Imaging for Early Detection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Updates and Challenges in the Implementation of Screening and Surveillance Programs.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is one of the most aggressive cancers. It has a poor 5-year survival rate of 12%, partly because most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, precluding curative surgical resection. Early-stage PDA has significantly better prognoses due to increased potential for curative interventions, making early detection of PDA critically important to improved patient outcomes. We examine current and evolving early detection concepts, screening strategies, diagnostic yields among high-risk individuals, controversies, and limitations of standard-of-care imaging.

Cancer Diagnoses After Recent Weight Loss.

Importance: Weight loss is common in primary care. Among individuals with recent weight loss, the rates of cancer during the subsequent 12 months are unclear compared with those without recent weight loss. Objective: To determine the rates of subsequent cancer diagnoses over 12 months among health professionals with weight loss during the prior 2 years compared with those without recent weight loss. Design, Setting, and Participants: Prospective cohort analysis of females aged 40 years or older from the Nurses' Health Study who were followed up from June 1978 until June 30, 2016, and males aged 40 years or older from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who were followed up from January 1988 until January 31, 2016. Exposure: Recent weight change was calculated from the participant weights that were reported biennially. The intentionality of weight loss was categorized as high if both physical activity and diet quality increased, medium if only 1 increased, and low if neither increased. Main Outcome and Measures: Rates of cancer diagnosis during the 12 months after weight loss. Results: Among 157 474 participants (median age, 62 years [IQR, 54-70 years]; 111 912 were female [71.1%]; there were 2631 participants [1.7%] who self-identified as Asian, Native American, or Native Hawaiian; 2678 Black participants [1.7%]; and 149 903 White participants [95.2%]) and during 1.64 million person-years of follow-up, 15 809 incident cancer cases were identified (incident rate, 964 cases/100 000 person-years). During the 12 months after reported weight change, there were 1362 cancer cases/100 000 person-years among all participants with recent weight loss of greater than 10.0% of body weight compared with 869 cancer cases/100 000 person-years among those without recent weight loss (between-group difference, 493 cases/100 000 person-years [95% CI, 391-594 cases/100 000 person-years]; P < .001). Among participants categorized with low intentionality for weight loss, there were 2687 cancer cases/100 000 person-years for those with weight loss of greater than 10.0% of body weight compared with 1220 cancer cases/100 000 person-years for those without recent weight loss (between-group difference, 1467 cases/100 000 person-years [95% CI, 799-2135 cases/100 000 person-years]; P < .001). Cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract (cancer of the esophagus, stomach, liver, biliary tract, or pancreas) was particularly common among participants with recent weight loss; there were 173 cancer cases/100 000 person-years for those with weight loss of greater than 10.0% of body weight compared with 36 cancer cases/100 000 person-years for those without recent weight loss (between-group difference, 137 cases/100 000 person-years [95% CI, 101-172 cases/100 000 person-years]; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: Health professionals with weight loss within the prior 2 years had a significantly higher risk of cancer during the subsequent 12 months compared with those without recent weight loss. Cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract was particularly common among participants with recent weight loss compared with those without recent weight loss.

Sotorasib Is a Pan-RASG12C Inhibitor Capable of Driving Clinical Response in NRASG12C Cancers.

