Lacy J, Margonis GA, McCarter MD, McKay CJ, Mellon EA, Moorcraft SY, Okada K, Paniccia A, Parikh PJ, Peters NA, Rabl H, Samra J, Tinchon C, van Tienhoven G, van Veldhuisen E, Wang-Gillam A, Weiss MJ, Wilmink JW, Yamaue H, Homs MYV, van Eijck CHJ, Katz MHG, Koerkamp BG. Neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer: a systematic review and patient-level meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2019. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djz073. [Epub ahead of print]
Jimenez RB, Johnson A, Padilla L, Yechieli R, Forman R, Horick N, Thomas H, Gunther JR, Olivier K, Golden DW, Fields E; Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group. The impact of an introductory radiation oncology curriculum (IROC) for radiation oncology trainees across the United States and Canada. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020. [Epub ahead of print.]
Jin S, Han S, Stoyanova R, Ackerstaff E, Cho H. Pattern recognition analysis of dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)-MRI curves automatically segments tissue areas with intact blood-brain barrier in a rat stroke model: A feasibility and comparison study. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2019. [Epub ahead of print.]
Jordan SE, Schlumbrecht M, George S, Pearson JM, Wolfson A, Slomovitz B, Portelance L, Huang, M. The Moore criteria: Applicability in a diverse, non-trial recurrent cervical cancer population. Gynecol Oncol. 2020. [Epub ahead of print.]
Koontz BF, Dal Pra A. Shifting the curtain—can we make sense of the whole pelvis controversy? Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 106 (3): 534-536, 2020 Mar 1. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.11.012.
Lamichhane N, Studenski M. Improving TBI lung dose calculations: Can the treatment planning system help? Medical Dosimetry. 2019. [Epub ahead of print.]
Lamichhane N, Studenski M, Rong Y. Expanding the reach of medical physics: Immunotherapy should be included as part of the curriculum for medical physics education and training. J Appl. Clin. Med. Phys. 21: 6-10, 2020.
Lee E, Eum SY, Slifer SH, Martin ER, Takita C, Wright JL, Hines RB, Hu JJ. Association between polymorphisms in DNA damage repair genes and radiation therapy-induced early adverse skin reactions in a breast cancer population: a polygenic risk score approach. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 106: 948-957, 2020. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
Lee E, Takita C, Wright JL, Slifer SH, Martin ER, Urbanic JJ, Langefeld CD, Lesser GJ, Shaw EG, Hu JJ. Genome-wide enriched pathway analysis of acute post-radiotherapy pain in breast cancer patients: a prospective cohort study. Hum Genomics. 13 (1): 28, 2019 June. doi: 10.1186/s40246-019-0212-8.
Llorente R, Spieler BO, Victoria J, Takita C, Yechieli R, Ford JC, Brown K, Samuels MA, Mellon EA. MRI-guided stereotactic ablative radiation therapy of spinal bone metastases: a preliminary experience. Br J Radiol. 2020. [Epub 2019 Nov 12.]
Mehta S, Farnia B, de la Zerda A, Rahimi R, Wolfson A, Portelance L. Dosimetric effects of the Smit sleeve on high-dose-rate brachytherapy tandem and ovoids plans for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. J Contemp Brachytherapy. 11: 584-588, 2019. Epub 2019 Dec 6.
Mehta S, Ramey SJ, Kwon D, Rich BJ, Ahmed AA, Wolfson A, Yechieli R, Portelance L, Mellon E. Impact of radiotherapy duration on overall survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the anus. J Gastrointest Oncol. 11: 277-290, 2020.
Naumann P, Eberlein J, Farnia B, Liermann J, Hackert T, Debus J, Combs SE. Cachectic body composition and inflammatory markers portend a poor prognosis in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer treated with chemoradiation. Cancers (Basel). 11: 1655, 2019
Pasalic D, Kuban DA, Allen PK, Tang C, Mesko SM, Grant SR, Augustyn AA, Frank SJ, Choi S, Hoffman KE, Nguyen QN, McGuire SE, Pollack A, Anscher MS. Dose escalation for prostate adenocarcinoma: A long-term update on the outcomes of a phase 3, single institution randomized clinical trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019 Jul 15; 104 (4): 790-797. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.02.045. Epub 2019 Mar 2.
Pasol J, Mellon EA, Feun LG, Saigal GM, Diwanji TP, Komotar RJ. Unilateral fourth nerve palsy due to presumed metastatic melanoma. J Neuroophthalmol. 2020 [Epub ahead of print].
Pollack A, Chinea FM, Bossart E, Kwon D, Abramowitz M, Lynne C, Jorda M, Marples B, Patel VN, Wu X, Reis I, Studenski MT, Casillas J, Stoyanova R. Phase I trial of MRI-guided prostate cancer lattice extreme ablative dose (LEAD) boost radiotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Jun 1;107 (2) : 305-315. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.01.052. Epub 2020 Feb 19.
Ramey SJ, Silver B, Diaz DA, Munjal A, Mehta S, Rich B, Yechieli R, Takita C. Smoking cessation at a safety-net hospital: a radiation oncology resident-led quality improvement initiative. Adv in Rad Onc. 2020, June 11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2020.05.013
Salem R, Padia SA, Lam M, Bell J, Chiesa C, Fowers K, Hamilton B, Herman J, Kappadath SC, Leung T, Portelance L, Sze D, Garin E. Clinical and dosimetric considerations for Y90: Recommendations from an international multidisciplinary working group. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 46: 1695-1704, 2019.
Salles DC, Trock B, Shipley W, Tho P, De Marzo A, Feng F, Simko J, Pollack A, Bahary JP, Lukka H, Straza M, Cleary S, Hopkins J, Macher M, Hartford A, Desai A, Donavanik V, Spratt D, Yamoah K, Dignam J, Lotan T. Association of PTEN status with response to salvage radiation therapy with or without anti-androgen therapy: A study of RTOG 96-01. Lab Invest. (Suppl 1) 100: 878-9, 2020.
Schumacher L-ED, Sargi ZB, Masforroll M, Kwon D, Zhao W, Rueda-Lara MA, Freedman LM, Elsayyad N, Samuels SE, Abramowitz MC, Samuels MA. Long-term opioid use in curative-intent radiotherapy: One-Year outcomes in head/neck cancer patients. Head and Neck. 42: 608–624, 2020.
Shi J, Granger B, Xu K, Yang Y. Quantitative X-ray fluorescence imaging of gold nanoparticles using joint L1 and total variation regularized reconstruction. Quantitative Imaging Med Surg: 10: 184-196, 2020.
Shi J, Udayakumar T, Dogan N, Pollack A, Yang Y. Fluorescence molecular tomography/X-ray computed tomography dual-modality tumor detection using active targeting nanoparticles and effective background subtraction. Med Phys. 46(6): E300-E1, 2019.
Schumacher LD, Dal Pra A, Hoffe SE, Mellon EA. Toxicity reduction required for MRI-guided radiotherapy to be cost-effective in the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Br J Radiol. 93 (1114), 2020 Oct 1. doi: 10.1259/bjr.20200028. [Epub 2020 Aug 12.]
Simpson G, Spieler B, Dogan N, Portelance L, Mellon EA, Kwon D, Ford JC, Yang F. Predictive value of 0.35T magnetic resonance imaging radiomics features in stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy of pancreatic cancer: A pilot study. Medical Physics, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/mp.14200
Soodana-Prakash N, Castillo RP, Reis IM, Stoyanova R, Kwon D, Velasquez MC, Nahar B, Kannabur P, Johnson TA, Swain SK, Ben-Yakar N, Venkatramani V, Ritch C, Satyanarayana R, Gonzalgo ML, Parekh DJ, Bittencourt L, Punnen S. Validation of dominant and secondary sequence utilization in PI-RADS v2 for classifying prostatic lesions. Can J Urol. 26: 9763-9768, 2019.
