Highlights of This Issue

It is hypothesized that depression can alter the telomere/telomerase system in cancer patients, contributing to increased risk of cancer recurrence and death. Lin and colleagues evaluated the association of depressive symptoms and telomere length with mortality in bladder cancer patients. Patients with depressive symptoms and short telomeres exhibited a four-fold increased risk of mortality and shorter disease-free survival, compared to patients without depressive symptoms and longer telomeres. Interventions that could impact both depression and telomere length may be warranted in cancer patients.

Studying the effects of reduced-nicotine cigarettes is complicated by noncompliance of study participants with freely available conventional cigarettes. Benowitz and colleagues used plasma cotinine levels to biochemically estimate levels of noncompliance in smokers of reduced-nicotine cigarettes in a clinical trial. The authors estimated 60% noncompliance with smoking reduced-nicotine cigarettes during the trial, a level much higher than self-reported noncompliance.

To explore disparities in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survival for black and Hispanic patients, Patel and colleagues examined differences in AML treatment delivered to minorities and how these treatment differences impact outcomes. Black race was associated with lower odds of chemotherapy treatment, and both black and Hispanic patients had decreased odds of transplant. Black patients had increased hazard of mortality, compared to whites. AML treatment differences are modifiable and explain a proportion of AML health disparities.

To identify biomarkers for diagnosis and risk-stratification of childhood solid tumors, Murray and colleagues performed global quantitative microRNA profiling on serum samples from cases of common childhood cancers. The authors identified candidate microRNA panels for non-invasive differential diagnosis of a liver mass, an abdominal mass, and sarcoma subtypes. This study describes a pipeline for robust diagnostic microRNA profiling in childhood solid tumors, and identified candidate microRNA profiles for prospective testing.