KRASG12C inhibitors, like sotorasib and adagrasib, potently and selectively inhibit KRASG12C through a covalent interaction with the mutant cysteine, driving clinical efficacy in KRASG12C tumors. Because amino acid sequences of the three main RAS isoforms-KRAS, NRAS, and HRAS-are highly similar, we hypothesized that some KRASG12C inhibitors might also target NRASG12C and/or HRASG12C, which are less common but critical oncogenic driver mutations in some tumors. Although some inhibitors, like adagrasib, were highly selective for KRASG12C, others also potently inhibited NRASG12C and/or HRASG12C. Notably, sotorasib was five-fold more potent against NRASG12C compared with KRASG12C or HRASG12C. Structural and reciprocal mutagenesis studies suggested that differences in isoform-specific binding are mediated by a single amino acid: Histidine-95 in KRAS (Leucine-95 in NRAS). A patient with NRASG12C colorectal cancer treated with sotorasib and the anti-EGFR antibody panitumumab achieved a marked tumor response, demonstrating that sotorasib can be clinically effective in NRASG12C-mutated tumors. SIGNIFICANCE: These studies demonstrate that certain KRASG12C inhibitors effectively target all RASG12C mutations and that sotorasib specifically is a potent NRASG12C inhibitor capable of driving clinical responses. These findings have important implications for the treatment of patients with NRASG12C or HRASG12C cancers and could guide design of NRAS or HRAS inhibitors. See related commentary by Seale and Misale, p. 698. This article is featured in Selected Articles from This Issue, p. 695.

Body Composition, Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction, and Future Risk of Cardiovascular Events Including Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is a controversial marker of cardiovascular prognosis, especially in women. Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) is prevalent in obese patients and a better discriminator of risk than BMI, but its association with body composition is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The authors used a deep learning model for body composition analysis to investigate the relationship between CMD, skeletal muscle (SM), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and their contribution to adverse outcomes in patients referred for evaluation of coronary artery disease. METHODS: Consecutive patients (n = 400) with normal perfusion and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction on cardiac stress positron emission tomography were followed (median, 6.0 years) for major adverse events, including death and hospitalization for myocardial infarction or heart failure. Coronary flow reserve (CFR) was quantified as stress/rest myocardial blood flow from positron emission tomography. SM, SAT, and VAT cross-sectional areas were extracted from abdominal computed tomography at the third lumbar vertebra using a validated automated algorithm. RESULTS: Median age was 63, 71% were female, 50% non-White, and 50% obese. Compared with the nonobese, patients with obesity (BMI: 30.0-68.4 kg/m2) had higher SAT, VAT, and SM, and lower CFR (all P < 0.001). In adjusted analyses, decreased SM but not increased SAT or VAT was significantly associated with CMD (CFR <2; OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.08-1.75 per -10 cm2/m2 SM index; P < 0.01). Both lower CFR and SM, but not higher SAT or VAT, were independently associated with adverse events (HR: 1.83; 95% CI: 1.25-2.68 per -1 U CFR and HR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.20-1.96 per -10 cm2/m2 SM index, respectively; P < 0.002 for both), especially heart failure hospitalization (HR: 2.36; 95% CI: 1.31-4.24 per -1 U CFR and HR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.30-2.69 per -10 cm2/m2 SM index; P < 0.004 for both). There was a significant interaction between CFR and SM (adjusted P = 0.026), such that patients with CMD and sarcopenia demonstrated the highest rate of adverse events, especially among young, female, and obese patients (all P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: In a predominantly female cohort of patients without flow-limiting coronary artery disease, deficient muscularity, not excess adiposity, was independently associated with CMD and future adverse outcomes, especially heart failure. In patients with suspected ischemia and no obstructive coronary artery disease, characterization of lean body mass and coronary microvascular function may help to distinguish obese phenotypes at risk for cardiovascular events.

Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle wasting precede clinical diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Patients with pancreatic cancer commonly develop weight loss and muscle wasting. Whether adipose tissue and skeletal muscle losses begin before diagnosis and the potential utility of such losses for earlier cancer detection are not well understood. We quantify skeletal muscle and adipose tissue areas from computed tomography (CT) imaging obtained 2 months to 5 years before cancer diagnosis in 714 pancreatic cancer cases and 1748 matched controls. Adipose tissue loss is identified up to 6 months, and skeletal muscle wasting is identified up to 18 months before the clinical diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and is not present in the matched control population. Tissue losses are of similar magnitude in cases diagnosed with localized compared with metastatic disease and are not correlated with at-diagnosis circulating levels of CA19-9. Skeletal muscle wasting occurs in the 1-2 years before pancreatic cancer diagnosis and may signal an upcoming diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Oncogenic Drivers and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in KRAS Wild-Type Pancreatic Cancer.