Spieler BO, Lopes G, Dal Pra A, Diwanji T, Yechieli R, Freedman LM, Mihaylov I. Is checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis underreported in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) on PD-1 inhibitor monotherapy? J Clini Oncol 38 (suppl, 9579), 2020.
Spieler B, Samuels SE, Llorente R, Yechieli R, Ford JC, Mellon EA. Advantages of radiation therapy simulation with 0.35 tesla magnetic resonance imaging for stereotactic ablation of spinal metastases. Pract Radiat Oncol. 2019. [Epub ahead of print.]
Spina R, Voss DM, Yang X, Sohn JW, Vinkler R, Schraner J, Sloan A, Welford SM, Avril N, Ames HM, Woodworth GF, Bar EE. MCT4 regulates de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis in GBM in a lactate-independent manner. Neurooncol Adv. 2: vdz062, 2020.
Stoyanova R, Giret TM, Abraham S, Zheng Ao, Williams A, Udayakumar TS, Torres-Munoz J, Patel M, Breto AL, Ramachandran K, Singal R, Datar R, Jorda M, Cote R, Ishkanian A, Zeidan YH, Dal Pra A, Abramowitz M, Pollack A. Contrasting circulating tumor cells and free circulating DNA responses in men treated for prostate cancer after primary versus salvage radiotherapy. Clin Oncol Res. Epub 2020 January. doi: 10.31487/j.COR.2019.06.13
Studenski MT, Delgadillo R, Xu Y, Both J, Padgett K, Abramowitz M, Ford JC, Dal Pra A, Pollack A, Dogan N. Margin verification for hypofractionated prostate radiotherapy using a novel dose accumulation workflow and iterative CBCT. Phys Med. 77:154-159, 2020 Sep. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2020.08.008. [Epub 2020 Aug 28.]
Studenski MT, Patel NV, Markoe A, Harbour JW, Samuels SE. Influence of tumor shape and location in eye plaque brachytherapy dosimetry. Brachytherapy. 2020. [Epub ahead of print.]
Thakur VS, Aguila B, Brett-Morris A, Creighton CJ, Welford SM. Spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase 1 is a gene-specific transcriptional regulator that drives brain tumor aggressiveness. Oncogene. 38: 6794-6800, 2019.
Tosoian JJ, Birer SR, Jeffrey Karnes R, Zhang J, Davicioni E, Klein EE, Freedland SJ, Weinmann S, Trock BJ, Dess RT, Zhao SG, Jackson WC, Yamoah K, Dal Pra A, Mahal BA, Morgan TM, Mehra R, Kaffenberger S, Salami SS, Kane C, Pollack A, Den RB, Berlin A, Schaeffer EM, Nguyen PL, Feng FY, Spratt DE. Performance of clinicopathologic models in men with high risk localized prostate cancer: Impact of a 22-gene genomic classifier. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2020 Mar 30. doi: 10.1038/s41391-020-0226-2. Online ahead of print.
Udayakumar TS, Betancourt DM, Ahmad A, Tao W, Totiger TM, Patel M, Marples B, Barber G, Pollack A. Radiation attenuates prostate tumor antiviral responses to vesicular stomatitis virus containing IFNβ, resulting in pronounced antitumor systemic immune responses. Mol Cancer Res. 2020 Aug; 18(8): 1232-1243. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-19-0836. Epub 2020 May 4.
Waldron BD, Grobman AB, Szczupak M, Farnia BS, Lo K, Sargi Z, Samuels MA. Complications and toxicity of re-irradiation following total laryngectomy for laryngeal cancer. J Radiat Oncol. 8: 369–377, 2019 Dec.
