Latinos have a lower incidence of GBM and present slightly younger than non-Latino Whites. Cubans present at an older age than other Latino sub-populations. Latinos have a higher incidence of giant cell glioblastoma than non-Latino Whites while the incidence of gliosarcoma is similar. Despite lower rates of radiation therapy and greater rates of sub-total resection than non-Latino Whites, Latinos have better 1 and 5 year survival rates. SEER does not record chemotherapy data. Survivals of Latino sub-populations are similar with each other. Age, extent of resection, and the use of radiation therapy are associated with improved survival but none of these variables are sufficient in a multivariate analysis to explain the improved survival of Latinos relative to non-Latino Whites. As molecular data is not available in SEER records, we studied the MGMT and IDH status of 571 patients from a UCLA database. MGMT methylation and IDH1 mutation rates are not statistically significantly different between non-Latino Whites and Latinos. For UCLA patients with available information, chemotherapy and radiation rates are similar for non-Latino White and Latino patients, but the latter have lower rates of gross total resection and present at a younger age.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by mutations in DMD, resulting in loss of dystrophin, which is essential to muscle health. DMD “exon skipping” uses anti-sense oligo-nucleotides (AONs) to force specific exon exclusion during mRNA processing to restore reading frame and rescue of partially functional dystrophin protein. Although exon-skipping drugs in humans show promise, levels of rescued dystrophin protein remain suboptimal. We previously identified dantrolene as a skip booster when combined with AON in human DMD cultures and short-term mdx dystrophic mouse studies. Here, we assess the effect of dantrolene/AON combination on DMD exon-23 skipping over long-term mdx treatment under conditions that better approximate potential human dosing. To evaluate the dantrolene/AON combination treatment effect on dystrophin induction, we assayed three AON doses, with and without oral dantrolene, to assess multiple outcomes across different muscles. Meta-analyses of the results of statistical tests from both the quadriceps and diaphragm assessing contributions of dantrolene beyond AON, across all AON treatment groups, provide strong evidence that dantrolene modestly boosts exon skipping and dystrophin rescue while reducing muscle pathology in mdx mice (p < 0.0087). These findings support a trial of combination dantrolene/AON to increase exon-skipping efficacy and highlight the value of combinatorial approaches and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug re-purposing for discovery of unsuspected therapeutic application and rapid translation.

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Malignant mesotheliomas are rather uncommon neoplasms associated primarily with asbestos exposure; however, they may also arise as second primary malignancies after radiation therapy, with a latency period of 15–25 years. Numerous studies have reported an association between pleural malignant mesothelioma and chest radiation performed for other malignancies; on the other hand, post-irradiation mesotheliomas of the pericardium have been reported in only a few published cases to date, and no homozygous deletion of 9p21 has been described in such cases. We report the case of a 48-year-old man with a history of Hodgkin's lymphoma and no prior asbestos exposure who developed pericardial malignant epithelioid mesothelioma. We further discuss the cytologic, histologic, immunophenotypic, and fluorescence in situ hybridization findings in this case. To our knowledge, this is the first well-documented case of post-radiation pericardial malignant mesothelioma showing homozygous deletion of 9p21. Homozygous deletion of 9p21, the locus harboring the p16 gene, is present in post-irradiation pericardial malignant mesothelioma.

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