PURPOSE: Approximately 8% to 10% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) do not harbor mutations in KRAS. Understanding the unique molecular and clinical features of this subset of pancreatic cancer is important to guide patient stratification for clinical trials of molecularly targeted agents. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We analyzed a single-institution cohort of 795 exocrine pancreatic cancer cases (including 785 PDAC cases) with a targeted multigene sequencing panel and identified 73 patients (9.2%) with KRAS wild-type (WT) pancreatic cancer. RESULTS: Overall, 43.8% (32/73) of KRAS WT cases had evidence of an alternative driver of the MAPK pathway, including BRAF mutations and in-frame deletions and receptor tyrosine kinase fusions. Conversely, 56.2% of cases did not harbor a clear MAPK driver alteration, but 29.3% of these MAPK-negative KRAS WT cases (12/41) demonstrated activating alterations in other oncogenic drivers, such as GNAS, MYC, PIK3CA, and CTNNB1. We demonstrate potent efficacy of pan-RAF and MEK inhibition in patient-derived organoid models carrying BRAF in-frame deletions. Moreover, we demonstrate durable clinical benefit of targeted therapy in a patient harboring a KRAS WT tumor with a ROS1 fusion. Clinically, patients with KRAS WT tumors were significantly younger in age of onset (median age: 62.6 vs. 65.7 years; P = 0.037). SMAD4 mutations were associated with a particularly poor prognosis in KRAS WT cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study defines the genomic underpinnings of KRAS WT pancreatic cancer and highlights potential therapeutic avenues for future investigation in molecularly directed clinical trials. See related commentary by Kato et al., p. 4527.

Potential of artificial intelligence in the risk stratification for and early detection of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the third most lethal cancer in the United States, with a 5-year life expectancy of 11%. Most symptoms manifest at an advanced stage of the disease when surgery is no longer appropriate. The dire prognosis of PDAC warrants new strategies to improve the outcomes of patients, and early detection has garnered significant attention. However, early detection of PDAC is most often incidental, emphasizing the importance of developing new early detection screening strategies. Due to the low incidence of the disease in the general population, much of the focus for screening has turned to individuals at high risk of PDAC. This enriches the screening population and balances the risks associated with pancreas interventions. The cancers that are found in these high-risk individuals by MRI and/or EUS screening show favorable 73% 5-year overall survival. Even with the emphasis on screening in enriched high-risk populations, only a minority of incident cancers are detected this way. One strategy to improve early detection outcomes is to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into biomarker discovery and risk models. This expert review summarizes recent publications that have developed AI algorithms for the applications of risk stratification of PDAC using radiomics and electronic health records. Furthermore, this review illustrates the current uses of radiomics and biomarkers in AI for early detection of PDAC. Finally, various challenges and potential solutions are highlighted regarding the use of AI in medicine for early detection purposes.

A deep learning algorithm to predict risk of pancreatic cancer from disease trajectories.

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that typically presents late with poor outcomes, indicating a pronounced need for early detection. In this study, we applied artificial intelligence methods to clinical data from 6 million patients (24,000 pancreatic cancer cases) in Denmark (Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR)) and from 3 million patients (3,900 cases) in the United States (US Veterans Affairs (US-VA)). We trained machine learning models on the sequence of disease codes in clinical histories and tested prediction of cancer occurrence within incremental time windows (CancerRiskNet). For cancer occurrence within 36 months, the performance of the best DNPR model has area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve = 0.88 and decreases to AUROC (3m) = 0.83 when disease events within 3 months before cancer diagnosis are excluded from training, with an estimated relative risk of 59 for 1,000 highest-risk patients older than age 50 years. Cross-application of the Danish model to US-VA data had lower performance (AUROC = 0.71), and retraining was needed to improve performance (AUROC = 0.78, AUROC (3m) = 0.76). These results improve the ability to design realistic surveillance programs for patients at elevated risk, potentially benefiting lifespan and quality of life by early detection of this aggressive cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is associated with medication changes prior to clinical diagnosis.

Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) commonly develop symptoms and signs in the 1-2 years before diagnosis that can result in changes to medications. We investigate recent medication changes and PDAC diagnosis in Nurses' Health Study (NHS; females) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS; males), including up to 148,973 U.S. participants followed for 2,994,057 person-years and 991 incident PDAC cases. Here we show recent initiation of antidiabetic (NHS) or anticoagulant (NHS, HFS) medications and cessation of antihypertensive medications (NHS, HPFS) are associated with pancreatic cancer diagnosis in the next 2 years. Two-year PDAC risk increases as number of relevant medication changes increases (P-trend <1 × 10-5), with participants who recently start antidiabetic and stop antihypertensive medications having multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio of 4.86 (95%CI, 1.74-13.6). These changes are not associated with diagnosis of other digestive system cancers. Recent medication changes should be considered as candidate features in multi-factor risk models for PDAC, though they are not causally implicated in development of PDAC.

Utility of Normalized Body Composition Areas, Derived From Outpatient Abdominal CT Using a Fully Automated Deep Learning Method, for Predicting Subsequent Cardiovascular Events.

BACKGROUND. CT-based body composition (BC) measurements have historically been too resource intensive to analyze for widespread use and have lacked robust comparison with traditional weight metrics for predicting cardiovascular risk. OBJECTIVE. The aim of this study was to determine whether BC measurements obtained from routine CT scans by use of a fully automated deep learning algorithm could predict subsequent cardiovascular events independently from weight, BMI, and additional cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS. This retrospective study included 9752 outpatients (5519 women and 4233 men; mean age, 53.2 years; 890 patients self-reported their race as Black and 8862 self-reported their race as White) who underwent routine abdominal CT at a single health system from January 2012 through December 2012 and who were given no major cardiovascular or oncologic diagnosis within 3 months of undergoing CT. Using publicly available code, fully automated deep learning BC analysis was performed at the L3 vertebral body level to determine three BC areas (skeletal muscle area [SMA], visceral fat area [VFA], and subcutaneous fat area [SFA]). Age-, sex-, and race-normalized reference curves were used to generate z scores for the three BC areas. Subsequent myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke was determined from the electronic medical record. Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine hazard ratios (HRs) for MI or stroke within 5 years after CT for the three BC area z scores, with adjustment for normalized weight, normalized BMI, and additional cardiovascular risk factors (smoking status, diabetes diagnosis, and systolic blood pressure). RESULTS. In multivariable models, age-, race-, and sex-normalized VFA was associated with subsequent MI risk (HR of highest quartile compared with lowest quartile, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.03-1.67], p = .04 for overall effect) and stroke risk (HR of highest compared with lowest quartile, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.07-2.00], p = .04 for overall effect). In multivariable models, normalized SMA, SFA, weight, and BMI were not associated with subsequent MI or stroke risk. CONCLUSION. VFA derived from fully automated and normalized analysis of abdominal CT examinations predicts subsequent MI or stroke in Black and White patients, independent of traditional weight metrics, and should be considered an adjunct to BMI in risk models. CLINICAL IMPACT. Fully automated and normalized BC analysis of abdominal CT has promise to augment traditional cardiovascular risk prediction models.

The Trials and Tribulations of Assembling Large Medical Imaging Datasets for Machine Learning Applications.

