Donor Lymphocyte Infusion (DLI) post allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and High-Grade Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). A longitudinal retrospective study using peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ and CD3+ donor chimerism (DC) monitoring.

INTRODUCTION: This longitudinal study was based on the outcomes of Donor Lymphocyte Infusion (DLI) for falling peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ and CD3+ donor chimerism (DC). METHODS: From 2012 to 2018, data was collected from the BMT database and electronic medical records (EMR). The primary objective was to compare the indication for DLI based on falling PB CD34+ or CD3+ DC in patients post allo-SCT for AML and MDS and their overall survival (OS). RESULTS: 18/70 patients met the inclusion criteria. Indications for DLI were i) falling PB CD34+ DC ≤ 80 % with morphological relapse, ii) falling PB CD34+ DC ≤ 80 % without morphological relapse and iii) falling PB CD3+ DC ≤ 80 % without falling PB CD34+ DC. Log rank analysis showed falling PB CD34+ DC and morphological relapse had significantly lower OS. Linear regression demonstrated better OS post DLI if there was PB CD34+ and CD3+ chimerism response at 30 days (p = 0.029), GVHD (p = 0.032) and tapering immunosuppression at the time of falling DC (p = 0.042). CONCLUSION: DLI for PB CD34+ DC values ≤ 80 % and morphological relapse had the lowest OS. In this study, full DC was achieved after DLI even with a PB CD3+DC value as low as 13 %, provided the PB CD34+ DC remained > 80 %. Further research is vital in CD34+ DC as a biomarker for disease relapse and loss of engraftment.

Only the beginning: 50 years of progress toward curing childhood cancer.

Dramatic progress in treating childhood cancer has evolved over decades from initial empirically derived treatments to clinical investigations incorporating disease biology with rationally designed therapeutic programs. While cure is now possible for many, it remains elusive for others. Collaboration across numerous domains is necessary for cure to be a reality for all.

Inotuzumab ozogamicin in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia: efficacy, toxicity, and practical considerations.

Inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO) is an antibody drug conjugate composed of a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the cell surface receptor CD22 coupled to a cytotoxic calicheamicin payload via an acid labile linker. InO has shown significant activity in relapsed and refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) in both single agent and combination chemotherapy regimens in adult and pediatric trials. Its use in newly diagnosed elderly patients has also been established while clinical trials investigating its use in newly diagnosed pediatric patients and fit adults are ongoing. Notable toxicities include sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), particularly in patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) after InO as well as myelosuppression and B-cell aplasia which confer increased infection risk, particularly in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy. In the relapsed/refractory (R/R) setting, the planned subsequent curative therapy modality must be considered when using InO to mitigate SOS risk if proceeding to HSCT and account for potential B-cell aplasia if proceeding to chimeric antigen receptor CAR-T therapy. Studies exploring mechanisms of resistance or failure of InO are ongoing but modulation or loss CD22 expression, alternative CD22 splicing, and high Bcl-2 expression have been implicated. In this review, we will summarize the currently available data on InO, with an emphasis on pediatric trials, and explore future directions including combinatorial therapy.

Developmental Changes in the Relation between Youth Disclosure and Parenting Behavior: A Cohort-sequential Analysis.

To address a gap in the literature regarding the development of youth disclosure across the transition to adolescence, the current research uses a cohort-sequential approach to study youth disclosure from middle childhood through adolescence. Longitudinal data from three cohorts of parents were utilized (N = 1359; children at T1 were in grades 2 [M = 8.00 years, SD = 0.57 years, 45% female], 4 [M = 10.12 years, SD = 0.60 years, 45% female], and 9 [M = 15.19 years, SD = 0.57 years, 48% female]). Parents were assessed annually over a 3-year time period. The focal analyses explored contemporaneous associations between characteristics of the parent-youth relationship (specifically, parental rejection and parental consistent discipline) and youth disclosure after accounting for person-specific trajectories of disclosure. Associations of gender, age, and socioeconomic status with disclosure were also assessed. Regarding trajectories of youth disclosure, results indicate that youth disclose less information to their parents about their daily lives as they get older; this trend was consistent across gender and socioeconomic status. In terms of associations with youth disclosure, when parents provided more consistent discipline or engaged in less rejection of their child, youth disclosure increased, even after accounting for their own trajectory of disclosure across time. In addition, the association of consistent discipline with youth disclosure became stronger with increased youth age. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding youth autonomy development, and the dyadic and developmental impact of parenting behaviors over time.

Clinical covariates that improve the description of high dose methotrexate pharmacokinetics in a diverse population to inform MTXPK.org.

The MTXPK.org webtool was launched in December 2019 and was developed to facilitate model-informed supportive care and optimal use of glucarpidase following the administration of high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX). One limitation identified during the original development of the MTXPK.org tool was the perceived generalizability because the modeled population comprised solely of Nordic pediatric patients receiving 24-h infusions for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The goal of our study is to describe the pharmacokinetics of HDMTX from a diverse patient population (e.g., races, ethnicity, indications for methotrexate, and variable infusion durations) and identify meaningful factors that account for methotrexate variability and improve the model's performance. To do this, retrospectively analyzed pharmacokinetic and toxicity data from pediatric and adolescent young adult patients who were receiving HDMTX (>0.5 g/m2 ) for the treatment of a cancer diagnosis from three pediatric medical centers. We performed population pharmacokinetic modeling referencing the original MTXPK.org NONMEM model (includes body surface area and serum creatinine as covariates) on 1668 patients, 7506 administrations of HDMTX, and 30,250 concentrations. Our results support the parameterizations of short infusion duration (<8 h) and the presence of Down syndrome on methotrexate clearance, the parameterization of severe hypoalbuminemia (<2.5 g/dL) on the intercompartmental clearance (Q2 and Q3), and the parameterization of pleural effusion on the volume of distribution (V1 and V2). These novel parameterizations will increase the generalizability of the MTXPK.org model once they are added to the webtool.

Peripheral Blood CD34 Donor Chimerism has Greater Clinical Utility Than CD3 for Detecting Relapse after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome.

Monitoring of donor chimerism (DC) may detect early relapse following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Most centers use unfractionated peripheral blood or T-cells to monitor DC, although CD34+ DC may be more predictive. The limited adoption of CD34+ DC may be due to the lack of detailed, comparative studies. To address this knowledge gap, we compared peripheral blood CD34+ and CD3+ DC in 134 patients who underwent allo-SCT for AML or MDS. In July 2011, the Alfred Hospital Bone Marrow Transplantation Service adopted routine monitoring of DC in the lineage-specific CD34+ and CD3+ cell subsets from peripheral blood at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months post-transplantation for AML or MDS. Immunologic interventions, including rapid withdrawal of immunosuppression, azacitidine, and donor lymphocyte infusion, were prespecified for CD34+ DC ≤80%. Overall, CD34+ DC ≤80% detected 32 of 40 relapses (positive predictive value [PPV], 68%; negative predictive value [NPV], 91%), compared with 13 of 40 relapses for CD3+ DC ≤80% (PPV, 52%; NPV, 75%). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed the superiority of CD34+ DC, with the greatest value at day 120 post-transplantation. CD3+ DC provided additional value in only 3 cases, preceding CD34+ DC ≤80% by 1 month. We further show that the CD34+ DC sample can be used to detect NPM1mut, with the combination of CD34+ DC ≤80% and NPM1mut identifying the highest risk of relapse. Among the 24 patients in morphologic remission at the time of CD34+ DC ≤80%, 15 (62.5%) responded to immunologic interventions (rapid withdrawal of immunosuppression, azacitidine, or donor lymphocyte infusion) with recovery of CD34+ DC >80%, and 11 of these patients remained in complete remission for a median of 34 months (range, 28 to 97 months). In contrast, the other 9 patients did not respond to the clinical intervention and relapsed within a median of 59 days after detecting CD34+ DC ≤80%. The CD34+ DC was significantly higher in responders than in nonresponders (median, 72% versus 56%; P = .015, Mann-Whitney U test). Overall, monitoring of CD34+ DC was considered clinically useful (early diagnosis of relapse enabling preemptive therapy or predicting low risk of relapse) in 107 of 125 evaluable patients (86%). Our findings show that peripheral blood CD34+ DC is feasible and superior to CD3+ DC for predicting relapse. It also provides a source of DNA for measurable residual disease testing, which may further stratify the risk of relapse. If validated by an independent cohort, our results suggest that CD34+ should be used in preference to CD3+ DC for detecting early relapse and guiding immunologic interventions following allo-SCT for AML or MDS.

Survival outcomes of children with relapsed or refractory myeloid leukemia associated with Down syndrome.

Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at a significantly higher risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia, also termed myeloid leukemia associated with DS (ML-DS). In contrast to the highly favorable prognosis of primary ML-DS, the limited data that are available for children who relapse or who have refractory ML-DS (r/r ML-DS) suggest a dismal prognosis. There are few clinical trials and no standardized treatment approach for this population. We conducted a retrospective analysis of international study groups and pediatric oncology centers and identified 62 patients who received treatment with curative intent for r/r ML-DS between year 2000 to 2021. Median time from diagnosis to relapse was 6.8 (range, 1.1-45.5) months. Three-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 20.9 ± 5.3% and 22.1 ± 5.4%, respectively. Survival was associated with receipt of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (hazard ratio [HR], 0.28), duration of first complete remission (CR1) (HR, 0.31 for > 12 months) and attainment of remission after relapse (HR, 4.03). Patients who achieved complete remission (CR) before HSCT, had an improved OS and EFS of 56.0 ± 11.8% and 50.5 ± 11.9%, respectively compared to those who underwent HSCT without CR (3-year OS and EFS of 10.0 ± 9.5%). Treatment failure after HSCT was predominantly because of disease recurrence (52%) followed by treatment-related mortality (10%). The prognosis of r/r ML-DS remains dismal even in the current treatment period and serve as a reference point for current prognostication and future interventional studies. Clinical trials aimed at improving the survival of patients with r/r ML-DS are needed.

The Choice of Either Conventional Chemotherapy or Inotuzumab Ozogamicin as Bridging Regimen Does Not Appear To Impact Clinical Response to CD19-Directed CAR-T Therapy in Pediatric B-ALL.

Bridging therapy (BT) given during the period between T-cell collection and initiation of lymphodepleting chemotherapy is indicated for most children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) undergoing treatment with tisagenlecleucel (tisa-cel), a CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. Both conventional chemotherapy agents and B-cell directed antibody-based therapies such as antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific T-cell engagers have been used as systemic forms of BT. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate if there are detectable differences in clinical outcomes based on the type of BT given (conventional chemotherapy or inotuzumab). A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients treated with tisa-cel at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for B-ALL with bone marrow disease (with or without extramedullary disease). Patients who did not receive systemic BT were excluded. Only 1 patient received blinatumomab as BT and was therefore not included in this analysis to focus the analysis on the use of inotuzumab. Pre-infusion characteristics and post-infusion outcomes were collected. Fisher's exact test was used for categorical variables, and t-test or Mann-Whitney test was used for continuous parametric and non-parametric variables respectively. Mantel-Cox was used for survival analyses. Thirty-two patients received BT before CD19 CAR-T for medullary leukemia; 24 received conventional chemotherapy, and 8 received inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO). Cohorts were evenly matched regarding CAR-T indication, recipient age, and median CAR-T cell dose. There were no significant differences between the groups for attaining a minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative complete response after CAR-T, the percentage of patients who maintained prolonged B-cell aplasia, or the median duration of B-cell aplasia. Thirty-seven percent of patients in the conventional chemotherapy group and 43% in the antibody-based therapy group relapsed, with a median time to relapse in both groups of 5 months. No differences in event-free survival, the cumulative incidence of relapse, or overall survival were seen between the two groups. Initial response to tisa-cel, relapse rate, and survival were similar between patients who received BT with conventional chemotherapy or InO therapy. Because low disease burden at the time of infusion is a positive prognostic factor, choice of bridging regimen should focus on therapy that is anticipated to effectively lower disease burden and minimize treatment-related toxicity. Given the limitations associated with the single center retrospective analysis, a larger, multicenter study is needed to further explore these findings.

Outcome of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy following treatment with inotuzumab ozogamicin in children with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells targeting CD19 (CART-19) have shown remarkable efficacy for relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). We investigated whether prior use of inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO), an anti-CD22 antibody conjugated to calicheamicin, may impact CAR T-cell manufacturing or efficacy via pre-CART-19 depletion of the B-cell compartment. In this international, retrospective analysis, 39 children and young adults receiving InO before (n = 12) and/or after (n = 27) T-cell apheresis as bridging therapy to CART-19 treatment were analyzed. Median age at infusion was 13 years (range 1.4-23 years). Thirty-four out of 39 patients (87.2%) obtained complete remission. With a median follow-up of 18.2 months after CART-19 infusion, 12-month event-free survival (EFS) was 53.3% (95% confidence interval (CI): 38.7-73.4) and overall survival (OS) was 77.8% (95% CI: 64.5-93.9). Seventeen patients (44%) relapsed with a median of 159 days (range 28-655) after CART-19 infusion. No difference in day 28 minimal residual disease negative complete response rate, 12-month OS/EFS, or incidence of CD19-positive or -negative relapses was observed among patients receiving InO before or after apheresis. Compared to published data for patients treated with CART-19 therapy without prior InO exposure, response and OS/EFS for patients treated with InO prior to CART-19 are similar.

