Diseases Commons^™

An Imaging Mass Spectrometry Investigation Into The N-Linked Glycosylation Landscape Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma And The Development Of Associated Tools For Enhanced Glycan Separation And Characterization, Colin Mcdowell

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The severity of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is largely attributed to a failure to detect the disease before metastatic spread has occurred. CA19-9, a carbohydrate biomarker, is used clinically to surveille disease progression, but due to specificity challenges is not suitable for early discovery. As CA19-9 and other prospective markers are glycan epitopes, there is great clinical interest in understanding the glycobiology of pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, few studies have been able to link glycosylation changes directly to pancreatic tumors and instead have focused on peripheral glycan alterations in the serum of PDAC patients. To address this gap in our understanding, …

Differentiating The Mechanistic Role And Chemotherapeutic Potential Of Src And Podoplanin In Oncogenic Transformation, Edward P. Retzbach

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

There were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2020, resulting in nearly 1000 deaths per hour [1]. Oral cancer exemplifies the difficulties of treating cancer patients. The first line for oral cancer treatment is surgery and radiation that can lead to patient disfigurement and decreased quality of life in cancer survivors [2-4]. Though there have been many developments in chemotherapy in the last 30 years, the 50% mortality rate associated with oral cancer has not changed [4, 5]. Longitudinal studies that track survival rates in oral cancer patients demonstrate a 3-fold reduction in patient deaths when patients …

Kallikrein-Related Peptidases Are Dysregulated In Pleomorphic Adenoma, Matthew D. Morrison

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Objectives: Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common benign salivary gland tumor. Kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) have been identified as biomarkers in many human tumors and may influence tumor behavior. We investigated KLK1-15 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and proteins in PA specimens to determine a KLK expression profile for this tumor.

Methods: Fresh frozen PA tissue specimens (n = 26) and matched controls were subjected to RT-qPCR to detect KLK1-15 mRNA. Expression of KLK1, KLK12, KLK13 and KLK8 proteins were then evaluated via immunostaining techniques. Statistical analyses were performed with the level of significance set at P < .05.

Results: We observed downregulation …

Prostate Cancer Microparticles As A Next Generation Screening Tool For Prostate Cancer, Khurram M. Siddiqui

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Currently available screening tests for prostate cancer (PCa) are neither very sensitive nor specific. Microparticles (MP) are submicron tumor cell fragments released by PCa cells into the circulation and offer a possible means of sampling the tumor. We evaluated the utility of a MP blood test using nanoscale flow cytometry to distinguish patients with PCa from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We used monoclonal antibodies against prostate specific membrane antigen, gastrin releasing peptide receptor and ghrelin peptide ligand.

We found higher but statistically insignificant, PSMA and Ghrelin dual +ve MP counts in the BPH group. Our results show that …

Molecular Characterization Of Glioblastoma Cancer Stem Cells, Jo Meagan Garner

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Malignant gliomas are locally aggressive, highly vascular tumors that have an overall survival time less than 14 months, and current therapies provide little improvement in the disease course and outcome. While glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients present uniform histological phenotypes, the molecular determinants of the disease vary considerably between individual cases resulting in complicated prognosis. The heterogeneity, aggressiveness and rapid tumor relapse of GBM is believed to be sustained by cancer stem-like cell populations that are able to initiate and maintain tumors. Although CSCs represent only a small fraction of cells within a tumor, their high tumor-initiating capacity and therapeutic resistance …

Analysis Of The Regulation And Function Of Cip2a To Identify Candidate Biomarkers For Prostate Cancer, Diana Savoly

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a tumor suppressor involved in the regulation of several signaling pathways and the cell cycle. PP2A becomes inactivated by several inhibitors, including Cancerous Inhibitor of PP2A (CIP2A). CIP2A has been identified as an oncogene, which is over-expressed in cancers and inhibits PP2A through direct interaction. CIP2A is recognized as a biomarker for cancer; however, it is not cancer-specific. Therefore, we identified and examined the use of CIP2A-regulated proteins as potential biomarkers in prostate cancer to better diagnose prostate cancer in patients. Currently, Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is widely used to detect prostate cancer; however, it …