Steven R. Feldman

Bio: Steven R. Feldman is an academic researcher from Wake Forest University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Psoriasis & Medicine. The author has an hindex of 83, co-authored 1227 publications receiving 37609 citations. Previous affiliations of Steven R. Feldman include Research Medical Center & Odense University Hospital.

Incidence Estimate of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer (Keratinocyte Carcinomas) in the US Population, 2012

Abstract: Importance Understanding skin cancer incidence is critical for planning prevention and treatment strategies and allocating medical resources. However, owing to lack of national reporting and previously nonspecific diagnosis classification, accurate measurement of the US incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) has been difficult. Objective To estimate the incidence of NMSC (keratinocyte carcinomas) in the US population in 2012 and the incidence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in the 2012 Medicare fee-for-service population. Design, Setting, and Participants This study analyzes US government administrative data including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Physicians Claims databases to calculate totals of skin cancer procedures performed for Medicare beneficiaries from 2006 through 2012 and related parameters. The population-based National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey database was used to estimate NMSC-related office visits for 2012. We combined these analyses to estimate totals of new skin cancer diagnoses and affected individuals in the overall US population. Main Outcomes and Measures Incidence of NMSC in the US population in 2012 and BCC and SCC in the 2012 Medicare fee-for-service population. Results The total number of procedures for skin cancer in the Medicare fee-for-service population increased by 13% from 2 048 517 in 2006 to 2 321 058 in 2012. The age-adjusted skin cancer procedure rate per 100 000 beneficiaries increased from 6075 in 2006 to 7320 in 2012. The number of procedures in Medicare beneficiaries specific for NMSC increased by 14% from 1 918 340 in 2006 to 2 191 100 in 2012. The number of persons with at least 1 procedure for NMSC increased by 14% (from 1 177 618 to 1 336 800) from 2006 through 2012. In the 2012 Medicare fee-for-service population, the age-adjusted procedure rate for BCC and SCC were 3280 and 3278 per 100 000 beneficiaries, respectively. The ratio of BCC to SCC treated in Medicare beneficiaries was 1.0. We estimate the total number of NMSCs in the US population in 2012 at 5 434 193 and the total number of persons in the United States treated for NMSC at 3 315 554. Conclusions and Relevance This study is a thorough nationwide estimate of the incidence of NMSC and provides evidence of continued increases in numbers of skin cancer diagnoses and affected patients in the United States. This study also demonstrates equal incidence rates for BCC and SCC in the Medicare population.

Psoriasis causes as much disability as other major medical diseases.

Abstract: Background: Little is known about how the health-related quality of life (HRQL) associated with psoriasis compares with that of other patient populations. Objective: We describe HRQL associated with psoriasis and compare it with HRQL of patients with other major chronic health conditions. A second aim is to identify which specific aspects of psoriasis contribute most to HRQL. Methods: A total of 317 patients completed a non-disease-specific measure of HRQL. Responses were compared with those of patients with 10 other chronic health conditions. HRQL was regressed on ratings of 18 aspects of psoriasis. Results: Patients with psoriasis reported reduction in physical functioning and mental functioning comparable to that seen in cancer, arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and depression. Six aspects of psoriasis predicted physical functioning, and 5 different disease aspects predicted mental functioning. Conclusion: The impact of psoriasis on HRQL is similar to that of other major medical diseases. Different aspects of psoriasis are related to the different dimensions of HRQL supporting the need for multidimensional treatment models. (J Am Acad Dermatol 1999;41:401-7.)

Chemotherapy-Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Indolent B-Cell Malignancies Can Be Effectively Treated With Autologous T Cells Expressing an Anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor

Abstract: Purpose T cells can be genetically modified to express an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). We assessed the safety and efficacy of administering autologous anti-CD19 CAR T cells to patients with advanced CD19 B-cell malignancies. Patients and Methods We treated 15 patients with advanced B-cell malignancies. Nine patients had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), two had indolent lymphomas, and four had chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Patients received a conditioning chemotherapy regimen of cyclophosphamide and fludarabine followed by a single infusion of anti-CD19 CAR T cells. Results Of 15 patients, eight achieved complete remissions (CRs), four achieved partial remissions, one had stable lymphoma, and two were not evaluable for response. CRs were obtained by four of seven evaluable patients with chemotherapy-refractory DLBCL; three of these four CRs are ongoing, with durations ranging from 9 to 22 months. Acute toxicities including fever, hypotension, delirium, and other neurologic toxicities occurred in some patients after infusion of anti-CD19 CAR T cells; these toxicities resolved within 3 weeks after cell infusion. One patient died suddenly as a result of an unknown cause 16 days after cell infusion. CAR T cells were detected in the blood of patients at peak levels, ranging from nine to 777 CAR-positive T cells/L.

Guidelines of care for the management of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: Section 1. Overview of psoriasis and guidelines of care for the treatment of psoriasis with biologics

Abstract: Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this first of 5 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the classification of psoriasis; associated comorbidities including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular risk, psychiatric/psychologic issues, and cancer risk; along with assessment tools for skin disease and quality-of-life issues. Finally, we will discuss the safety and efficacy of the biologic treatments used to treat patients with psoriasis.