Yang Y, Portelance L, Dogan N, Pollack A. The impact of cine magnetic resonance image gating in breath hold pancreas cancer radiotherapy. Med Phys. 46(6): E205, 2019.
Yang F, Simpson G, Young L, Ford J, Dogan N, Wang L. Impact of contouring variability on oncological PET radiomics features in the lung. Sci Rep. 10: 2020.
Yang F, Young L, Yang Y. Data for erring patterns in manual delineation of PET-imaged lung lesions. Data Brief. 28, 2019.
Yang F, Young L, Yang Y. Quantitative imaging: Erring patterns in manual delineation of PET-imaged lung lesions. Radiother Oncol. 141: 78–85, 2019. Epub 2019 Sep 5.
Zavala-Romero O, Breto AL, Xu IR, Chang YC, Gautney N, Dal Pra A, Abramowitz MC, Pollack A, Stoyanova R. Segmentation of prostate and prostate zones using deep learning: A multi-MRI vendor analysis. Strahlenther Onkol. 2020 Mar 27. doi: 10.1007/s00066-020-01607-x. Online ahead of print.
Zavala-Romero O, Pollack A, Kwon D, Breto AL, Davicioni E, Abramowitz MC, Dal Pra A, Punnen S, Stoyanova R. Clinical-genomic risk group classification of suspicious lesions on prostate mpMRI. Int J Radiat Oncol. (Suppl.) 2019;105(1): S135-S6, 2019. doi: DOI 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.126.
|
|
Bejarano T, Samuels MA, Thomas G, Civantos F, Leibowitz J, Freedman L, Samuels SE, Mihaylov I. CT textures in selection optimization of HPV-associated oropharynx cancer patients for transoral robotic surgery. Poster presented at: American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM); 2019 July 14-19; San Antonio, TX.
Bejarano T, Kwon D, De Ornelas M, Yechieli R, Perlow H, Freedman L, Mihaylov I. CT radiomics texture features indicate radiation induced pneumonitis. Poster presented at: American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM); 2019 July 14-19; San Antonio, TX.
Dal Pra A. Extracellular vesicles (exosomes) and potential implications for radiation therapy. Teaching session at: the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) (annual meeting); 2019 April 28; Milan, Italy.
Delgadillo, R., Ford, C., Yang, F., Simpson, G., Padgett, K., Studenski, M., Dogan, N. Standard CBCT and iCBCT-based radiomics of prostate cancer. Oral presentation at: Varian Medical Systems Research Partnership Symposium; 2019 May 13-15; Chicago, IL.
Delgadillo R, Ford J, Abramowitz MC, Yang F, Dogan N. Repeatability of CBCT-Based Radiomics Texture Features for Prostate Cancer. Poster presented at: American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM); 2019 July 14-19; San Antonio, TX.
Delgadillo, R., Ford, C., Yang, F., Simpson, G., Padgett, K., Studenski, M., Dogan, N. Cone beam CT radiomics of prostate cancer. Oral presentation at: annual Radiomics conference; 2019 Oct. 14-15; Clearwater, FL.
Giret TM, Tao W, Suter R, Ansari S, Williams S, Ayad N, Stoyanova R, Marples B, Pollack A. Analysis of circulating tumor cells from prostate cancer patients. Poster presented at: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Virtual Annual Meeting II); 2020 June 22.
Mellon, EA. Imaging at the micrometer scale is possible and required for radiation therapy to cure metastatic disease. Oral presentation at: American Society for Radiation Oncology (annual meeting); 2019 Sept. 15; Chicago, IL.
Mellon, EA. Combination MRI-RT systems for CNS treatment: insights and future directions. Oral presentation at: American Society for Radiation Oncology (annual meeting); 2019 Sept. 17; Chicago, IL.
Mellon, EA. Moderator for “Advances in the management of brain metastases” session and discussant for “Meet the expert” session on brain metastases at: American Society for Radiation Oncology (annual meeting); 2019 Sept 17; Chicago, IL.
