Citations

Importance Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of premature death worldwide. Assessing the LDL-C–related burden is critical for guiding prevention and treatment strategies. Objectives To estimate the global, regional, and national burden of ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke attributable to elevated LDL-C (relative to 35-54 mg/dL) from 1990 to 2023 and to quantify the contributions of population growth, aging, risk-deleted burden, and exposure changes to burden trends. Design, Setting, and Population This comparative risk assessment, part of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023, estimated population-level LDL-C exposure and associated health loss in 204 countries and territories. Mean LDL-C levels were estimated using spatiotemporal gaussian process regression based on 806 studies across 161 countries. Relative risks were derived from meta-analyses of 38 randomized clinical trials. Population-attributable fractions for deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were estimated by age and sex for adults aged 25 years or older from 1990 to 2023, with 95% uncertainty intervals. Exposure Population-level LDL-C concentrations. Main Outcomes and Measures Population-attributable fractions, counts, and rates (all ages and age standardized per 100 000) of LDL-C–attributable deaths and DALYs from ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke, with uncertainty intervals. Results In 2023, elevated LDL-C accounted for 3.6 million deaths (95% uncertainty interval, 2.2-5.4 million; 6.0% of global mortality) and 90.7 million DALYs (95% uncertainty interval, 58.9-123.3 million; 3.2% of DALYs). Although global all-ages rates remained stable, age-standardized death and DALY rates decreased by 45.6% and 39.5%, respectively, since 1990. In 2023, age-standardized LDL-C–attributable DALY rates were highest in Eastern Europe and lowest in high-income Asia-Pacific. One-third of the global LDL-C burden occurred in India and China. Population growth and aging drove the increasing burden, with notable regional disparities in LDL-C exposure and risk-deleted DALY rates shifting toward middle-sociodemographic settings. Conclusions and Relevance Despite declining age-standardized rates, the absolute LDL-C burden has increased since 1990 due to demographic changes and has shifted toward middle-sociodemographic countries. Measurement and surveillance gaps persist. Strengthened prevention, diagnosis, and treatment access strategies are essential to mitigate the health burden of LDL-C.

7563 Background: Subcutaneous (SC) drug delivery options have become more widely available in multiple myeloma (MM). SC delivery of isatuximab (Isa), an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, has been investigated across clinical trials via a novel hands-free on-body injector (OBI). Isa SC OBI features a small, retractable needle, establishing the first device-enabled delivery of an oncologic treatment. The Phase 3 IRAKLIA, Phase 2 IZALCO, and Phase 1b (TCD15484) trials consistently demonstrated similar efficacy and safety of Isa SC OBI vs Isa IV in relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM) patients (pts). Here, we present a cross-trial analysis exploring safety and reliability of Isa SC OBI in RRMM pts. Methods: Pts with RRMM in IRAKLIA (N=263) and the Phase 1b expansion cohort (N=22) received 1400 mg Isa SC OBI plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone (d). In IZALCO, RRMM pts (N=64) received 1400 mg Isa SC OBI + carfilzomib (K)-d. Pts were monitored for 4 hrs (IRAKLIA) or 1-2 hrs (IZALCO) following first administration and for 1 hr for the following cycle (C) 1 administrations to assess local tolerability. Pre-infusion medications included montelukast (C1), steroids, acetaminophen and H1 antihistamines. Pts without systemic infusion-related reactions (IRRs) after 4 consecutive administrations of Isa SC OBI had subsequent pre-medication reassessed at investigator’s discretion. Safety and device performance explored in this cross-trial analysis of company sponsored studies were assessed in the Isa SC OBI cohorts by the duration of injection, IRRs, local injection-site reactions (ISRs), and injection/device success, which were defined similarly across all trials. Results: The median duration of Isa SC OBI injection was 13 mins in IRAKLIA, 12 mins in IZALCO, and 10 mins in the Phase 1b trial (6426 total injections, N=349 pts). IRRs across trials occurred in 6/6426 (0.09%) injections and 4/349 (1.15%) pts. IRRs were mostly grade 1 (G; 3/6426, 0.05%) with 1 G3 (0.02%); none leading to discontinuation. In IRAKLIA, 80/263 (30.4%) pts did not require premedication (931/5145 injections, 18.1%); no IRRs occurred in this group. Across trials, ISRs occurred in 21/349 (6.02%) pts resulting in 35 (0.54%) ISR events. Most ISRs were G1 (33, 0.51%), the remaining were G2 (2, 0.03%) and generally occurred on the day of injection. 99.9% (6421/6426) of injections in 98.6% (344/349) pts were successful (completed without interruption) across all trials. Conclusions: These findings support overall low, self-limiting rates of IRRs and ISRs across trials, with >6000 (99.9%) Isa SC OBI injections successfully delivered. Isa SC OBI shows reproducible safety and reliability in IRAKLIA, IZALCO and Phase 1b trials, supporting it as a novel administration option for MM pts and its potential for future exploration in at-home administration. Clinical trial information: NCT04045795 , NCT05405166 , and NCT05704049 .

