Factors associated with successful publication of abstracts in women malignancies: Are we closing the gender gap?

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Background: We aimed to determine abstract characteristics associated with successful peer-reviewed publication after presentation at ASCO annual meeting in the women’s malignancy category (breast & gynecologic cancer). Awareness of this could help meeting organizers & attendees understand factors associated with impactful abstracts. Methods: All oral & poster abstracts (OA: n = 53 & PA: n = 527) in Breast (Loco/Regional/Adjuvant & Metastatic) & Gynecologic cancers category (2017 & 2018 meeting) were included. Subsequent publication was confirmed by searching PubMed by title, names of first & last authors for abstracts published by January 2021. Time to online publication, US or foreign journal publication & impact factor (IF) were recorded. We also recorded number of authors, single/ multi-institution studies & gender of first/ last author, which was confirmed by viewing biography details on their institutional websites. Descriptive analysis was performed & association between above factors & publication matrix was analyzed using multiple logistic regression model, Chi-square and t-test. Results: 45/53 OA (85%) & 269/527 PA (51%) were published in peer-reviewed journals. Median number of authors for published PA was 12 vs 11 for unpublished (p = 0.24). Females (F) presented 34% (18/53) OA & 49.3% (260/527) PA. 55% (143/260) PA presented by female authors & 47.1% (126/267) presented by male (M) authors (p = 0.073) were published. No difference in publication between single vs multi-institution studies (p = 0.76) for PA was noted. Average time to journal publication for OA & PA was 15.45 (SD +/- 3.37) & 17.73 (SD +/- 1.27) months (mo) respectively. Mean IF for OA was 27.95 (SD+/- 6.18) while for PA was 10.96 (SD+/- 1.75). For published OA, 33% (15/45) had female first & 29% (13/45) had female last authors. For published PA, 50.2% (135/269) had female first while only 37.5% (101/269) had female last authors. There was no association between gender of last author to IF (p = 0.39), single vs multi-institution study (p = 0.48) or time to publication (p = 0.44) for PA. Conclusions: More than 75% of OA & 50% of PA were successfully published regardless of gender, number of authors or institutions involved. We observe a slight disparity in senior authorship for females and although this was not statistically significant, we are encouraged that the gap is closing in first authorship.[Table: see text]

SARS-CoV-2 and Anti-Cardiolipin Antibodies

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to distinct diagnostic and management challenges for front-line healthcare workers. The risk of excessive coagulation activation leading to a cascade of thrombotic events in critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 is now well reported. We discuss a recent case of COVID-19 with concurrent acute pulmonary embolism and a positive cardiolipin antibody (IgM). The presence of antiphospholipid antibodies is key to diagnosing antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). However, their presence can be transient or persistent after viral infections. Serial inflammatory markers in conjunction with anti-phospholipid antibody testing is critical for the diagnosis of APS in this emerging patient population. Our case report reviews details suggestive of APS in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 and aims to provide clinical diagnostic clues that could help warrant further workup and assist with management strategies.

Utility of bone marrow aspirate and biopsy in staging of patients with T-cell lymphoma in the PET-Era - tissue remains the issue

The role of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography combined with computerized tomography (PET-CT) in evaluation of bone marrow involvement (BMI) in patients with T-cell lymphoma (TCL) is poorly understood. We investigated whether PET-CT could replace bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (BMAB) in TCL. Sixty patients with newly diagnosed TCL who underwent both diagnostic PET-CT and BMAB were identified. BMI was tissue-confirmed in 15 (25%) cases, however only 8 of these 15 showed BMI on PET-CT (sensitivity of 53.3%, specificity of 100%). BMI by BMAB was associated with lower progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.038) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.003) while PET-CT BMI was associated only with OS (p = 0.02). BMI detected by BMAB in the setting of a negative PET-CT had similar inferior prognosis as BMI identified on PET-CT. Thus, PET-CT in TCL misses BMI in almost half of the cases detected by BMAB and hence cannot substitute BMAB in evaluation of TCL.

The impact of smoking cessation on breast cancer patients’ survival

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Background: Breast cancer remains to be one of the highest causes of cancer mortality amongst females globally, second only to lung cancer. Smoking is strongly associated with increased all-cause mortality, including breast cancer related death. It has also been shown to have a negative influence on long-term survival after successful breast cancer treatment. Prior studies have shown that smoking cessation may lead to improved prognosis and better outcomes. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of breast cancer patients who were identified as smokers, some of who were referred to the tobacco treatment program (TTP) located at MD Anderson Cancer Center. TTP includes careful patient screening, motivational counseling, and pharmacotherapy. We complemented the original data collected by conducting in-depth chart reviews to extract data including patient demographics, date of diagnosis, stage of cancer, smoking status, duration of abstinence and dates of follow-up or death. We then examined associations between smoking status and survival status using multinomial regression models adjusting for biomarkers of disease and personal characteristics. Results: Among all breast cancer patients (N = 31069), we identified those who are smokers (n = 2320) by matching the TTP database with smoking status from our institutional electronic health records. Of those, 740 patients were referred to TTP. Amongst these, 242 patients quit smoking and remained abstinent at the 9 month follow-up. Compared with non-abstainers, those who quit were more likely to be alive with no evidence of disease during the observation time (RR = 1.62, p = 0.045). When analyzed at different stages, the RR went from 1.35 (p = 0.42) to 2.77 (p = 0.34) for stages 3 and 1, respectively. Although the strength of this relationship varied among disease stage, the direction of the relationship remain consistent. Conclusions: Our data shows that smoking cessation is associated with improved survival status amongst breast cancer survivors across all stages. Comprehensive smoking cessation services may improve survivorship when started as early as the time of diagnosis. Further analysis of the association between smoking cessation and other associated medical outcomes will be conducted to further determine the specific impact of cessation programs.