Mellon EA, Gurbani S, Ramesh K, Weinberg BD, Kleinberg L, Schreibmann E, Barker P, Maudsley A, Shim H, Shu HK. A multisite clinical trial of spectroscopic MRI-guided radiation dose escalation in glioblastoma patients. Oral presentation at: Society for Neuro-Oncology; 2019 Nov. 23; Phoenix, AZ.
Meshman J, Farnia B, Stoyanova R, Reis I, Abramowitz M, Dal Pra A, Horwitz EM, Pollack A. Biopsy positivity in prostate cancer patients undergoing mpMRI-targeted radiation dose escalation. Poster presented at: Genitourinary Cancers Symposium at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO); 2020 Feb. 13; San Francisco, CA.
Padgett K, Delgadillo R, Studenski M, Abramowitz MC, Samuels MA, Dogan N. (2019). Towards efficient adaptive-radio-therapy in prostate and head and neck cancer utilizing iterative-CBCT and automated software. Poster presented at: American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM); 2019 July 14-19; San Antonio, TX.
Portelance, L. Role of MR-guided RT for pelvic tumors. Oral presentation at: Radiological Society of North America (Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting); 2019 Dec. 4. Chicago, Il.
Shi J, Udayakumar T, Dogan N, Pollack A, Yang Y. Fluorescence molecular tomography/X-ray computed tomography dual-modality tumor detection using active targeting nanoparticles and effective background subtraction. Oral presentation at: AAPM Annual meeting; 2019 Jul. 14-18; San Antonio, TX. (This talk was supported by an "SCCC Trainee Travel Award" that Dr. Junwei Shi received.)
Welford SM. Polyamine-mediated epigenetic gene regulation and radiation response in glioblastoma. Oral presentation at: Invited Seminar Series, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania; 2019 Sept 5; Philadelphia, PA.
Welford SM. Polyamine-mediated epigenetic gene regulation and radiation response in glioblastoma. Oral presentation at: Radiation Research Society (annual meeting); 2019 Nov 3; Chicago, IL.
Welford SM. Polyamine-mediated epigenetic gene regulation and radiation response in glioblastoma. Oral presentation at: 35th Conference on Clinical and Experimental Research in Radiation Oncology (CERRO); 2020 Jan 21; Les Menuires, France.
|
|
|
· Dr. Gregory Azzam (first author, presenter)
|
|
CT dose-weighted textures indicate radiation induced fibrosis (RIF) in patients treated for head and neck cancers (Azzam G, Dolla Toomeh, Kwon D, Mihaylov I, Samuels SE)
Mir199a-3p and 5p influence fibrotic disease states and increase in expression after radiation (Azzam G, Ahmad A, Marples B, Samuels SE)
Notch-high senescence induction occurs early after radiation (RT) and its TGFB-rich senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) increases over time (PI Marples B)
|
|
· Savannah Barkdull [MD/MS Candidate] (first author, presenter): FRAIL questionnaire predicts treatment delivery deviations in patients receiving radiotherapy (Barkdull S, Yechieli R, Van Wyhe R, Abad MA, Hidalgo M, Kwon D, Samuels SE)
|
|
· Adrian Breto (first author): Deep learning approach for multi-reference tissue normalization on T2-weighted MRI in longitudinal dataset from prospective radiotherapy trial for prostate cancer (Breto AL, Zavala-Romero O, XU IR, Abramowitz MC, Dal Pra A, Punnen S, Pollack A, PhD, Stoyanova R)
|
|
· Dr. Michael Butkus (first author, senior author): Application of tumor control (TCP) and normal tissue-complication probabilities (NTCP) to determine the best robust optimization (RO) approaches for proton head and neck radiotherapy (De Ornelas M, Dogan N, Samuels SE, Diwanji, Jr. T, Samuels MA, Butkus M)