Abstract Objectives Type B aortic dissection (TBAD) is rare in patients aged ≤30 years, and data on this population remain limited. This study aimed to characterize the underlying aetiology, and outcomes of invasively treated young patients with TBAD, with a focus on the impact of heritable thoracic aortic disease (HTAD). Methods A retrospective multicentre analysis was conducted across 19 international aortic centres, including 139 patients aged ≤30 years with TBAD. Patients with chronic TBAD (n = 42) were excluded for the final analysis. The cohort was classified as uncomplicated (n = 86) or complicated (n = 53) TBAD. Clinical, radiologic, intraoperative, and postoperative data were collected using standardized forms. Outcomes were compared between subgroups defined by TBAD complexity, HTAD status, and surgical strategy. Kaplan-Meier and Andersen-Gill analyses were used for survival and recurrent aortic intervention, respectively. Results Mean follow-up time was 6.5 years. HTAD was identified in 57% of patients. Most presented with uncomplicated TBAD (62%), while high-risk uncomplicated cases were uncommon. Endovascular repair was predominant in complicated TBAD, while open repair was more frequent in uncomplicated cases. Early mortality was low (n = 3), and mid-term survival was excellent across all subgroups. HTAD was a significant predictor of recurrent aortic interventions (HR = 3.3, P = .004). No significant differences were observed in survival or reintervention rates between uncomplicated and complicated TBAD or between operative strategies. Conclusions In young patients, TBAD predominantly occurs in the context of HTAD. Both open and endovascular repair are associated with excellent early outcomes and mid-term survival. However, HTAD remains a significant predictor of recurrent aortic interventions.

Importance Nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) represents the third most common stroke type with unique etiologies, risk factors, diagnostics, and treatments. Nevertheless, epidemiological studies often cluster SAH with other stroke types leaving its distinct burden estimates obscure. Objective To estimate the worldwide burden of SAH. Design, Setting, and Participants Based on the repeated cross-sectional Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study, the global burden of SAH in 1990 to 2021 was estimated. Moreover, the SAH burden was compared with other diseases, and its associations with 14 individual risk factors were investigated with available data in the GBD 2021 study. The GBD study included the burden estimates of nontraumatic SAH among all ages in 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2021. Exposures SAH and 14 modifiable risk factors. Main Outcomes and Measures Absolute numbers and age-standardized rates with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) of SAH incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) as well as risk factor–specific population attributable fractions (PAFs). Results In 2021, the global age-standardized SAH incidence was 8.3 (95% UI, 7.3-9.5), prevalence was 92.2 (95% UI, 84.1-100.6), mortality was 4.2 (95% UI, 3.7-4.8), and DALY rate was 125.2 (95% UI, 110.5-142.6) per 100 000 people. The highest burden estimates were found in Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and high-income Asia Pacific. Although the absolute number of SAH cases increased, especially in regions with a low sociodemographic index, all age-standardized burden rates decreased between 1990 and 2021: the incidence by 28.8% (95% UI, 25.7%-31.6%), prevalence by 16.1% (95% UI, 14.8%-17.7%), mortality by 56.1% (95% UI, 40.7%-64.3%), and DALY rate by 54.6% (95% UI, 42.8%-61.9%). Of 300 diseases, SAH ranked as the 36th most common cause of death and 59th most common cause of DALY in the world. Of all worldwide SAH-related DALYs, 71.6% (95% UI, 63.8%-78.6%) were associated with the 14 modeled risk factors of which high systolic blood pressure (population attributable fraction [PAF] = 51.6%; 95% UI, 38.0%-62.6%) and smoking (PAF = 14.4%; 95% UI, 12.4%-16.5%) had the highest attribution. Conclusions and Relevance Although the global age-standardized burden rates of SAH more than halved over the last 3 decades, SAH remained one of the most common cardiovascular and neurological causes of death and disabilities in the world, with increasing absolute case numbers. These findings suggest evidence for the potential health benefits of proactive public health planning and resource allocation toward the prevention of SAH.