Incidence Estimate of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in the United States, 2006

Abstract: Objectives To estimate the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in the US population in 2006 and secondarily to indicate trends in numbers of procedures for skin cancer treatment. Design A descriptive analysis of population-based claims and US Census Bureau data combined with a population-based cross-sectional survey using multiple US government data sets, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Fee-for-Service Physicians Claims databases, to calculate totals of skin cancer procedures performed for Medicare beneficiaries in 1992 and from 1996 to 2006 and related parameters. The National Ambulatory Medical Care Service database was used to estimate NMSC-related office visits. We combined these to estimate totals of new skin cancer diagnoses and affected individuals in the overall US population. Results The total number of procedures for skin cancer in the Medicare fee-for-service population increased by 76.9% from 1 158 298 in 1992 to 2 048 517 in 2006. The age-adjusted procedure rate per year per 100 000 beneficiaries increased from 3514 in 1992 to 6075 in 2006. From 2002 to 2006 (the years for which the databases allow procedure linkage to patient demographics and diagnoses), the number of procedures for NMSC in the Medicare population increased by 16.0%. In this period, the number of procedures per affected patient increased by 1.5%, and the number of persons with at least 1 procedure increased by 14.3%. We estimate the total number of NMSCs in the US population in 2006 at 3 507 693 and the total number of persons in the United States treated for NMSC at 2 152 500. Conclusions The number of skin cancers in Medicare beneficiaries increased dramatically over the years 1992 to 2006, due mainly to an increase in the number of affected individuals. Using nationally representative databases, we provide evidence of much higher overall totals of skin cancer diagnoses and patients in the US population than previous estimates. These data give the most complete evaluation to date of the underrecognized epidemic of skin cancer in the United States.

Dermatologist-level classification of skin cancer with deep neural networks

Abstract: Skin cancer, the most common human malignancy, is primarily diagnosed visually, beginning with an initial clinical screening and followed potentially by dermoscopic analysis, a biopsy and histopathological examination. Automated classification of skin lesions using images is a challenging task owing to the fine-grained variability in the appearance of skin lesions. Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) show potential for general and highly variable tasks across many fine-grained object categories. Here we demonstrate classification of skin lesions using a single CNN, trained end-to-end from images directly, using only pixels and disease labels as inputs. We train a CNN using a dataset of 129,450 clinical images-two orders of magnitude larger than previous datasets-consisting of 2,032 different diseases. We test its performance against 21 board-certified dermatologists on biopsy-proven clinical images with two critical binary classification use cases: keratinocyte carcinomas versus benign seborrheic keratoses; and malignant melanomas versus benign nevi. The first case represents the identification of the most common cancers, the second represents the identification of the deadliest skin cancer. The CNN achieves performance on par with all tested experts across both tasks, demonstrating an artificial intelligence capable of classifying skin cancer with a level of competence comparable to dermatologists. Outfitted with deep neural networks, mobile devices can potentially extend the reach of dermatologists outside of the clinic. It is projected that 6.3 billion smartphone subscriptions will exist by the year 2021 (ref. 13) and can therefore potentially provide low-cost universal access to vital diagnostic care.

Vitamin D deficiency.

Abstract: admission. This proportion could already be greater in some parts of the country and may increase if referrals of cases of self-poisoning increase faster than the facilities for their assessment and management. The provision of social work and psychiatric expertise in casualty departments may be one means of preventing unnecessary medical admissions without risk to the patients. Dr Blake's and Dr Bramble's figures do not demonstrate, however, that any advantage would attach to medical teams taking over assessment from psychiatrists except that, by implication, assessments would be completed sooner by staff working on the ward full time. What the figures actually suggest is that if assessment of overdoses were left to house doctors there would be an increase in admissions to psychiatric units (by 19°U), outpatients (by 5O°'), and referrals to social services (by 140o). So for house doctors to assess overdoses would provide no economy for the psychiatric or social services. The study does not tell us what the consequences would have been for the six patients who the psychiatrists would have admitted but to whom the house doctors would have offered outpatient appointments. E J SALTER

Cancer statistics, 2011: the impact of eliminating socioeconomic and racial disparities on premature cancer deaths.

Abstract: Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year and compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. A total of 1,596,670 new cancer cases and 571,950 deaths from cancer are projected to occur in the United States in 2011. Overall cancer incidence rates were stable in men in the most recent time period after decreasing by 1.9% per year from 2001 to 2005; in women, incidence rates have been declining by 0.6% annually since 1998. Overall cancer death rates decreased in all racial/ethnic groups in both men and women from 1998 through 2007, with the exception of American Indian/Alaska Native women, in whom rates were stable. African American and Hispanic men showed the largest annual decreases in cancer death rates during this time period (2.6% and 2.5%, respectively). Lung cancer death rates showed a significant decline in women after continuously increasing since the 1930s. The reduction in the overall cancer death rates since 1990 in men and 1991 in women translates to the avoidance of about 898,000 deaths from cancer. However, this progress has not benefitted all segments of the population equally; cancer death rates for individuals with the least education are more than twice those of the most educated. The elimination of educational and racial disparities could potentially have avoided about 37% (60,370) of the premature cancer deaths among individuals aged 25 to 64 years in 2007 alone. Further progress can be accelerated by applying existing cancer control knowledge across all segments of the population with an emphasis on those groups in the lowest socioeconomic bracket. CA Cancer J Clin 2011. © 2011 American Cancer Society.

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Abstract: NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

Axicabtagene Ciloleucel CAR T-Cell Therapy in Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Abstract: BackgroundIn a phase 1 trial, axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, showed efficacy in patients with refractory large B-cell lymphoma after the failure of conventional therapy. MethodsIn this multicenter, phase 2 trial, we enrolled 111 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, or transformed follicular lymphoma who had refractory disease despite undergoing recommended prior therapy. Patients received a target dose of 2×106 anti-CD19 CAR T cells per kilogram of body weight after receiving a conditioning regimen of low-dose cyclophosphamide and fludarabine. The primary end point was the rate of objective response (calculated as the combined rates of complete response and partial response). Secondary end points included overall survival, safety, and biomarker assessments. ResultsAmong the 111 patients who were enrolled, axi-cel was successfully manufactured for 110 (99%) and administered to 101 (91%)....