Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.3
3.2
Journals
Life
Special Issues
Cancer Epidemiology, Survival, and Disparities: Past, Present, and Future
share announcement

Cancer Epidemiology, Survival, and Disparities: Past, Present, and Future

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Epidemiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 November 2024 | Viewed by 3065

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Adam Barsouk

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Interests: thoracic oncology; genitourinary oncology; cancer epidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With its rising incidence around the world, cancer is set to overtake heart disease as the leading cause of death in developed nations. Immuno- and targeted therapies have improved survival, but have in turn increased cancer prevalence, leading to a growing cohort of patients with immunosuppression and even secondary malignancies. Our therapeutic strides in oncology have also exacerbated the disparities in survival for underserved populations. Furthermore, cancer incidence among younger adults has increased many-fold over the past decade, with an unclear etiology. However, there is a silver lining. As many as 50% of cancer cases are believed to be preventable, with well-known risk factors such as smoking and sun exposure, and lesser-known risk factors such as radon exposure, aflatoxin, obesity, viruses and occupational exposure. This Special Issue aims  to elucidate the epidemiologic trends and risk factors that contribute to the global cancer burden, and examine trends in survival that can help reduce disparities and deliver equitable and accessible care worldwide.

Dr. Adam Barsouk
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • epidemiology
  • survival
  • oncology
  • cancer
  • disparities

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review, Other

12 pages, 3309 KiB  
Article
A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Interventional Clinical Trials in High-Grade Glioma Therapy
by Angelo Angione, Jonathan Patterson, Ebrar Akca, Jessica Xu, Emily Xu, Vanessa Raab, Omar Elghawy, Adam A. Barsouk and Jonathan H. Sussman
Life 2024, 14(8), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14080926 - 24 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 925
Abstract
High-grade glioma is the most frequent and lethal primary tumor of the central nervous system. Despite advances in surgical, pharmacological, and cell-directed therapies, there have been no updates to the standard of care in over a decade. This cross-sectional study analyzes patient and [...] Read more.
High-grade glioma is the most frequent and lethal primary tumor of the central nervous system. Despite advances in surgical, pharmacological, and cell-directed therapies, there have been no updates to the standard of care in over a decade. This cross-sectional study analyzes patient and trial data from 201 interventional trials completed between 2010 and 2023, encompassing 18,563 participants. Although we found that all trials reported participant age and sex, only 52% of trials reported participant demographics, resulting in 51% of total participant demographics being unreported. The majority of studies did not report ethnicity, with approximately 60% of participants unreported. Additionally, males were significantly underrepresented in trials, comprising 60% of participants despite representing 75% of glioblastoma patients. Improved demographic reporting has been observed since 2011; however, it is inconsistent. Furthermore, we cataloged the geographic diversity of trials across the United States and found significant coverage deserts in relatively rural, but highly affected, areas such as Montana and Maine. We found a wider distribution of trials in both urban and wealthier regions, which indicates extensive coverage gaps and decreased access to participation for patients of a lower socioeconomic status. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Epidemiology, Survival, and Disparities: Past, Present, and Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research, Other

12 pages, 457 KiB  
Review
Synchronous Breast and Colorectal Malignant Tumors—A Systematic Review
by Cristian Iorga, Cristina Raluca Iorga, Alexandru Grigorescu, Iustinian Bengulescu, Traian Constantin and Victor Strambu
Life 2024, 14(8), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14081008 - 13 Aug 2024
Viewed by 888
Abstract
The incidence of breast and colorectal cancers is well established in studies, but the synchronous occurrence of the two types of tumors is a rarity. In general, they are discovered during screening investigations following the diagnosis of an initial tumor. Objective: Our aim [...] Read more.
The incidence of breast and colorectal cancers is well established in studies, but the synchronous occurrence of the two types of tumors is a rarity. In general, they are discovered during screening investigations following the diagnosis of an initial tumor. Objective: Our aim is to describe the main diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for synchronous breast and colorectal tumors. Materials and methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature for cases or case series, using established keywords (synchronous breast and colon tumor and synonyms) for the period of 1970–2023. Five reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies. The results were processed according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Results: A total of 15 cases were included in the study, including 2 males (age 50 and 57) and 13 females (median age 60, with range from 40 to 79). In a vast majority of the cases, the diagnosis of synchronous tumor was prompted by the first tumor’s workup. The first diagnosed tumor was colorectal in nine cases and a breast tumor in six cases. The most common histopathological type of breast tumor was invasive ductal carcinoma, and the colon tumors were exclusively adenocarcinomas. All cases had a surgical indication for both breast and colorectal tumor, except one case, in which the breast tumor had multiple metastasis. In four cases, the surgery was performed concomitantly (colectomy and mastectomy). In three cases, surgery was initially carried out for the breast tumor, followed by colon surgery. Oncological treatment was indicated depending on the tumor stage. Conclusions: For the treatment of synchronous tumors, the Tumor Board (T.B) decision is mandatory and must be personalized for each patient. Developing new methods of treatment and investigation may play an important role in the future for understanding synchronous tumor development, incidence, and outcome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Epidemiology, Survival, and Disparities: Past, Present, and Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research, Review

12 pages, 972 KiB  
Systematic Review
Low-Grade Glioma Clinical Trials in the United States: A Systematic Review
by Emily Xu, Jonathan Patterson, Angelo Angione, Alexander Li, David W. Wu, Ebrar Akca, Omar Elghawy, Alexander Barsouk and Jonathan H. Sussman
Life 2024, 14(9), 1133; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14091133 - 9 Sep 2024
Viewed by 801
Abstract
Low-grade glioma (LGG) is a malignancy of the central nervous system that is often treatable with surgical resection and chemoradiation. However, despite an initial positive response to standard therapy, most LGG eventually progress to high-grade gliomas which are nearly uniformly fatal. There is [...] Read more.
Low-grade glioma (LGG) is a malignancy of the central nervous system that is often treatable with surgical resection and chemoradiation. However, despite an initial positive response to standard therapy, most LGG eventually progress to high-grade gliomas which are nearly uniformly fatal. There is a pressing need for more clinical trials and greater clinical trial accessibility to improve the standard of care of LGG to delay or prevent its progression. In this study, we systematically examined the scope and inclusion of clinical trials for LGG based in the United States. This cross-sectional study analyzes trends in trial design and reported demographic data from completed LGG trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov between 2010 to 2023. Inclusion criteria, investigational therapies, primary outcomes, and preliminary results were compared and summarized. A total of 14 trials with 1067 participants were included in the study. Most of the trials were not exclusive to LGGs and 14% had mutation-specific inclusion criteria. To date, two of the trials have led to new FDA-approved treatments. All trials reported age and sex, while only 57% reported race and 43% reported ethnicity. Individuals identifying as Black or African American and Asian or Pacific Islander were statistically underrepresented. Lastly, we investigated the geographic distributions of trial sites across the United States, which demonstrated several coverage gaps in the Rocky Mountain and Southeast regions. These findings suggest specific areas for improvement in LGG clinical trial reporting and accessibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Epidemiology, Survival, and Disparities: Past, Present, and Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop