PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New USC study shows immigrant adults with liver cancer have higher survival rates than those born in the US

2023-05-10
(Press-News.org)

Immigrant adults with liver cancer in the United States have higher survival rates than people with the disease who were born in the U.S., according to new research from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, contributes to more than 27,000 deaths annually in the United States. Immigrants comprise a significant proportion of those diagnosed with HCC in the U.S. Research has shown that birthplace, also referred to as nativity, impacts incidence and risk factors for HCC, but little was known about its influence on survival after diagnosis.

The new study, just published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, identified a previously unrecognized disparity in survival after a diagnosis of liver cancer across all major racial/ethnic groups, with immigrants having better survival compared to those born in the U.S. This study is one of the first to robustly address nativity status as a predictor of overall survival for adults with HCC and provides important estimates of HCC survival by region of birth.

“Liver cancer is one of few cancers with increasing deaths. We identified a novel disparity by birthplace, whereby immigrants with liver cancer demonstrated better survival than their U.S.-born counterparts,” said study author Kali Zhou, MD, member of the Cancer Epidemiology Program at the USC Norris cancer center and a transplant hepatologist specializing in the treatment of chronic liver disease at Keck Medicine of USC. “This was true across different racial/ethnic groups. This finding is important as liver cancer rates are rising among U.S.-born and understanding why immigrants have better outcomes may help us create strategies to improve the survival of those born here.”

California has a high concentration of immigrants, representing about a quarter of the foreign-born population nationwide. This study used California Cancer Registry data to investigate whether birthplace impacts survival among patients with liver cancer, a cancer with poor prognosis that is common among immigrants, though rising in those born in the U.S. 

Zhou, who is also an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and her colleagues identified 51,533 adults with HCC with available birthplace data in the California Cancer Registry between 1988 and 2017, of which 20,400 were people who were born in foreign countries. Cases were categorized as people who are born in the U.S. or people born in any other country, then stratified by four mutually exclusive race and ethnicity groups: Hispanic, non-Hispanic (NH) White, NH Black, and NH Asian/Pacific Islander. Results showed that 40% of all HCC cases were among those born outside of the U.S., and that their five-year survival rate was higher than patients with HCC who were born in the U.S. across all four major race and ethnicity groups. Among foreign-born people, lower mortality was observed in those from Central and South America compared to Mexico for Hispanics, East Asia compared to Southeast Asia for Asian/Pacific Islanders, and East Europe and Greater Middle East compared to West/South/North Europe for Whites.

The population-based California Cancer Registry provided a unique opportunity to compare HCC survival by nativity overall separated by regions of origin within individual race and ethnicity groups. Understanding the reasons for better survival among immigrants may help researchers address the disparity in survival rates by identifying ways to improve outcomes for people born in the U.S.

In addition to Kali Zhou, other contributors from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Keck School of Medicine include Lihua Liu, PhD; Mariana Stern, PhD; Wendy Setiawan, PhD; Norah Terrault, MD, MPH; and Myles Cockburn, PhD. 

This work was supported by the California Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries, and the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program.

 

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Physicists discover ‘stacked pancakes of liquid magnetism’

Physicists discover ‘stacked pancakes of liquid magnetism’
2023-05-10
HOUSTON – (May 10, 2023) – Physicists have discovered “stacked pancakes of liquid magnetism” that may account for the strange electronic behavior of some layered helical magnets. The materials in the study are magnetic at cold temperatures and become nonmagnetic as they thaw. Experimental physicist Makariy Tanatar of Ames National Laboratory at Iowa State University noticed perplexing electronic behavior in layered helimagnetic crystals and brought the mystery to the attention of Rice theoretical physicist Andriy Nevidomskyy, who worked with Tanatar and former Rice graduate student Matthew Butcher to create a computational model that simulated the quantum states ...

Workplace accidents are most likely to occur in moderately dangerous settings

2023-05-10
Although some people might expect very dangerous jobs to be associated with the highest incidence of workplace accidents, a new study finds that accidents are actually most likely to occur within moderately dangerous work environments. “In highly dangerous environments, individuals engage in a high degree of safety behaviours, which offsets the chance of an accident,” said Dr. James Beck, lead author and a professor of psychology. “On the other hand, in moderately dangerous environments, people usually engage in some safety behaviours, yet most people do not engage in enough​ safety ...

