Duke Medical Center

Isolation of Hymenolepis diminuta cysticercoids for therapeutic use: The need for fully disclosed methodology

Background Helminth therapy holds considerable theoretical promise for clinical and public health applications. Unfortunately, clinical trials have often used helminths produced using methods that are both highly variable and insufficiently described in the literature, which may...

Current Trends in Therapeutic Outcomes Among Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma of the Spine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Study Design Systematic Review. Objectives The objective of this study was to answer two questions: (1) Did the overall survival (OS) of patients with spinal metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) improve in publications from 2017 and afterwards compared to 2016 and before? (2) D...

Subset-guided IL-15 expansion of NK cells amplifies antigen-specific CD4+ T cell immunity in melanoma

Abstract Background Natural killer (NK) cells comprise heterogeneous subsets with distinct developmental trajectories and effector functions; however, whether specific NK subsets can selectively coordinate adaptive antitumor immunity remains unclear. We identified a bone marrow-d...

Biliary complications in pediatric living donor liver transplantation: An international multicenter analysis of risk and prognostic factors

Biliary reconstruction is often considered the Achilles’ heel of liver transplantation, yet risk factors and outcomes remain poorly defined, particularly in pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). This international multicenter study aims to identify predictors of bi...

Short-term air pollution exposure and hospitalizations in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: data from the IPF-PRO Registry

Abstract Rationale While long-term exposure to ambient air pollution in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been associated with an increased risk of disease progression and mortality, the risks associated with acute exposure are less clear. Objective To determi...

Prescription Patterns of Cardiovascular Medications in the Adolescent and Adult Population With Fontan Circulation—A Report From the Multicenter Single Ventricle Outcomes Network

BACKGROUND: There are limited data on prescription patterns in adolescents and adults with Fontan circulation. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients 13 years of age and older enrolled between 2022 and 2024 in the Fontan Outcomes Network (now SV-ONE [Single Ve...

Randomised phase III trials of cancer prevention drugs: a systematic review and prediction of trial success

BACKGROUND: Pharmacological cancer risk reduction has received far less investment than therapeutic oncology and only a few agents have entered routine practice. Understanding the predictors of positive outcomes of previous trials and issues faced is critical to future developmen...

Monoclonal antibodies inhibiting MMP-9 activity alleviate peripheral neuropathy in diabetic mice

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a debilitating medical condition that affects millions of individuals, causing neuropathic pain and chronic wounds. Despite its substantial impact, there are currently no effective disease-modifying treatments available to prevent or revers...

Maximum Allowable Contrast Dose and Risk of Acute Kidney Injury After Coronary Procedures

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have questioned whether iodinated contrast is causally related to acute kidney injury (AKI). AIM: We pursed a contemporary analysis to determine the impact of contrast dose on AKI following coronary procedures in an era of lower contrast doses and less...

Development of a STEAP1-targeted prostate cancer specific antibody drug conjugate platform with immunostimulatory properties

Background: Patients with prostate cancer who develop androgen pathway modulation resistant (APMR) disease face lethal outcomes despite advances in androgen receptor-pathway inhibitors, chemotherapy, and PSMA-directed radioligands. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have demonstrate...

Estrogen promotes tumor phenotypes in ER+ and ER– breast cancer through UGDH-GPR30

Estrogen can promote aggressive tumor phenotypes in estrogen receptor–positive (ER + ) breast cancer; however, ER – cell lines are not widely considered estrogen responsive. Noncanonical estrogen-stimulated pathways such as the membrane-bound G protein–coupled estrogen receptor (...

Omic risk scores are associated with COPD-related traits across three cohorts

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibits marked heterogeneity in lung function decline, mortality, exacerbations, and other disease-related outcomes. Omic risk scores (ORS) estimate the cumulative contribution of omics, such as the transcriptome, proteome...

Redefining atrial fibrillation treatment success: patient-defined goals for arrhythmia burden and health-related quality of life

Background: Despite the use of atrial fibrillation (AF) cutoff of 30s as the standard for success in most AF clinical trials, patients consider an AF Severity Scale (AFSS) of ≤ 5 or AF duration ≤ 1 hour as treatment success. Prevalence and factors associated with these patient-de...

Antithrombotic therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with atrial fibrillation: an individual patient data network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Randomized trials demonstrated that in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) and a P2Y12 inhibitor reduce bleeding compared with vitamin K antagonist (VKA) plus dual antipl...

Association of peri-reperfusion oxygen exposure and early allograft dysfunction after deceased donor orthotopic liver transplantation: a retrospective cohort study

Hepatic insufficiency within a week of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), termed early allograft dysfunction (EAD), occurs in 20–25% of deceased donor OLT recipients and carries substantial morbidity and mortality. Ischemia reperfusion injury, in which reperfusion after isch...

Aficamten for Symptomatic Nonobstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common condition that is associated with substantial morbidity and no proven medical therapy. Whether treatment with aficamten, a cardiac myosin inhibitor, can benefit patients with this condition is unknown. METHO...

A Clinically Aligned 18-Item Instrument for Measuring Inflammatory Breast Cancer Knowledge

This survey study evaluates preliminary, clinically informed exploratory indices to evaluate inflammatory breast cancer knowledge, including symptom and risk-factor recognition.

Student perceptions of the School eHealth Education Program Pakistan (eSHEPP): a qualitative study of acceptability, feasibility, and awareness of non-communicable diseases

Background: Noncommunicable diseases are a leading cause of premature morbidity and mortality, and many associated risk behaviors emerge during adolescence. In Pakistan, school health education remains limited and largely lecture-based, leaving adolescents insufficiently equipped...

Navigating physician-scientist careers: insights from American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway graduates

The American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway (ABIM RP) is designed to train physician-scientists by shortening postgraduate clinical training and increasing research time. We surveyed ABIM RP graduates to understand career trajectories, research engagement, and barrie...

Deletion of P311 enhances regeneration in aged skeletal muscle

While aging results in marked decreases in the capacity of skeletal muscle to repair following injury, as well as increases in fibrosis, the pathways and factors that regulate these processes are poorly defined. P311/Nrep (P311) is a highly conserved protein known to promote fibr...