Purpose Automating quality assurance (QA) for contours generated by automatic algorithms is critical in radiotherapy treatment planning. Manual QA is tedious, time-consuming, and prone to subjective experiences. Automatic segmentation reduces physician workload and improves consistency. However, an effective QA process for these automatic contours remains an unmet need in clinical practice. Materials and Methods The patient data used in this study was derived from the AAPM Thoracic Auto-Segmentation Challenge dataset, including left and right lungs, heart, esophagus, and spinal cord. Two groups of organ-at-risk (OAR) were generated. A ResNet-152 network was used as a feature extractor, and a one-class support vector machine (OC-SVM) was employed to classify contours as ‘high’ or ‘low’ quality. To evaluate the generalizability, we generated low-quality contours using translation and resizing techniques and assessed correlations between detection limits and metrics such as volume, Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), 95% Hausdorff distance (HD95), and mean surface distance (MSD). Results The proposed OC-SVM model outperformed binary classifiers n metrics such as balanced accuracy and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) . It demonstrated superior performance in detecting various types of contour errors while maintaining high interpretability. Strong correlations were observed between detection limits and contour metrics. Conclusion Our proposed model integrates an attention mechanism with a one-class classification framework to automate QA for OAR delineations. This approach effectively detects diverse types of contour errors with high accuracy, significantly reducing the burden on physicians during radiotherapy planning.

INTRODUCTION: The recent US Food and Drug Administration approval of resmetirom for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis in patients necessitates patient selection for significant fibrosis or higher (≥F2). No existing vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) algorithm targets ≥F2. METHODS: The mAchine Learning ADvanceD fibrosis and rIsk metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis Novel predictor (ALADDIN) study addressed this gap by introducing a machine-learning-based web calculator that estimates the likelihood of significant fibrosis using routine laboratory parameters with and without VCTE. Our study included a training set of 827 patients, a testing set of 504 patients with biopsy-confirmed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease from 6 centers, and an external validation set of 1,299 patients from 9 centers. Five algorithms were compared using area under the curve (AUC) in the test set: ElasticNet, random forest, gradient boosting machines, XGBoost, and neural networks. The top 3 (random forest, gradient boosting machines, and XGBoost) formed an ensemble model. RESULTS: In the external validation set, the ALADDIN-F2-VCTE model, using routine laboratory parameters with VCTE (AUC 0.791, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.764–0.819), outperformed VCTE alone (0.745, 95% CI 0.717–0.772, P < 0.0001), FibroScan-aspartate aminotransferase (0.710, 0.679–0.748, P < 0.0001), and Agile-3 model (0.740, 0.710–0.770, P < 0.0001) regarding the AUC, decision curve analysis, and calibration. The ALADDIN-F2-Lab model, using routine laboratory parameters without VCTE, achieved an AUC of 0.706 (95% CI: 0.668–0.749) and outperformed Fibrosis-4, steatosis-associated fibrosis estimator, and LiverRisk scores. DISCUSSION: Along with the steatosis-associated fibrosis estimator model developed to target significant fibrosis or higher, ALADDIN-F2-VCTE (https://aihepatology.shinyapps.io/ALADDIN1) uniquely supports a refined noninvasive approach to patient selection for resmetirom without the need for liver biopsy. In addition, ALADDIN-F2-Lab (https://aihepatology.shinyapps.io/ALADDIN2) offers an effective alternative when VCTE is unavailable.

Abstract OBJECTIVES The prevalence and aetiology of acute aortic dissection type A (AADA) in patients ≤30 years is unknown. The aims of this clinical study were to determine the prevalence and potential aetiology of AADA in surgically treated patients ≤30 years and to evaluate the respective postoperative outcomes in this selective group of patients in a large multicentre study. METHODS Retrospective data collection was performed at 16 participating international aortic institutions. All patients ≤30 years at the time of dissection onset were included. The postoperative results were analysed with regard to connective tissue disease (CTD). RESULTS The overall prevalence of AADA ≤30 years was 1.8% (139 out of 7914 patients), including 51 (36.7%) patients who were retrospectively diagnosed with CTD. Cumulative postoperative mortality was 8.6%, 2.2% and 1.4%. Actuarial survival was 80% at 10 years postoperatively. Non-CTD patients (n = 88) had a significantly higher incidence of arterial hypertension (46.6% vs 9.8%; P &lt; 0.001) while AADA affected the aortic root (P &lt; 0.001) and arch (P = 0.029) significantly more often in the CTD group. A positive family history of aortic disease was present in 9.4% of the study cohort (n = 13). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of AADA in surgically treated patients ≤30 years is &lt;2% with CTD and arterial hypertension as the 2 most prevalent triggers of AADA. Open surgery may be performed with good early results and excellent mid- to long-term outcomes.

