Oncology Commons^™

Sexual Dysfunction And Sexual Distress In Lymphoma Patients: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Dorothie S. Durosier Mertilus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lymphoma, especially non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is among the most common categories of cancer in the United States (National Cancer Institute [NCI], 2019). The survival rate for lymphoma has significantly improved over the last few decades due to advances in therapy. However, despite these advances, lymphoma patients experience many negative consequences of cancer treatment, including sexual dysfunction (NCI, 2021b). The purpose of this mixed methods pilot study was to explore the presence and experiences of sexual dysfunction and related sexual distress in both male and female lymphoma patients during cancer treatment. A concurrent triangulated design was used to: 1) evaluate the …

Accelerating Multiparametric Mri For Adaptive Radiotherapy, Shraddha Pandey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

MR guided Radiotherapy (MRgRT) marks an important paradigm shift in the field of radiotherapy. Superior tissue contrast of MRI offers better visualization of the abnormal lesions, as a result precise radiation dose delivery is possible. In case of online treatment planning, MRgRT offers better control of intratumoral motion and quick adaptation to changes in the gross tumor volume. Nonetheless, the MRgRT process flow does suffer from some challenges that limit its clinical usability. The primary aspects of MRgRT workflow are MRI acquisition, tumor delineation, dose map prediction and administering treatment. It is estimated that the acquisition of MRI takes around …

Going Flat: Challenging Gender, Stigma, And Cure Through Lesbian Breast Cancer Experience, Beth Gaines

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the decision-making process of reconstruction surgery among lesbian breast cancer patients to better understand how identity impacts healthcare decisions. Breast cancer patients experience the disease in unique ways due to gender, sexuality, race, and class, impacting their individual decisions regarding treatment plans. Many breast cancer patients face mastectomy surgery as the first plan of treatment after diagnosis. By exploring the impact of gender, sexuality, stigma, and ideas of cure, this research aims to advance research about breast cancer by recognizing why some lesbian breast cancer patients forego reconstruction surgery and instead choose to “go flat.

Origin And Epigenetic Regulation Of Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma, Carly M. Harro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The pathogenesis of Cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) remains unclear. Using conditional knockout mice, we found that ablation of the genomic organizer Special AT-rich sequence-binding protein-1 (Satb1) caused malignant transformation of mature, skin-homing, Notch-activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells into progressively fatal lymphoma. Mechanistically, Satb1 restrained Stat5 phosphorylation and the expression of skin-homing chemokine receptors in mature T cells. H3K27 and H3K9 trimethylation occluded the SATB1 promoter in Sézary cells, while inhibition of SUV39H1/2 methyltransferases (unlike EZH2 inhibition), restored protective SATB1 expression and selectively abrogated the growth of primary Sézary cells more effectively than romidepsin. Additionally, using single-cell RNA/TCR sequencing …

Establishment Of A Melanoma Esc-Gemm Platform And Its Use To Study Pten Tumor Suppressor Functions, Ilah Bok

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The cumbersome and time-consuming process of generating new mouse strains and multiallelic experimental animals often hinders the use of genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) in cancer research. In chapter 2, we describe the development and validation of an embryonic stem cell (ESC)-GEMM platform for rapid modeling of melanoma in mice. The platform incorporates 12 clinically relevant genotypes composed of combinations of four driver alleles (LSL-BrafV600E, LSL-NrasQ61R, PtenFlox, and Cdkn2aFlox) and regulatory alleles to spatiotemporally control the perturbation of genes of interest. The ESCs produce high-contribution chimeras, which recapitulate the melanoma phenotypes of conventionally bred mice. Using the ESC-GEMM platform to …

Defining The Role Of Oxidized Mitochondrial Dna In Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Grace Anne Ward

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) are heterogeneous bone marrow (BM) failure malignancies characterized by constitutive innate immune activation, NLRP3 inflammasome (IFM) driven pyroptotic cell death, and the induction of interferon-stimulated genes (ISG). MDS often diagnostically resembles other hematologic disorders, as such, additional tools are needed for the discrimination from overlapping disorders. We observed that oxidized mitochondrial DNA (ox-mtDNA) is released upon cytolysis. We hypothesize that levels of ox-mtDNA are high in MDS, allowing us to use it as a diagnostic biomarker; and that cell free ox-mtDNA is contributing to feedforward BM failure.

ROC/AUC analysis demonstrated that ox-mtDNA is a sensitive and specific …

Adrenergic Modulation Of Precursor Cells Of Ovarian Cancer, Sweta Dash

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer remains one of the most lethal gynecological cancer and ranks eighth in cancer-related mortality among women. The high mortality rate can be attributed to majority of the cases being diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease when the survival rate and overall prognosis are poor. There is lack of effective screening modalities to detect ovarian cancer at early stages. Hence, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to ovarian cancer initiation is required.

Epidemiological studies have reported that conditions which cause chronic behavioral stress are associated with a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. The activation of …

Determining The Role Of Dendritic Cells During Response To Treatment With Paclitaxel/Anti-Tim-3, Alycia Gardner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Intratumoral CD103+ dendritic cells (cDC1) are required for anti-tumor immune responses. In tumors that are poorly responsive to immunotherapeutic approaches targeting T cells, targeting cDC1 represents an alternative approach that may be useful in improving patient response rates. As such, it is critical to understand cDC1 function within tumors, and what may be preventing optimal function of cDC1. TIM-3 is a receptor that is highly expressed by cDC1 in murine and human mammary tumors, and TIM-3 blocking antibodies are currently being evaluated in clinical trials for a number of solid and hematological malignancies. In order to best design combinatorial therapeutic …