Phase 1b study of carfilzomib with induction chemotherapy in pediatric relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer diagnosed in childhood. Survival for patients following relapse remains poor, and achieving complete remission (CR) after relapse is the first critical step to cure. Carfilzomib is a proteasome inhibitor with an acceptable safety profile and clinical activity in adults with multiple myeloma but has not been assessed in children. The primary objective of this phase 1b study was to assess the safety and tolerability of carfilzomib combined with vincristine, dexamethasone, asparaginase, and daunorubicin (VXLD) in children with relapsed and/or refractory ALL. METHODS: Patients aged 1-21 years (n = 24) received 4-week induction therapy with carfilzomib at dose levels of 27 mg/m2 (n = 3), 36 mg/m2 (n = 7), 45 mg/m2 (n = 4), and 56 mg/m2 (n = 10) in combination with VXLD. Patients achieving stable disease were offered further consolidation chemotherapy. Analyses were based on the safety evaluable population. RESULTS: Following dose escalation of carfilzomib, the recommended phase 2 carfilzomib dose was identified as 56 mg/m2 . Grade ≥3 hematological adverse events were common (83%, 20/24 patients), and serious treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 58% (14/24) of patients. At the end of induction, CR/CR with incomplete platelet recovery (CRp)/CR with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) was identified in 50% of patients (n = 12/24). By the end of consolidation, cumulative CR/CRp/CRi was identified in 58% of patients (n = 14/24). CONCLUSION: These data support the use of carfilzomib in pediatric patients with relapsed and/or refractory ALL.

Improving infectious adverse event reporting for children and adolescents enrolled in clinical trials for acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Infections cause substantial morbidity for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Therefore, accurate characterization of infectious adverse events (AEs) reported on clinical trials is imperative to defining, comparing, and managing safety and toxicity. Here, we describe key processes implemented to improve reporting of infectious AEs on two active phase III Children's Oncology Group (COG) ALL trials. Processes include: (a) identifying infections as a targeted toxicity, (b) incorporation of infection-specific case report form questions, and (c) physician review of AEs with real-time data cleaning. Preliminary assessment of these processes suggests improved reporting, as well as opportunities for further improvement.

Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Points to Consider for Medical Device Implant Site Evaluation in Nonclinical Studies.

Nonclinical implantation studies are a common and often critical step for medical device safety assessment in the bench-to-market pathway. Nonclinical implanted medical devices or drug-device combination products require complex macroscopic and microscopic pathology evaluations due to the physical presence of the device itself and unique tissue responses to device materials. The Medical Device Implant Site Evaluation working group of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology's (STP) Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee (SRPC) was tasked with reviewing scientific, technical, and regulatory considerations for these studies. Implant site evaluations require highly specialized methods and analytical schemes that should be designed on a case-by-case basis to address specific study objectives. Existing STP best practice recommendations can serve as a framework when performing nonclinical studies under Good Laboratory Practices and help mitigate limitations in standards and guidances for implant evaluations (e.g., those from the International Organization for Standardization [ISO], ASTM International). This article integrates standards referenced by sponsors and regulatory bodies with practical pathology evaluation methods for implantable medical devices and combination products. The goal is to ensure the maximum accuracy and scientific relevance of pathology data acquired during a medical device or combination drug-device implantation study.

Modulation of CD22 Protein Expression in Childhood Leukemia by Pervasive Splicing Aberrations: Implications for CD22-Directed Immunotherapies.

Downregulation of surface epitopes causes postimmunotherapy relapses in B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Here we demonstrate that mRNA encoding CD22 undergoes aberrant splicing in B-ALL. We describe the plasma membrane-bound CD22 Δex5-6 splice isoform, which is resistant to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting the third immunoglobulin-like domain of CD22. We also describe splice variants skipping the AUG-containing exon 2 and failing to produce any identifiable protein, thereby defining an event that is rate limiting for epitope presentation. Indeed, forcing exon 2 skipping with morpholino oligonucleotides reduced CD22 protein expression and conferred resistance to the CD22-directed antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab ozogamicin in vitro. Furthermore, among inotuzumab-treated pediatric patients with B-ALL, we identified one nonresponder in whose leukemic blasts Δex2 isoforms comprised the majority of CD22 transcripts. In a second patient, a sharp reduction in CD22 protein levels during relapse was driven entirely by increased CD22 exon 2 skipping. Thus, dysregulated CD22 splicing is a major mechanism of epitope downregulation and ensuing resistance to immunotherapy. SIGNIFICANCE: The mechanism(s) underlying downregulation of surface CD22 following CD22-directed immunotherapy remains underexplored. Our biochemical and correlative studies demonstrate that in B-ALL, CD22 expression levels are controlled by inclusion/skipping of CD22 exon 2. Thus, aberrant splicing of CD22 is an important driver/biomarker of de novo and acquired resistance to CD22-directed immunotherapies. See related commentary by Bourcier and Abdel-Wahab, p. 87. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 85.

Phase II Trial of Inotuzumab Ozogamicin in Children and Adolescents With Relapsed or Refractory B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Children's Oncology Group Protocol AALL1621.

PURPOSE: Children's Oncology Group trial AALL1621 was conducted to prospectively determine the safety and efficacy of inotuzumab ozogamicin (InO) in pediatric and adolescent patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This single-arm phase II trial enrolled patients age 1-21 years with R/R CD22-positive B-ALL. In cycle 1, InO dosing was 0.8 mg/m2 intravenously on day 1 and 0.5 mg/m2 on days 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle with response evaluation at day 28. Using a two-stage design, the trial was continuously monitored for dose-limiting toxicities and sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). CD22 expression was retrospectively evaluated by central flow cytometry. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were evaluable for response and toxicity; 19 had complete response (CR) and nine CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi) after cycle 1 (CR/CRi rate: 58.3%; two-sided 90% CI, 46.5 to 69.3). Twenty-seven of 28 patients with CR or CRi had minimal residual disease measured by flow cytometry; 18 (66.7%) had minimal residual disease < 0.01%. Seven of 28 patients (25%) with CR or CRi had delayed count recovery past day 42 in cycle 1. Three (6.3%) patients had grade 3 ALT elevation and one patient had grade 3 hyperbilirubinemia in cycle 1. Of 21 patients undergoing hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation after InO, 6 (28.6%) developed grade 3 SOS. Partial CD22 expression and lower CD22 site density were associated with lower likelihood of response to InO. CONCLUSION: InO is effective and well tolerated in heavily pretreated children and adolescents with R/R CD22-positive B-ALL. SOS after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation and prolonged cytopenias were notable. CD22 modulation was identified as a mechanism of resistance. Expanded study of InO combined with chemotherapy is underway.

Development of a real-time PCR assay to detect the single nucleotide polymorphism causing Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome.

Warmblood Fragile Foal syndrome (WFFS) is an autosomal recessive condition that affects the maturation of collagen in affected foals. Foals affected with the disease typically die or are euthanised shortly after birth. WFFS is caused by a single nucleotide change at position 2032 of the equine PLOD1 gene, causing an impairment of the wild-type enzyme. A commercial test for the causative genetic mutation is currently available from companies operating under licence from Cornell University but it has limitations. This test requires amplification of a region of the PLOD1 gene encompassing the site of interest, followed by Sanger sequencing of that region and computational analysis. We describe here the development of an alternative, real-time PCR based assay that rapidly and reliably differentiates between the wild-type and WFFS associated nucleotides without the need for sequencing, thus increasing the potential for high throughput analysis of large numbers of samples in a cost-effective manner.

High-dose AraC is essential for the treatment of ML-DS independent of postinduction MRD: results of the COG AAML1531 trial.