With vast interest in machine learning applications, more investigators are proposing to assemble large datasets for machine learning applications. We aim to delineate multiple possible roadblocks to exam retrieval that may present themselves and lead to significant time delays. This HIPAA-compliant, institutional review board-approved, retrospective clinical study required identification and retrieval of all outpatient and emergency patients undergoing abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) at three affiliated hospitals in the year 2012. If a patient had multiple abdominal CT exams, the first exam was selected for retrieval (n=23,186). Our experience in attempting to retrieve 23,186 abdominal CT exams yielded 22,852 valid CT abdomen/pelvis exams and identified four major categories of challenges when retrieving large datasets: cohort selection and processing, retrieving DICOM exam files from PACS, data storage, and non-recoverable failures. The retrieval took 3 months of project time and at minimum 300 person-hours of time between the primary investigator (a radiologist), a data scientist, and a software engineer. Exam selection and retrieval may take significantly longer than planned. We share our experience so that other investigators can anticipate and plan for these challenges. We also hope to help institutions better understand the demands that may be placed on their infrastructure by large-scale medical imaging machine learning projects.

A Conference-Friendly, Hands-on Introduction to Deep Learning for Radiology Trainees.

Artificial or augmented intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning will be an increasingly important part of clinical practice for the next generation of radiologists. It is therefore critical that radiology residents develop a practical understanding of deep learning in medical imaging. Certain aspects of deep learning are not intuitive and may be better understood through hands-on experience; however, the technical requirements for setting up a programming and computing environment for deep learning can pose a high barrier to entry for individuals with limited experience in computer programming and limited access to GPU-accelerated computing. To address these concerns, we implemented an introductory module for deep learning in medical imaging within a self-contained, web-hosted development environment. Our initial experience established the feasibility of guiding radiology trainees through the module within a 45-min period typical of educational conferences.

Spatial signatures identify immune escape via PD-1 as a defining feature of T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma.

T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (TCRLBCL) is an aggressive variant of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) characterized by rare malignant B cells within a robust but ineffective immune cell infiltrate. The mechanistic basis of immune escape in TCRLBCL is poorly defined and not targeted therapeutically. We performed a genetic and quantitative spatial analysis of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in a multi-institutional cohort of TCRLBCLs and found that malignant B cells harbored PD-L1/PD-L2 copy gain or amplification in 64% of cases, which was associated with increased PD-L1 expression (P = .0111). By directed and unsupervised spatial analyses of multiparametric cell phenotypic data within the tumor microenvironment, we found that TCRLBCL is characterized by tumor-immune "neighborhoods" in which malignant B cells are surrounded by exceptionally high numbers of PD-L1-expressing TAMs and PD-1+ T cells. Furthermore, unbiased clustering of spatially resolved immune signatures distinguished TCRLBCL from related subtypes of B-cell lymphoma, including classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) and DLBCL-NOS. Finally, we observed clinical responses to PD-1 blockade in 3 of 5 patients with relapsed/refractory TCRLBCL who were enrolled in clinical trials for refractory hematologic malignancies (NCT03316573; NCT01953692), including 2 complete responses and 1 partial response. Taken together, these data implicate PD-1 signaling as an immune escape pathway in TCRLBCL and also support the potential utility of spatially resolved immune signatures to aid the diagnostic classification and immunotherapeutic prioritization of diverse tumor types.

Population-Scale CT-based Body Composition Analysis of a Large Outpatient Population Using Deep Learning to Derive Age-, Sex-, and Race-specific Reference Curves.