|
|
· Dr. Alan Dal Pra (presenter): Exosomes and exosomal microRNAs in prostate cancer radiotherapy
· Dr. Nesrin Dogan (chair, senior author)
|
|
· Dr. Sarah Dooley (first author, presenter):
|
|
Improved care for patients evaluated in a head and neck multidisciplinary clinic at a safety net hospital (Dooley S, Khakoo N, Perlow H, Kwon D, Nicolli E, Yechieli R, Samuels MA, Mora M, Laura Freedman L, Samuels SE)
Edema progression during MRI-Guided glioblastoma radiotherapy (Dooley S, Jones K, Llorente R, Ford J, Diwanji, Jr. T, Mellon EA)
· Dr. John Chetley Ford (first author, presenter): Radiomics of 0.35T magnetic resonance images for predicting pancreatic cancer response to radiotherapy (Ford JC, Simpson G, Spieler B, Portelance L, Mellon EA, Kwon D, Yang F, Dogan N)
|
|
· Dr. Teresa M. Giret (first author): Temporal changes of circulating tumor cells in prostate cancer patients after radiation therapy (Giret TM, Stoyanova R, Ansari S, Totiger T, Jorda M, Dal Pra A, Abramowitz MC, Punnen S, Pollack A)
|
|
· Dr. Will Jin (first author, presenter): Can a single pre-treatment axial slice of the posterior neck muscles identify high resource utilization in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiotherapy? Implications on emergency room visits and acute toxicities (Jin W, Yechieli R, Freedman L, Samuels MA, Samuels SE)
|
|
· Dr. Eric Mellon (chair, speaker, senior author)
|
|
|
· Dr. Jessica Meshman (first author)
|
|
Dose-weighted CT Radiomics associated with radiation-induced cardiac toxicity in women treated for localized breast cancer
(Meshman J, Toomeh D, Wang L, Kwon D, Miao F, Mihaylov I, Takita C)
Patient Retention and continuity of care of an underserved oncology population within a public safety-net health system
Post-treatment biopsy positivity in prostate cancer patients undergoing mpMRI-targeted radiation dose escalation (Meshman J, Farnia B, Stoyanova R, Reis I, Abramowitz MC, Dal Pra A, Horwitz EM, Pollack A)
|
|
· Dr. Mariluz De Ornelas (first author): Assessment of intra-fractional motion during automated non-coplanar Linac-SRS treatment delivery with an open face mask system (De Ornelas M, Dogan N, Monterroso M, Bossart EL, Diwanji, Jr. T, Yechieli R, Mellon EA)
|
|
|
· Dr. Nirav Patel (first author): The impact of BED modeling on dose de-escalated eye plaque brachytherapy (Patel N, Studenski M, Markoe A, Harbour JW, Samuels SE)
|
|
|
· Dr. Alan Pollack (senior author)
|
|
· Dr. Benjamin Rich (first author, presenter)
|
|
Opioid use patterns in head/neck cancer patients receiving radiation therapy: A single-institution retrospective analysis characterizing patients who did not require opioid therapy (Rich BJ, Schumacher LED, Sargi ZB, Masforroll M, Kwon D, Zhao W, Rueda-Lara MA, Freedman LM, Elsayyad N, Samuels SE, Abramowitz MC, Samuels MA)
|
|
· Dr. Michael Samuels (discussant, senior author)
|
|
· Dr. Stuart Samuels (senior author)
|
|
· Dr. Crystal Seldon (first author, presenter): Tumor necrosis following multi-modality neoadjuvant therapy for sarcoma: A single institution series
(Seldon C, Shrivastava GA, Jarboe JS, Fine J, Conway S, Pretell J, Freedman LM, Wolfson AH, Zhao W, Kwon D, Rosenberg A, Trent J, Yechieli R)
|
|