Abstract Background: The etiology of colorectal cancer is not fully understood. Methods: Using genetic variants and metabolomics data including 217 metabolites from the Framingham Heart Study (n = 1,357), we built genetic prediction models for circulating metabolites. Models with prediction R2 &gt; 0.01 (Nmetabolite = 58) were applied to predict levels of metabolites in two large consortia with a combined sample size of approximately 46,300 cases and 59,200 controls of European and approximately 21,700 cases and 47,400 controls of East Asian (EA) descent. Genetically predicted levels of metabolites were evaluated for their associations with colorectal cancer risk in logistic regressions within each racial group, after which the results were combined by meta-analysis. Results: Of the 58 metabolites tested, 24 metabolites were significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk [Benjamini–Hochberg FDR (BH-FDR) &lt; 0.05] in the European population (ORs ranged from 0.91 to 1.06; P values ranged from 0.02 to 6.4 × 10−8). Twenty one of the 24 associations were replicated in the EA population (ORs ranged from 0.26 to 1.69, BH-FDR &lt; 0.05). In addition, the genetically predicted levels of C16:0 cholesteryl ester was significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk in the EA population only (OREA: 1.94, 95% CI, 1.60−2.36, P = 2.6 × 10−11; OREUR: 1.01, 95% CI, 0.99−1.04, P = 0.3). Nineteen of the 25 metabolites were glycerophospholipids and triacylglycerols (TAG). Eighteen associations exhibited significant heterogeneity between the two racial groups (PEUR-EA-Het &lt; 0.005), which were more strongly associated in the EA population. This integrative study suggested a potential role of lipids, especially certain glycerophospholipids and TAGs, in the etiology of colorectal cancer. Conclusions: This study identified potential novel risk biomarkers for colorectal cancer by integrating genetics and circulating metabolomics data. Impact: The identified metabolites could be developed into new tools for risk assessment of colorectal cancer in both European and EA populations.

Abstract Background: Hypusine is a unique amino acid present in all eukaryotes but found in only one highly conserved protein, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A. It is formed during a two-step post-translational modification of eIF5A. eIF5A has been identified as a critical factor for cell proliferation in yeast, as a modulator of p53, and recent studies indicate that the unhypusinated form of eIF5A is a pro-apoptotic protein. Because myeloma remains incurable, we hypothesized that induction of apoptosis by modulation of eIF5A may be a useful therapeutic approach. In this study we utilized PEI nanoparticles to deliver plasmid DNA and siRNA to myeloma tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. Methods: An siRNA was used to suppress levels of endogenous hypusinated eIF5A in tumors while an RNAi-resistant plasmid expressing a mutant of eIF5A (eIF5AK50R), that cannot be hypusinated, was used to increase levels of unhypusinated eIF5A which is proapoptotic. In vitro, KAS-6/1 myeloma cells were incubated with control siRNA/control plasmid, eIF5A siRNA alone, or eIF5A siRNA/eIF5AK50R for 72 hours in the presence or absence of IL-6. Apoptosis was quantitated using flow cytometry to detect annexin V/propidium iodide stained cells; results were corrected for percent apoptosis of the mock control to enable comparison between experiments. In vivo, SCID mice (3/group) were injected with 10 million KAS-6/1 cells SQ in the right flank and approximately 6 weeks later injected intratumorally twice weekly as follows: Group 1 control mice received 20 μg empty vector and 10 μg control siRNA. Group 2 received 20 μg eIF5AK50R plasmid and 10 μg control siRNA. Group 3 received 20 μg eIF5AK50R plasmid and 10 μg eIF5A siRNA. Tumor volumes were quantitated in mm3 using a2b/2 where a is the smaller dimension. Results: The in vitro results showed the following % apoptosis: Absence of IL-6 - Control: 6.5%, eIF5A siRNA/eIF5AK50R 30.3%. Presence of IL-6–Control:8.2%; eIF5A siRNA alone 36.5%; eIF5A siRNA/eIF5AK50R 45.2%. Western analysis demonstrated that the siRNA successfully inhibited the production of endogenous eIF5A. In vivo, after 24 days of monitoring tumor volume: group 1 mice showed that the KAS-6/1 cells grew from a mean tumor volume of 7±1 up to 102±16 mm3; tumors in group 2 mice remained relatively stable in size from 21±9 to 26±10 mm3. Group 3 mice showed a mean 92% tumor regression from 99±21 down to 7±1 mm3. Conclusions: Delivery of eIF5A siRNA and eIF5AK50R plasmid by PEI nanoparticles results in significant anti-tumoral reponses in vitro and in vivo. These studies may provide a novel therapy for myeloma patients with end stage disease that have failed standard treatments.

