Update on Assisted Outpatient Treatment.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) is an outpatient court-ordered treatment for people with severe mental illness (SMI) whose care needs are often unmet in the community due, in part, to treatment non-adherence. AOT is controversial, and the goal of this review is to provide an update on recent research, the status of AOT in the United States, and future directions for research and implementation. RECENT FINDINGS: Several recent studies have demonstrated that it is not just a lack of access to appropriately intensive care that prevents some individuals with SMI from engaging in and benefiting from treatment and that AOT can improve engagement and patient outcomes over and above the provision of care. The future of AOT in the United States is still somewhat uncertain and will largely depend on the effectiveness and sustainability of the SAMHSA AOT grant programs. Future research efforts should investigate the conditions under which and for whom AOT can be most effective, to help avoid poor outcomes for this vulnerable population.

Obesity Contributes to Ovarian Cancer Metastatic Success through Increased Lipogenesis, Enhanced Vascularity, and Decreased Infiltration of M1 Macrophages.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy, with high mortality attributable to widespread intraperitoneal metastases. Recent meta-analyses report an association between obesity, ovarian cancer incidence, and ovarian cancer survival, but the effect of obesity on metastasis has not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to use an integrative approach combining in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo studies to test the hypothesis that obesity contributes to ovarian cancer metastatic success. Initial in vitro studies using three-dimensional mesomimetic cultures showed enhanced cell-cell adhesion to the lipid-loaded mesothelium. Furthermore, in an ex vivo colonization assay, ovarian cancer cells exhibited increased adhesion to mesothelial explants excised from mice modeling diet-induced obesity (DIO), in which they were fed a "Western" diet. Examination of mesothelial ultrastructure revealed a substantial increase in the density of microvilli in DIO mice. Moreover, enhanced intraperitoneal tumor burden was observed in overweight or obese animals in three distinct in vivo models. Further histologic analyses suggested that alterations in lipid regulatory factors, enhanced vascularity, and decreased M1/M2 macrophage ratios may account for the enhanced tumorigenicity. Together, these findings show that obesity potently affects ovarian cancer metastatic success, which likely contributes to the negative correlation between obesity and ovarian cancer survival.