Training machines to learn more like humans do

2023-05-09
Imagine sitting on a park bench, watching someone stroll by. While the scene may constantly change as the person walks, the human brain can transform that dynamic visual information into a more stable representation over time. This ability, known as perceptual straightening, helps us predict the walking person’s trajectory. Unlike humans, computer vision models don’t typically exhibit perceptual straightness, so they learn to represent visual information in a highly unpredictable way. But if machine-learning models had this ability, it might enable them to better estimate how objects or people will move. MIT researchers have discovered that a specific training ...

New UCF-developed immunotherapy treatment targets respiratory viral infections

2023-05-09
ORLANDO, May 9, 2023 – A University of Central Florida College of Medicine researcher has developed a new, more precise treatment for a major cause of illness around the world each year — acute respiratory viral infections. Acute respiratory viral infections include sicknesses such as the flu, pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and coronavirus. These infections cause millions of illnesses worldwide, with the flu alone responsible for 3 million to 5 million cases of severe illness and up to 650,000 respiratory deaths each year, ...

McMaster researchers find best treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness

2023-05-09
Hamilton, ON (March 9, 2023) – McMaster University researchers Dena Zeraatkar and Tyler Pitre have found that the drug solriamfetol is the most effective treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) for people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).   The standard treatment for OSA is a positive airway pressure (PAP) mask that uses compressed air to support lung airways during sleep. However, some people with OSA still experience EDS and may benefit from anti-fatigue medication.   Zeraatkar ...

Study discovers long COVID risk and symptoms vary in different populations

2023-05-09
The study, published April 7 in Nature Communications, analyzed electronic health records as part of the National Institutes of Health’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative to better understand the persistence of symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection, also known as long COVID, among broad, diverse populations. Led by Dr. Rainu Kaushal, chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine and physician-in-chief of population health sciences at New York-Presbyterian ...

Renowned Scripps Research professor Jeffery Kelly elected to National Academy of Sciences

Renowned Scripps Research professor Jeffery Kelly elected to National Academy of Sciences
2023-05-09
LA JOLLA, CA—Jeffery Kelly, PhD, the Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his work on understanding protein shapes and controlling the ensemble of shapes with small molecules in order to develop therapeutic strategies for a range of devastating diseases. The academy awards membership in recognition of “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”  The election of Kelly brings the total number of memberships held by Scripps Research faculty in the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering to 31.  “This ...

How the ancient messengers cAMP and cGMP deliver their messages

2023-05-09
Two highly similar molecules with essential, but often contrasting, signaling roles in most life forms exert their distinct effects through subtle differences in their bindings to their signaling partners, according to a new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. In the study, published March 27 in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, the researchers used exquisitely sensitive measurement techniques to reveal at the single-molecule level how the signaling molecules cAMP and cGMP bind to an ion channel from the pacemaker channel family, one of the major types of proteins whose activities they regulate. Ion channels are common features of cell membranes, ...

Researchers map the immunology of the gut in children with IBD

2023-05-09
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Sachs’ Children and Youth Hospital in Sweden have mapped the immune system in the gut of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The results, which were published in Cell Reports Medicine, can be used to design more targeted therapies. Today, we know relatively little about how the immune system functions in children with IBD and how this differs from adults. About 40 percent of patients, including both children and adults, do not respond to the treatments that are currently available. It is therefore very important to identify biomarkers that can both predict ...

Extending the life of a lithium metal anode using a protective layer made of an extremely tough gel electrolyte

Extending the life of a lithium metal anode using a protective layer made of an extremely tough gel electrolyte
2023-05-09
A National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) research team has succeeded in substantially improving the cycling performance of a lithium metal battery by developing a mechanically very strong polymeric gel electrolyte and integrating it into the battery as a layer to protect the lithium metal anode. This achievement may greatly facilitate efforts to put lithium metal anodes—a potentially very high performance anode material—into practical use.   Today’s society is rapidly transforming through the widespread use of digital technologies, the increasing popularity of electric vehicles and the growing use of renewable energy. These ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New study reveals polymers with flawed fillers boost heat transfer in plastics

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

[Press-News.org] New USC study shows immigrant adults with liver cancer have higher survival rates than those born in the US