Background Although CT-based body composition (BC) metrics may inform disease risk and outcomes, obtaining these metrics has been too resource intensive for large-scale use. Thus, population-wide distributions of BC remain uncertain. Purpose To demonstrate the validity of fully automated, deep learning BC analysis from abdominal CT examinations, to define demographically adjusted BC reference curves, and to illustrate the advantage of use of these curves compared with standard methods, along with their biologic significance in predicting survival. Materials and Methods After external validation and equivalency testing with manual segmentation, a fully automated deep learning BC analysis pipeline was applied to a cross-sectional population cohort that included any outpatient without a cardiovascular disease or cancer who underwent abdominal CT examination at one of three hospitals in 2012. Demographically adjusted population reference curves were generated for each BC area. The z scores derived from these curves were compared with sex-specific thresholds for sarcopenia by using χ2 tests and used to predict 2-year survival in multivariable Cox proportional hazards models that included weight and body mass index (BMI). Results External validation showed excellent correlation (R = 0.99) and equivalency (P < .001) of the fully automated deep learning BC analysis method with manual segmentation. With use of the fully automated BC data from 12 128 outpatients (mean age, 52 years; 6936 [57%] women), age-, race-, and sex-normalized BC reference curves were generated. All BC areas varied significantly with these variables (P < .001 except for subcutaneous fat area vs age [P = .003]). Sex-specific thresholds for sarcopenia demonstrated that age and race bias were not present if z scores derived from the reference curves were used (P < .001). Skeletal muscle area z scores were significantly predictive of 2-year survival (P = .04) in combined models that included BMI. Conclusion Fully automated body composition (BC) metrics vary significantly by age, race, and sex. The z scores derived from reference curves for BC parameters better capture the demographic distribution of BC compared with standard methods and can help predict survival. © RSNA, 2020 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Summers in this issue.

Imaging-Based Subtypes of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Exhibit Differential Growth and Metabolic Patterns in the Pre-Diagnostic Period: Implications for Early Detection.

BACKGROUND: Previously, we characterized subtypes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) on computed-tomography (CT) scans, whereby conspicuous (high delta) PDAC tumors are more likely to have aggressive biology and poorer clinical outcomes compared to inconspicuous (low delta) tumors. Here, we hypothesized that these imaging-based subtypes would exhibit different growth-rates and distinctive metabolic effects in the period prior to PDAC diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospectively, we evaluated 55 patients who developed PDAC as a second primary cancer and underwent serial pre-diagnostic (T0) and diagnostic (T1) CT-scans. We scored the PDAC tumors into high and low delta on T1 and, serially, obtained the biaxial measurements of the pancreatic lesions (T0-T1). We used the Gompertz-function to model the growth-kinetics and estimate the tumor growth-rate constant (α) which was used for tumor binary classification, followed by cross-validation of the classifier accuracy. We used maximum-likelihood estimation to estimate initiation-time from a single cell (10-6 mm3) to a 10 mm3 tumor mass. Finally, we serially quantified the subcutaneous-abdominal-fat (SAF), visceral-abdominal-fat (VAF), and muscles volumes (cm3) on CT-scans, and recorded the change in blood glucose (BG) levels. T-test, likelihood-ratio, Cox proportional-hazards, and Kaplan-Meier were used for statistical analysis and p-value <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Compared to high delta tumors, low delta tumors had significantly slower average growth-rate constants (0.024 month-1 vs. 0.088 month-1, p<0.0001) and longer average initiation-times (14 years vs. 5 years, p<0.0001). α demonstrated high accuracy (area under the curve (AUC)=0.85) in classifying the tumors into high and low delta, with an optimal cut-off of 0.034 month-1. Leave-one-out-cross-validation showed 80% accuracy in predicting the delta-class (AUC=0.84). High delta tumors exhibited accelerated SAF, VAF, and muscle wasting (p <0.001), and BG disturbance (p<0.01) compared to low delta tumors. Patients with low delta tumors had better PDAC-specific progression-free survival (log-rank, p<0.0001), earlier stage tumors (p=0.005), and higher likelihood to receive resection after PDAC diagnosis (p=0.008), compared to those with high delta tumors. CONCLUSION: Imaging-based subtypes of PDAC exhibit distinct growth, metabolic, and clinical profiles during the pre-diagnostic period. Our results suggest that heterogeneous disease biology may be an important consideration in early detection strategies for PDAC.

Effect of High-Dose vs Standard-Dose Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Body Composition among Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Randomized Trial.

Skeletal muscle and adipose tissue express the vitamin D receptor and may be a mechanism through which vitamin D supplementation slows cancer progression and reduces cancer death. In this exploratory analysis of a double-blind, multicenter, randomized phase II clinical trial, 105 patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer who were receiving chemotherapy were randomized to either high-dose vitamin D3 (4000 IU) or standard-dose (400 IU) vitamin D3. Body composition was measured with abdominal computed tomography at enrollment (baseline) and after cycle 8 of chemotherapy (16 weeks). As compared with standard-dose vitamin D3, high-dose vitamin D3 did not significantly change body weight [-0.7 kg; (95% CI: -3.5, 2.0)], body mass index [-0.2 kg/m2; (95% CI: -1.2, 0.7)], muscle area [-1.7 cm2; (95% CI: -9.6, 6.3)], muscle attenuation [-0.4 HU; (95% CI: -4.2, 3.2)], visceral adipose tissue area [-7.5 cm2; (95% CI: -24.5, 9.6)], or subcutaneous adipose tissue area [-8.3 cm2; (95% CI: -35.5, 18.9)] over the first 8 cycles of chemotherapy. Among patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, the addition of high-dose vitamin D3, vs standard-dose vitamin D3, to standard chemotherapy did not result in any changes in body composition.

Diabetes, Weight Change, and Pancreatic Cancer Risk.

Importance: Pancreatic cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States; however, few high-risk groups have been identified to facilitate early diagnosis strategies. Objective: To evaluate the association of diabetes duration and recent weight change with subsequent risk of pancreatic cancer in the general population. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study obtained data from female participants in the Nurses' Health Study and male participants in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, with repeated exposure assessments over 30 years. Incident cases of pancreatic cancer were identified from self-report or during follow-up of participant deaths. Deaths were ascertained through reports from the next of kin, the US Postal Service, or the National Death Index. Data collection was conducted from October 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. Data analysis was performed from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2019. Exposures: Duration of physician-diagnosed diabetes and recent weight change. Main Outcome and Measures: Hazard ratios (HRs) for subsequent development of pancreatic cancer. Results: Of the 112 818 women (with a mean [SD] age of 59.4 [11.7] years) and 46 207 men (with a mean [SD] age of 64.7 [10.8] years) included in the analysis, 1116 incident cases of pancreatic cancers were identified. Compared with participants with no diabetes, those with recent-onset diabetes had an age-adjusted HR for pancreatic cancer of 2.97 (95% CI, 2.31-3.82) and those with long-standing diabetes had an age-adjusted HR of 2.16 (95% CI, 1.78-2.60). Compared with those with no weight loss, participants who reported a 1- to 4-lb weight loss had an age-adjusted HR for pancreatic cancer of 1.25 (95% CI, 1.03-1.52), those with a 5- to 8-lb weight loss had an age-adjusted HR of 1.33 (95% CI, 1.06-1.66), and those with more than an 8-lb weight loss had an age-adjusted HR of 1.92 (95% CI, 1.58-2.32). Participants with recent-onset diabetes accompanied by weight loss of 1 to 8 lb (91 incident cases per 100 000 person-years [95% CI, 55-151]; HR, 3.61 [95% CI, 2.14-6.10]) or more than 8 lb (164 incident cases per 100 000 person-years [95% CI, 114-238]; HR, 6.75 [95% CI, 4.55-10.00]) had a substantially increased risk for pancreatic cancer compared with those with neither exposure (16 incident cases per 100 000 person-years; 95% CI, 14-17). Incidence rates were even higher among participants with recent-onset diabetes and weight loss with a body mass index of less than 25 before weight loss (400 incident cases per 100 000 person-years) or whose weight loss was not intentional judging from increased physical activity or healthier dietary choices (334 incident cases per 100 000 person-years). Conclusions and Relevance: This study demonstrates that recent-onset diabetes accompanied by weight loss is associated with a substantially increased risk for developing pancreatic cancer. Older age, previous healthy weight, and no intentional weight loss further elevate this risk.