The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of women diagnosed with gynecologic cancers or pre-cancers regarding participation in an online support group. The study contributed to the literature regarding online support for women with gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers. The data were analyzed using the descriptive univariate analysis method of frequency distribution presented in percentages. Out of a population of 472 members of an online support group for women with gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers, 379 (80%) participated in the study. A survey instrument consisting of 6 parts was used in this study. Part I and Part IV of the instrument were designed to collect data regarding the benefits (personal enrichments) of participating in an online support group. Part II and Part III were designed to collect data regarding the advantages of a support group being online, while Part V collected data regarding online support, illness, information, awareness, and sense of self. Part VI collected demographic information and personal information. The research questions posed in the study were developed to examine benefits, advantages, and information about participating in an online support group. The results from this study indicated that there are many benefits (personal enrichments) of online support for the women with gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers who joined these groups, as well as many advantages for them of a support group being online. The results also suggested that although these members were demographically different and were experiencing a variety of gynecologic cancers and pre-cancers, they were very cohesive in their wants and needs from online support. The results indicated that the experiences, both physical and emotional, of the women in these groups were more similar than different. Conclusions and recommendations based on the findings in this study indicated that online support is a positive addition to the lives of the women dealing with cancers and pre-cancers and that more in-depth studies should be conducted and the information disseminated to cancer patients.

Orientador: Paulo Traiman / Resumo: Analisar a eficácia da eletrocoagulação, como terapêutica nas pacientes portadoras de lesão intra-epitelial escamosa de alto grau de colo uterino. Pacientes e métodos: Estudaram-se prospectivamente 116 pacientes portadoras de lesão intra-epitelial escamosa de alto grau do colo de útero, distribuídas aleatoriamente, com 49 pacientes no grupo de estudo e 67 pacientes no grupo controle. Ambos os grupos foram avaliados quanto à idade, coitarca, paridade, hábito de tabagismo, número de parceiros sexuais, uso de drogas, presença ou antecedente de lesão condilomatosa vulvar, raça e escolaridade. Essas variáveis apresentaram-se homogêneas em ambos os grupos. Todas as pacientes do grupo de estudo e do grupo-controle foram submetidas a colposcopia... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Analyzing the efficiency of electrocoagulation as therapeutics in patients carrying high degree squamous intraepithelial lesion of the uterine cervix. Patients and methods: 116 patients carrying high risk intraepithelial lesion of the uterine cervix were prospectively studied, randomly distributed, being 49 patients in the study-group and 67 patients in the control-group. Both groups were evaluated according to age, first copulation, parity, smoking habits, number of sex partners, drug usage, presence or previous condylomatous lesion of the vulva, race and schooling. Such variables were found to be even in both groups. All patients from both groups were submitted to colposcopy, oncological cytology and biopsy of the uterine cervix. The study- group patients were treated with electrocoagulation of the uterine cervix and later submitted to conization after two months. The control-group patients underwent conization only. To assess the significance of the resuts, qui-square and Kappa agreement test were used. Results: In the study-group, electrocoagulation of the uterine cervix caused regression of the lesion in 73,5% of the cases, 20,4% remained unchanged, and there was progression... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2001Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:13:28Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lian_it_me_botfm.pdf: 1463220 bytes, checksum: eb4ee40b710b15dce35aeb229f8308a2 (MD5) / Analisar a eficácia da eletrocoagulação, como terapêutica nas pacientes portadoras de lesão intra-epitelial escamosa de alto grau de colo uterino. Pacientes e métodos: Estudaram-se prospectivamente 116 pacientes portadoras de lesão intra-epitelial escamosa de alto grau do colo de útero, distribuídas aleatoriamente, com 49 pacientes no grupo de estudo e 67 pacientes no grupo controle. Ambos os grupos foram avaliados quanto à idade, coitarca, paridade, hábito de tabagismo, número de parceiros sexuais, uso de drogas, presença ou antecedente de lesão condilomatosa vulvar, raça e escolaridade. Essas variáveis apresentaram-se homogêneas em ambos os grupos. Todas as pacientes do grupo de estudo e do grupo-controle foram submetidas a colposcopia... / Analyzing the efficiency of electrocoagulation as therapeutics in patients carrying high degree squamous intraepithelial lesion of the uterine cervix. Patients and methods: 116 patients carrying high risk intraepithelial lesion of the uterine cervix were prospectively studied, randomly distributed, being 49 patients in the study-group and 67 patients in the control-group. Both groups were evaluated according to age, first copulation, parity, smoking habits, number of sex partners, drug usage, presence or previous condylomatous lesion of the vulva, race and schooling. Such variables were found to be even in both groups. All patients from both groups were submitted to colposcopy, oncological cytology and biopsy of the uterine cervix. The study- group patients were treated with electrocoagulation of the uterine cervix and later submitted to conization after two months. The control-group patients underwent conization only. To assess the significance of the resuts, qui-square and Kappa agreement test were used. Results: In the study-group, electrocoagulation of the uterine cervix caused regression of the lesion in 73,5% of the cases, 20,4% remained unchanged, and there was progression... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

In the age of big data, thoughtful management and harmonization of clinical metadata and sample processing in translational research is a critical for effective data generation, integration, and analysis. These steps enable the cutting edge discoveries and enhance overall conclusions that may come from complex multi-omic translational research studies. The focus of my thesis has been on harmonizing the clinical metadata collected as part of the lung Pre Cancer Genome Atlas (PCGA) in addition to expanding the use of banked samples. The lung PCGA study included longitudinal collected samples and data from participants in a high-risk lung cancer-screening program at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Roswell) in Buffalo, NY. Clinical metadata for this study was collected over many years at Roswell and subsets of this data were shared with Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) for the lung PCGA study. During the study, additional clinical metadata was acquired and shared with BUMC to complement the analysis of genomic profiling of DNA and RNA, as well as protein staining of tissue. With regards to the PCGA study, my thesis has two aims: 1) Curate the clinical metadata from received from Roswell during the PCGA study to enhance both its accessibility to current investigators and collaborators and reproducibility of results 2) Test methods to isolate DNA from remnant samples to expand the use of banked samples for genomic profiling. We hypothesized that the accomplishment of these goals would allow for increased use of the clinical metadata, enhanced reproducibility of the results, and expansion of samples available for DNA sequencing The clinical metadata received from Roswell was consolidated into a singular source that is continually updated and available for export for future research use. These metadata management efforts led to increased use among the members of our laboratory and collaborators working with the lung PCGA cohort. Additionally, the curation of metadata has allowed for improved analysis, reproducibility, and increased awareness of the current inventory of remaining samples. During the process of lung PCGA clinical metadata curation, physical inventory of the remaining samples revealed remnant organic phase samples. Therefore, in addition to my work associated with clinical metadata, the second goal of my thesis focuses on DNA isolation from remnant banked biological samples from the lung PCGA cohort. In the first phase of the lung PCGA, nucleic acid isolation of RNA was intended to be collected exclusively from fresh frozen endobronchial biopsy samples, and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) biopsy samples were to be used for DNA isolation. DNA isolation from the FFPE samples was unsuccessful. However, from the RNA isolation, the remaining organic phase was banked and could potentially serve as a source of DNA. The organic phase of this isolation contained cell debris, proteins, and, as previously mentioned, DNA. We hypothesized that current protocols for organic phase DNA isolation might yield adequate quantities of DNA for genomic profiling. Utilizing immortalized cell culture lines to establish methodology, numerous organic phase DNA isolation protocols were tested. During subsequent validation using the remaining organic phase samples from the lung PCGA cohort, the protocol yielded varied results, suggesting that further optimization to increase DNA purity is required. The ability to isolate DNA from these valuable samples will enhance progress in the lung PCGA study. The aims of this thesis involving curation of clinical metadata and generation of additional DNA samples for DNA profiling has had significant impact on the PCGA study and future expansions of this work.