· Dr. Junwei Shi (first author): Theranostic PSMA-targeted gold nanoparticles using X-ray fluorescence imaging guided prostate tumor radiotherapy (Shi J, Hara D, Tao W, Tulasigeri T, Marples B, Dogan N, Ford JC, Pollack A)
|
|
· Dr. Benjamin O. Spieler (first author, presenter):
In transarterial radioembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma, 3-D dosimetry based on post-treatment brehmsstrahlung SPECT/CT can predict local control of disease (Senior authors: Giap H, Portelance L)
Checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis in patients with advanced NSCLC on nivolumab monotherapy is underreported and associated with prior radiotherapy history (Senior authors: Dal Pra A, Mihaylov I)
· Dr. Radka Stoyanova (first author, senior author)
|
|
Genomic heterogeneity in prognostic signatures from prostate biopsies: Results from two prospective trials (Stoyanova R, Punnen S, Kwon D, Reis IM, Soodana-Prakash N, Gaston SM, Nahar B, Gonzalgo ML, Kava B, Castillo Acosta RP, Kryvenko ON, Dal Pra A, Abramowitz MC, Davicioni E, Parekh DJ, Pollack A)
The effects of androgen-deprivation therapy on MRI delta radiomics features in a prospective radiotherapy treatment trial for prostate cancer
(Stoyanova R, Lopez C, Breto AL, Xu IR, Kwon D, Iorio GC, Alan Dal Pra A, Abramowitz MC, Punnen S, Pollack A)
|
|
|
· Dr. Cristiane Takita (speaker, senior author)
|
|
· Dr. Wensi Tao (first author): Evaluation of PSMA-targeted theranostic gold nanoparticles for prostate cancer imaging and radiosensitization (Tao W, Hara D, Shi J, Tulasigeri T, Yang YP, Daunert S, Ford JC, Marples B, Stoyanova R, Pollack A)
|
|
· Dr. Renae Van Wyhe (first author/presenter): Predictors of overall survival among hormone receptor positive patients with oligometastatic breast cancer (Van Wyhe R, Tidwell R, Stauder M, Lim B, Teshome M, Krishnamurthy S, Le-Petross C, Ueno N, Woodward W)
|
|
· Dr. Aaron Wolfson (abstract reviewer)
|
|
· Dr. Raphael Yechieli (panelist/senior author)
|
|
|
|
Nov. 26, 2019
Faculty and staff gathered for this annual tradition to enjoy a large and tasty assortment of homemade dishes, including stuffed grape leaves, alfajores, flan, corn bread, pecan pie, and, of course, turkey.
|
|
|
Dec. 19, 2019
The party was scheduled to take place on the rooftop of this Wynwood restaurant, but was moved indoors because of rain. No matter, as faculty and staff enjoyed their food and drink with good cheer.
|
|
|
Feb. 29, 2020
An estimated 6,000 participants and volunteers, including many of our faculty and staff, biked, ran, and walked at the 10th annual event. This year $5.2 million was raised. Since it launched in 2010, the DCC has raised $32.7 million.
|
|
|
May 6, 2020, National Nurses' Day: Our frontline heroes.
|
|
|
June 17, 2020: A virtual farewell to the class of 2020.
The virtual event honored four graduating residents: Drs. David Asher, Gregory Azzam, Benjamin Farnia, and Mariluz De Ornelas. Dr. Farnia said that he started his residency journey with a quote from the poet Rumi in mind: “Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” He thanked everyone at the department for helping him do just that.
Honored by the residents were:
- William Amestoy, CMD: Role Model of the Year
- Dr. Joseph A. Both: Medical Physics Educator of the Year
- Dr. Alan Dal Pra: ARRO Educator of the Year
- Dr. Jessica Meshman: Quality Improvement and Safety
- Dr. Benjamin O. Spieler: Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award
|
|
|
William Amestoy, CMD, with his Role Model of the Year award.
|
|
|
|