Myeloid leukemia in children with Down syndrome (ML-DS) is associated with young age and somatic GATA1 mutations. Because of high event-free survival (EFS) and hypersensitivity of the leukemic blasts to chemotherapy, the prior Children's Oncology Group protocol ML-DS protocol (AAML0431) reduced overall treatment intensity but lacking risk stratification, retained the high-dose cytarabine course (HD-AraC), which was highly associated with infectious morbidity. Despite high EFS of ML-DS, survival for those who relapse is rare. AAML1531 introduced therapeutic risk stratification based on the previously identified prognostic factor, measurable residual disease (MRD) at the end of the first induction course. Standard risk (SR) patients were identified by negative MRD using flow cytometry (<0.05%) and did not receive the historically administered HD-AraC course. Interim analysis of 114 SR patients revealed a 2-year EFS of 85.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 75.7-95.5), which was significantly lower than for MRD- patients treated with HD-AraC on AAML0431 (P = .0002). Overall survival at 2 years was 91.0% (95% CI, 83.8-95.0). Twelve SR patients relapsed, mostly within 1 year from study entry and had a 1-year OS of 16.7% (95% CI, 2.7-41.3). Complex karyotypes were more frequent in SR patients who relapsed compared with those who did not (36% vs 9%; P = .0248). MRD by error-corrected sequencing of GATA1 mutations was piloted in 18 SR patients and detectable in 60% who relapsed vs 23% who did not (P = .2682). Patients with SR ML-DS had worse outcomes without HD-AraC after risk classification based on flow cytometric MRD.

Longitudinal predictions of young adults' weapons use and criminal behavior from their childhood exposure to violence.

In this study, we examine whether youth who are exposed to more weapons violence are subsequently more likely to behave violently with weapons. We use data collected with a 3-cohort, 4-wave, 10-year longitudinal study of 426 high-risk youth from Flint, Michigan, who were second, fourth, or ninth-graders in 2006-2007. The data were obtained from individual interviews with the youth, their parents, and their teachers, from archival school and criminal justice records, and from geo-coded criminal offense data. These data show that early exposure to weapons violence significantly correlates at modest levels with weapon carrying, weapon use or threats-to-use, arrests for weapons use, and criminally violent acts 10 years later. Multiple regression analyses, controlling for children's initial aggressiveness, intellectual achievement, and parents' income, education, and aggression, reveal statistically significant independent 10-year effects: (1) more early exposure to weapon use within the family predicts more using or threatening to use a gun; (2) more cumulative early violent video game playing predicts more gun using or threatening to use weapons, and normative beliefs that gun use is acceptable; (3) more cumulative early exposure to neighborhood gun violence predicts more arrests for a weapons crime; and (4) more cumulative early exposure to movie violence predicts more weapon carrying. We argue that youth who observe violence with weapons, whether in the family, among peers, or through the media or video games, are likely to be infected from exposure with a social-cognitive-emotional disease that increases their own risk of behaving violently with weapons later in life.

Treatment of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder with poor prognostic features in children and young adults: Short-course EPOCH regimens are safe and effective.

No guidelines exist for which intensive chemotherapy regimen is best in pediatric or young adult patients with high-risk posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). We retrospectively reviewed patients with PTLD who received interval-compressed short-course etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (SC-EPOCH) regimens at our institution. Eight patients were included with median age of 12 years. All patients achieved a complete response with a manageable toxicity profile. Two patients developed second, clonally unrelated, EBV-positive PTLD and one patient had recurrence at 6 months off therapy. No graft rejection occurred during therapy. All eight patients are alive with median follow-up of 29 months.

Training oncology care providers in the assessment and treatment of tobacco use and dependence.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines for promoting smoking cessation in cancer care exist; however, most oncology settings have not established tobacco use assessment and treatment as standard care. Inadequate staff training and other implementation challenges have been identified as barriers for delivery of evidence-based tobacco treatment. Providing training in tobacco treatment tailored to the unique needs of tobacco-dependent patients with cancer is one strategy to improve adoption of best practices to promote smoking cessation in cancer care. METHODS: A tobacco treatment training program for oncology care providers (tobacco treatment training-oncology [TTT-O]) consisting of a 2-day didactic and experiential workshop followed by 6 monthly, collaboratory videoconference calls supporting participants in their efforts to implement National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines in their oncology settings was developed and implemented. This article presents preliminary results on program evaluation, changes in participants' self-efficacy, and progress in implementing tobacco treatment. RESULTS: Data have been obtained from the first 5 cohorts of TTT-O participants (n = 110) who completed training, course evaluations, baseline and follow-up surveys. Participants rated the training as highly favorable and reported significant gains in self-efficacy in their ability to assess and treat tobacco dependence. Participants also demonstrated significant improvements in tobacco treatment skills and implementation of several indicators of improved adoption of best practices for tobacco treatment in their cancer care settings. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of tobacco treatment training for cancer care providers is feasible, acceptable, and can have a significant positive impact on participants' tobacco treatment skills, self-efficacy, and greater adoption of tobacco treatment delivery in cancer care.