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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Retinoids And Their Clinical Benefits To Treating Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma, Baker Kendrick May 2023

Retinoids And Their Clinical Benefits To Treating Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma, Baker Kendrick

Honors Theses

Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) is a deadly form on non-Hodgkin lymphoma that primarily affects the skin. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma means that the lymphoma does not have the presence of Reed-Sternberg lymphocytes. A lymphoma, also known as lymphatic cancer, affects the lymphoid tissues, which plays a major role in the immune system. Lymphoid organs include the lymph nodes, thymus, spleen, and bone marrow. Lymphatic fluid, also known as lymph, travels through the bloodstream to transport lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, to and from lymphatic organs. Due to a high concentration of lymphocytes in the skin, lymphoma primarily affects cutaneous areas. …


Developing Novel Water-Soluble Porphyrins For Potential Use As Photosensitizers In Photodynamic Therapy, Kayla R. Whittington Apr 2022

Developing Novel Water-Soluble Porphyrins For Potential Use As Photosensitizers In Photodynamic Therapy, Kayla R. Whittington

Honors Theses

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment modality for various illnesses, including some types of cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The prevalence of lung cancer in certain gender, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups add to existing health disparities in the United States. For this reason, it is necessary to address the social determinants underlying lung cancer disparities, as well as improve treatment options. These treatment options should be cost effective, convenient, and increase survival rates. This research focused on synthesizing novel water-soluble porphyrin compounds for use as photosensitive agents in PDT for …


Honokoil Treatment On Glioblastoma Cells, Julianne Weaver Apr 2021

Honokoil Treatment On Glioblastoma Cells, Julianne Weaver

Honors Theses

Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor without effective treatment options available because of its resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. This specific type of cancer is difficult to treat because the cancer stem cells that are not actively growing. These cells are dormant, which means they will not react to treatment because they are not dividing, and it is these cells that result in the high prevalence of relapse. Honokiol is a Chinese magnolia species that is known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and proapoptotic effects which make it an optimal candidate for glioma cell treatment. Honokiol was used in this experiment …


Killing Breast Cancer One Porphyrin At A Time, Taylor C. Lymburner Jan 2019

Killing Breast Cancer One Porphyrin At A Time, Taylor C. Lymburner

Honors Theses

New treatments for cancer are continuously being developed and improved. One such treatment is Photodynamic Therapy, more commonly referred to as PDT. PDT is quickly becoming more popular due to its relative lack of side effects that are present in other treatments. In PDT, light-sensitive agents are required and are activated by light in the targeted cells. There are many types of PDT agents but the one focused on in this research is a four-pyrrole ring structure known as a porphyrin. The combination of H2 TPPC with 3- amino-oxetane-3-yl-methanol created the final product ofH2TPP-Oxo-MeOH. Once the porphyrin was formed, it …


Effectiveness And Mechanism Of Action Of Modified Porphyrins For Photodynamic Therapy Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Hannah Brandon Jan 2019

Effectiveness And Mechanism Of Action Of Modified Porphyrins For Photodynamic Therapy Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Hannah Brandon

Honors Theses

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer that lacks the three molecules typically targeted for treatment. Standard treatment methods leave much to be desired--the rates of metastasis and recurrence are high and the prognosis for most patients with TNBC is poor. One potential treatment for TNBC is photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses compounds called photosensitizers that are taken up by all tissues in the body. The tumor is exposed to light, activating the photosensitizer and creating reactive oxygen species that cause cell death. This method is relatively pain-free, effective, and does not harm cells …


Treating Breast Cancer With Light: The Creation Of Two Photodynamic Therapy Agents, Victoria Lackey May 2018

Treating Breast Cancer With Light: The Creation Of Two Photodynamic Therapy Agents, Victoria Lackey

Honors Theses

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment for a wide display of diseases, including cancer, that has become gradually widespread. The procedure requires the usage of photosynthesizing agents, which are activated in the presence of light. One quite successful photodynamic therapy agent is an aromatic structure made up of four pyrrole rings called a porphyrin. This research focused on producing the water-soluble porphyrins, H2TPP-3-PEG-OH and H2TPP-PiperMe-OH, through the attachment of the starting porphyrin, H2TPPC, with 3-polyethyleneglycol and 3-piperidinemethanol, respectively. The novel, water-soluble agent was purified and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and UV-vis spectroscopy. Purity was …


An Assessment Of The Effects Of Medical Marijuana On The Quality Of Patient Life, Kori L. Bullard Jan 2018

An Assessment Of The Effects Of Medical Marijuana On The Quality Of Patient Life, Kori L. Bullard

Honors Theses

America is known as the land of opportunity. People attempting to better their lives tend to see America as an opportunity to do so. This statement remains true for the American medical field. Americans are known as advanced in treatment options for various diseases. With this being said, there are few diseases that still bring forth complete fear in the minds of the people of America. In spite of this, "You have been diagnosed with cancer" is a statement that generates this fear. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Current treatments for cancer are invasive, expensive, …


Interaction Of Disease, Drugs, And Disposition In Ewing's Sarcoma Patients, Madeline Martin Jan 2015

Interaction Of Disease, Drugs, And Disposition In Ewing's Sarcoma Patients, Madeline Martin

Honors Theses

Ewing's Sarcoma is a pediatric bone cancer that is highly aggressive, leading to a five year survival rate of not only 30% even with multi-modal treatment protocols. Improved therapeutic options are desperately needed. Our research has focused on the ability of the psychoactive cannabinoid, ajulemic acid, to induce apoptosis and decrease metastatic potential in cells from members of the Ewing Sarcoma family of tumors. Recently, we explored the effects of the naturally-occuring cannabinoid, cannabidiol, on three-dimensional spheroids that mimic the cellular components and microenvironment of Ewing's tumors. We looked at how this treatment affects VEGF, a mediator of angiogenesis, to …


The Effect Of Cannabinoids On Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Haley Dahl Jan 2015

The Effect Of Cannabinoids On Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Haley Dahl

Honors Theses

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is a difficult type of cancer to treat because it is negative for progesterone, estrogen, and HER-2 receptors. Because TNBC is negative for these three receptors, it does not respond to normal hormonal therapies. The purpose of my experiment is to see if different cannabinoids, compounds from the cannabis plants, could be used as alternative treatment options. These experiments employed three different cannabinoids: ajulemic acid, cannabidiol, and hemp oil. Cell viability was measured after 72 hours of treatment using a MTT assay. The results showed that the three cannabinoids could be used to effectively destroy …


Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia As A Possible Source For Ajulemic Acid Binding, Brian Christopher Monk Jan 2015

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia As A Possible Source For Ajulemic Acid Binding, Brian Christopher Monk

Honors Theses

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a cancer that affects bone marrow, the blood-forming tissue (of the body). This type of leukemia accounts for approximately 10% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases. Normally this cancer is treated with a drug called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), but other variations of treatment do exist. The importance of this research is that APL cells express contains a receptor, retinoic acid receptor-a (RARa), which ajulemic acid (AJA) may bind to in order to induce apoptosis in Ewing sarcoma (ES), a pediatric bone cancer. Therefore, this research will focus on the ability of AJA to induce …


The Effects Of Ajulemic Acid On The Metatastic Potential Of Ewing's Sarcoma, Nolan J. West Jan 2012

The Effects Of Ajulemic Acid On The Metatastic Potential Of Ewing's Sarcoma, Nolan J. West

Honors Theses

Ewing's Sarcoma belongs in the Ewing's Sarcoma Family of Tumors (EFST) which represents approximately 2% of all cancers found in children and young adults. These tumors are generally treated by chemotherapy along with either surgery or radiation therapy which can themselves have debilitating effects on the patients. Dr. Lori Hensley's research has shown that ajulemic acid (AJA), a synthetic cannabinoid compound, exhibits extraordinary anti-tumor effects. In addition, AJA has not expressed any psychotropic side effects typically seen with other cannabinoids. Furthermore, ajulemic acid has been shown to eliminate the tumors by apoptosis, the preferred method of cell death. The purpose …