Abstract Abstract 2462 Poster Board II-439 The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is highly conserved and the only known protein to contain the amino acid hypusine. Hypusinated eIF5A and deoxyhypusine synthase, one of the enzymes mediating eIF5A post-translational hypusination, have been identified as markers of neoplastic growth and metastasis, respectively. However, recent studies have indicated that, in its unhypusinated form, eIF5A is pro-apoptotic and thus functionally distinct from hypusine-modified eIF5A. SNS01 is a cancer gene therapy biologic targeted to the treatment of multiple myeloma. SNS01 is comprised of three components: a DNA vector containing a B-cell-specific (B29) promoter driving expression of a pro-apoptotic mutant of eIF5A (eIF5AK50R) that cannot be hypusinated; an siRNA that targets the native hypusinated eIF5A that promotes growth of cancer cells; and a synthetic polymer called polyethylenimine (PEI). RT-qPCR experiments demonstrated that treatment of the human myeloma cell line, KAS-6/1, with SNS01 results in a 90 % reduction in the expression of eIF5A mRNA (mediated by the siRNA) as well as the accumulation of ∼ 22,000 copies of the plasmid-derived eIF5AK50R mRNA per ng of total RNA. SNS01 was found to induce apoptosis in both IL-6-dependent (KAS-6/1) and IL-6-independent (U266) myeloma cell lines and was found to be more effective at inducing apoptosis than PEI nanoparticles carrying either the eIF5A siRNA or the eIF5AK50R plasmid alone. Apoptosis assays were used to optimize the ratio of DNA:siRNA in the nanoparticles and a ratio of 2:1 was found to be optimal for the induction of apoptosis in myeloma cells. The anti-tumoral activity of SNS01 was assessed in SCID mice bearing subcutaneous human multiple myeloma (KAS-6/1) tumors using twice-weekly intra-venous injections and a dose range between 0.15 mg/kg and 1.5 mg/kg. Control mice treated with PEI nanoparticles containing a non-expressing plasmid and a non-targeting siRNA had an average tumor volume of 284 mm3 at the time of sacrifice, whereas mice treated with 1.5 mg/kg or 0.75 mg/kg SNS01 exhibited significant tumor regression and had average tumor volumes of 13 mm3 (95 % inhibition; *p = 0.026) and 24.5 mm3 (91 % inhibition; *p = 0.03), respectively. In addition, for mice treated with 1.5 mg/kg SNS01, there was no evidence of tumors under the skin. Lower doses of SNS01 also demonstrated anti-tumoral activity with mice treated with 0.38 mg/kg and 0.15 mg/kg exhibiting a 73 % and 61 % inhibition of tumor growth, respectively. TUNEL-labeling revealed evidence of apoptotic cells in the treated tumors indicating that tumor regression occurs through the induction of apoptosis. Twice weekly dosing of SNS01 was found to be critical for effective tumor control. In a separate study, twice weekly dosing of SNS01 at 1.5 mg/kg was found to inhibit tumor growth by 88 % (p = 0.01) while once weekly dosing did not significantly reduce tumor burden. Since SNS01 is intended as a therapy for multiple myeloma, a bone marrow neoplasm, the biodistribution of PEI nanoparticles containing a GFP plasmid with the B-cell-specific B29 promoter and a fluorescently (DY547)-labeled siRNA was assessed following i.v. administration in Balb/c mice. The fluorescent siRNA was observed in the liver, lung, spleen, and bone marrow, while GFP expression was primarily observed in the bone marrow. In summary, our preclinical data indicate that systemic administration of SNS01 is an effective anti-cancer therapy in an animal model of multiple myeloma. Additionally, since PEI nanoparticles are taken up by cells of the bone marrow following systemic delivery, SNS01 may be an effective treatment option for multiple myeloma patients and is currently being evaluated for use in clinical trials. Disclosures: Taylor: Senesco Technologies Inc.: Patents & Royalties, stock options. Lust:Senesco Technologies Inc.: Research Funding. Dondero:Senesco Technologies Inc.: Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. Galton:Senesco Technologies Inc.: Employment, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties. Donovan:Senesco Technologies Inc.: Research Funding. Thompson:Senesco Technologies Inc.: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding.