Medical Students Summer in Oncology at Anderson Research (Med Students SOAR) is a program funded by the National Cancer Institute (R25 CA265800-01A1) under the directorship of Marites Melancon, Ph.D.; Jillian Gunther, M.D, Ph.D.; and Vickie Shannon, M.D.
The major objective of the Med Students SOAR program is to promote broader physician participation in all aspects of supporting and engaging with cancer research. Under the mentorship of our renowned faculty, students will not only develop technical and laboratory skills through individualized research projects but also learn about delivering research-driven multidisciplinary and personalized oncology care. This is accomplished through lectures, workshops, clinical observations and simulation trainings. This program aims to promote and support the long-term pursuit of careers in basic, translational and clinical cancer research.
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Association of Patient-Reported Outcomes with Functional Swallowing Deficits in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy
Taylor C. Jefferson MS; Beatrice Manduchi PhD; Stephen Y. Lai MD, PhD; Clifton D. Fuller MD, PhD; Katherine A. Hutcheson PhD; and Amy C. Moreno MD, MS
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Auto-segmentation of structures in cervical cancer treatment planning using a deep learning framework
Sarah M. Chacko; Carlos Sjogreen PhD; Jaganathan A. Parameshwaran MD; Laurence E. Court PhD; and Tucker J. Netherton PhD, DMP
In this study, we explore whether the streamlined PocketNet architecture can perform comparably to the more robust nnU-Net framework for the auto-segmentation of pelvic structures and tumor volumes in the CT scans of cervical cancer patients.
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Code Breaking: Inhibiting DNA Repair to Enhance Radiotherapy in Colorectal Cancer
Aadil Sheikh, Broderick X. Turner, and Michael Curran
In this study, we investigated how inhibiting components of the DNA damage repair pathway can increase DNA damage and activation of the innate immune system in radiotherapy in colorectal cancer.
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Dedicated Drained Liver Volume Measurement after Percutaneous Biliary Drain Placement: A Personalized Three-Dimensional Volumetry Model
Ryan P. Kempen, Brayden Mi, Koustav Pal, Iwan Paolucci, David T. Fuentes, Ethan Y. Lin, and Alda L. Tam
We trained an nnU-Net machine learning algorithm to auto-segment abdominal CT scans to construct a personalized three-dimensional model of liver, tumor, and biliary anatomy. As a proof-of-concept, we applied our nnU-Net model to verify liver volume drainage territory in cases of low level obstructions with a liver drainage volume of 100%.
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Endometrial Cancer, Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies: A Qualitative Study of Women’s Knowledge and Perceptions
Kathryn Sherry BS; M. Sol Basabe MD; Amy Schneider MPH; Maria Iniesta MD, PhD; Naomi Adjei MD, MPH, MS; Charlotte Sun DrPh, MPH; and Larissa Meyer MD, MPH
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Implementation of Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes in Head-Neck Cancer Patients Treated with Radiation Therapy Using the RE-AIM Framework
Sonali J. Joshi; Laia Humbert-Vidan PhD; Clifton Fuller MD, PhD; and Amy Moreno MD, MS
Radiation therapy for head and neck cancers can result in many moderate-severe toxicities. Patient-reported outcomes can be used to monitor these symptoms, but are difficult to implement in the clinic. To evaluate the implementation of electronic patient-reported outcomes, a study was conducted in the head and neck radiation oncology clinic. This resulted in increased PRO utilization, along with the identification of barriers to implementation, with next steps to address.
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Integration of Cervical and Breast Screening and Early Detection Training
Olivia Uyen Tran, Ana Paula Correa Refinetti, Toma Samantha Omofoye, Jessica Milan, Reina Guerrero, Melissa Lopez Varon, Ellen Baker, Mila Pontremoli Salcedo, and Kathleen Marie Schmeler
This presentation shares results from a survey administered to providers who attended the Cervical and Breast Cancer Prevention Training workshop at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The survey examined the need for and feasibility of integrated cervical and breast cancer screening and early detection training in Texas and found that integrated training shows promise for acceptance and practicality.
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Liposomal Nanoparticle Mediated Gene Modulation for the Treatment of Melanoma in the Murine Model
Bill Xu Tang BSA; Poonam Yadav PhD; and Rahul Anil Sheth MD, FSIR
This study evaluated the efficacy of liposomal nanoparticles (LNPs) in delivering Wnt/β-catenin-inhibiting mIR-124 plasmids to melanomas. In vitro, LNPs with mIR-124 were applied to B16N2 melanoma cells. In vivo, LNPs were injected into B16N2 tumors in mice. Delivery success was confirmed via flow cytometry and RT-PCR, assessing GFP expression, tumor transition markers, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Overall, the findings suggested that LNP-mediated delivery of Wnt/β-catenin inhibitors holds promise as a therapeutic strategy for melanoma, with trends indicating a reversal of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and slowed melanoma progression.
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Pulmonary Hypertension in ICI Myocarditis: Insights from Right Heart Catheterization and EMR Data
Emily Wang, Nicolas L. Palaskas MD, Hyeon-Ju R. Ali MD, and Keila C. Ostos-Mendoza
A retrospective cohort study of ICI myocarditis patients, studying clinical outcomes of patients with different forms of hypertension, using validated RHC data.
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Surgical Challenges in Sacro-Pelvic Sarcomas: Tailoring Approaches with 3D Morphometric Insights
Vikram Murugan and Justin Bird
This study investigates the influence of sacral morphology variations on the stabilization provided by sacroiliac screws in patients with pelvic posterior ring fractures. Using high-resolution CT scans for advanced 3D analysis, it identifies sacral dysmorphism variations of L5/S1 sacralization, tongue-in-groove phenomena, and mammillary bodies, that are crucial for refining surgical planning and enhancing fixation effectiveness.
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Targeting CDK2 in p16 Deficient Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Isha K. Thapar, Tsung-You Tsai, Mutsuki Kawabe, Jeffrey N. Myers, and Abdullah A. Osman
In this study, we explored the therapeutic vulnerability of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines to a novel CDK2 inhibitor, Tagtociclib.
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The Genetic Knockdown of IRF9 Leads to the Reduction of Antiviral Resistance in Therapeutically Induced Lung Epithelial Cells
Raj Patel, Mbaya Ntita, and Scott E. Evans
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Toxicity of 5-fraction adjuvant radiotherapy to a surgical graft or flap for primary cutaneous melanoma
Noel X. Yang, Andrew Arifin, Alison Yoder, Aya Salem, Sydney Keatts, Oriana Jerez, Andrew Bishop, Ahsan Farooqi, Ashleigh Guadagnolo, and Devarati Mitra
This project aims to determine the likelihood of surgical graft and/or flap failure after 5-fraction adjuvant radiation therapy for primary cutaneous melanoma patients.
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Use Of Flow Cytometry To Study The Role Of Plasma Membrane Lipoprotein LRP1 In Lipid-Raft Order In Jurkat CRISPR T-Cell Lines
Edian Cuevas, Dan Li, Qing Ma, and Jeffrey Joel Molldrem
This research project attempts to assess the effect of lipoprotein LRP1 on lipid-raft dynamics in Jurkat CRISPR T-cells.
