Biography:

Narjiss Akerzoul received her Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS) from Mohammed V University of Rabat-Morocco in the year 2011. Later she was working as a General practitioner Dentist in Oral Health Center of Guelmim City, Morocco. Later in 2013, she started her residency program in Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine and OroFacial Pain in the Consultation Center of Dental Treatments of Rabat. Later on, she completed her Diploma in Biostatistics and Research Methodology during 2014-2015. She achieved her Board examination of Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine and OroFacial Pain in July 2017 and became An Oral Surgeon Fellow. She has authored and co-authored many International Publications in the field of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine and Oral Oncology. She has been an editorial member in Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the International Journal of Oral Health and Medical Research (IJOHMR), Reviewer and Editor in OMICS GROUP Biomedical Journals. Her research includes Oral Surgery, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Oncology, Head & Neck Oncology, Oral Implantology, Oral Infectious Diseases.

Abstract:

Burkitt's lymphoma is a rare form of malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma mature B cells. In Europe and North America, representing about half of non-Hodgkin lymphomas in children and about 2% of those in adults. Indeed, two incidence peaks exist: the first is in childhood/adolescence/early adulthood and the second after 40 years. Male individuals are preferentially affected. Patients infected with the HIV virus and that the antiviral therapy is not optimal are particularly susceptible to developing Burkitt's lymphoma. Two forms exist: one is called "endemic" (subtropical Africa) and linked to the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV). Diagnosis is based on biopsy of a mass or puncture of an effusion or bone marrow revealing the presence of tumor cells. The staging is performed using imaging (mainly ultrasound and scanner). Differential diagnosis includes other forms of child abdominal tumors (such as Wilms' tumor and neuroblastoma. The management should be done in a specialized center in oncology/hematology. The treatment is based on chemotherapy which is some months but intensive. Our clinical observation reports the case of a girl aged 13 who presented with severe oral manifestations of budding Burkitt lymphoma having evolved after 2 years of treatment.

Biography:

Doaa A Saleh, MD, PhD; graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University in Egypt in1996. She completed her PhD in the year 2005 from Cairo University, Egypt. She also completed the Clinical Nutrition Diploma in 2008 from Cairo University. She is Professor of Public Health, Preventive and Community Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University since 2011. She is also the Director of Medical Records and Hospital Statistics Department at Cairo University Teaching Hospitals. She teaches epidemiology and public health and leads research in communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as health systems research. Her research interests include the epidemiological features and the prevention and control of cancer, obesity and infectious diseases. She was the principal investigator and Co-investigator of a number of nationally and internationally funded research projects. She has more than 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of nutrition counseling (NC) on the quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer patients (grade 2) receiving chemotherapy. A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study, where 50 patients were assigned to the NC group and 50 patients to the control group. NC group received four NC sessions over 6 weeks. QoL assessment was done at baseline, and then after two and three months using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). The EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3.0 is a 30-item core cancer-specific questionnaire measuring QoL in cancer patients and incorporates five functional scales; physical (PF), role (RF), cognitive (CF), emotional (EF) and social (SF), three symptom scales for fatigue, pain and nausea/vomiting, a global health QoL scale, and several single items for the perceived financial impact of disease and treatment and for the assessment of additional symptoms such as dyspnoea, appetite loss, sleep disturbance, constipation and diarrhea, which are commonly reported by cancer patients. At baseline, no significant difference was found in the symptom scales and in 2 of the functional scales (EF and CF) between the NC and control group (p>0.05). However, three functional scales (PF, RF and SF) and the global health QoL scale were significantly higher among the control vs. NC group (p<0.05). At 2 and 3 months after the intervention; PF, RF, CF, and EF and all symptom scales (except constipation) showed significant progressive improvement among both NC and control groups (p<0.05). However, the percent change of these scales was significantly higher among the NC group when compared to the control (p<0.05). Unlike controls, NC group showed significant progressive improvement of global health QoL scale, as well as SF, constipation and dyspnea scales (p<0.05). Though insignificant, yet Financial difficulties’ scale showed slight improvement among both NC and control groups (p>0.05).

Biography:

Abstract:

Biography:

Nidhi has completed her Master’s in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia and is currently in her final year of PhD. She also has experience of 3 years as a Research Assistant in National AIND Research Institute (NARI), India.

Abstract:

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third and second most common cancer in males and females respectively and has the third highest mortality rate reported worldwide. In patients with metastatic CRC, chemotherapy is the current approach taken to treat the patients. The most common drug used for the treatment is 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) by itself or in combination with other drugs. However, the cells develop resistance to the drugs resulting in treatment failure. Even though the molecular mechanisms regulating chemoresistance is critical, it is poorly understood. Here, to study the mechanisms involved in chemoresistance, a panel of 7 CRC cells resistant to 5-FU was generated by continuously growing the CRC cells in the presence of the drug. Parental and 5-FU resistant CRC cells were assayed for regulators of acquired chemoresistance to 5-FU using quantitative proteomics, DNA methylation, and biochemical experiments. The assays revealed several mechanisms contributing to acquired drug resistance including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), deregulated apoptotic and signaling pathways, senescence and increased survival autophagy. With the aim to target proteins involved in these mechanisms, a combination of inhibitors and CRISPR based gene knockout techniques were used to sensitize the 5-FU resistant cells. Among these, inhibitors to late autophagy could sensitize the 5-FU resistant cells while the other mechanisms including EMT were observed to be by-stander effects which did not affect the sensitivity of the resistant cells. Hence, inhibiting autophagy in combination with 5-FU can be a potential treatment avenue for CRC patients exhibiting resistance to chemotherapy, thereby aiding in overcoming chemoresistance and improving their survival rates.

Biography:

Sarah J Vitug is a native of San Diego, CA where she double majored in BS Biopsychology and BA Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara 2012, then went on to earn a Masters in Education from Loyola Marymount University 2013. She currently is a 3rd year Intercalated MD-MPhil student at the University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine, Ochsner Clinical School. Research experiences from surgical oncology department at John Wayne Cancer Institute (Santa Monica, CA), surgical oncology department at Melanoma Institute Australia (Sydney, AUS), anesthesia and pain medicine department at St. Vincent’s Hospital (Melbourne, AUS), experimental dermatology department at UQ Diamantina Insitute (Brisbane, AUS), and bioinformatics department at Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans, USA). 2015 International Association of Student Surgical Symposium–Best Oral Presentation Award Winner; 2017 Three Minute Thesis Winner. 2017 certification of completion in Network Analysis in Systems Biology with bioinformatics application at Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans, USA). Research interests: experimental dermatology, pregnancy-associated melanoma, and surgical oncology.

Abstract:

Melanoma is one of the most common cancers among women of childbearing age, and therefore one of the most prevalent malignancies diagnosed during pregnancy. With advanced maternal age becoming more commonplace, the likelihood of being diagnosed with a melanoma during pregnancy naturally increases. Controversy over whether the pregnancy is associated with more aggressive melanoma progression exists in the literature, thus a case study on JC, a 31 year old female diagnosed with a 7mm level V melanoma in her left popliteal region at 17 weeks gestation is provided in which this manuscript will expound upon. Following sentinel lymph node biopsy, the patient was found to have 2/10 nodes positive for metastatic melanoma upon left inguinal dissection. Due to the nature of her advanced disease, JC’s care was presented at the Melanoma Institue’s multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting where detailed discussions on adjuvant radiation and systemic therapy were invaluable for JC’s treatment plan. In light of her third-trimester pregnancy, all elements of JC’s management prioritized the delivery of a healthy term infant. Following delivery, JC was evaluated with PET imaging that identified her disease progression to stage IV melanoma with lung, liver and subcutaneous lesions. Thus treatment for her terminal illness remained central to subsequent MDT meetings. The aim of this manuscript is to establish a set of practical guidelines for treating melanoma in pregnant women. Treating melanoma with a coinciding pregnancy can be a challenging task due to increased risks to the fetus, thus a multidisciplinary approach is crucial for safe and effective management. Procedural considerations for excision biopsy or local resection on a pregnant patient must take into account patient positioning, choice of antiseptic prep and local anesthetic, the necessity of sentinel lymph node biopsy, and timing of surgery. It is imperative to be cognizant of the decisions made during management of disease during pregnancy as it may potentially have lethal effects on not only the patient but the fetus.

Biography:

Samir is a postdoctoral research fellow in Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Taipei Medical University (TMU), Taiwan. He has his expertise in small molecules as potent anticancer compounds and his work accentuates on designing and synthesizing inhibitors of various epigenetic modulations like HDAC inhibitors, HAT Inhibitors, target based therapy, designed multiple ligand (DML) based drug design and personalized medicines for the treatment of cancer. During his doctorate, he received QS-Apple Scholarship 2014 for outstanding research and social engagements. With high impact papers in various research journals he has been awarded with Outstanding Postdoctoral Award for year 2016 and 2017 from TMU and has also received Young Research Scientist Award 2018 from SBMLS (India).

Abstract:

Histone acetylation finds its roots in the 1960s when it was recognized that acetylation of histones and remodeling of the compact chromatin structure is associated with gene induction. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) display multifaceted functions by coordinating the interaction of signal pathways with chromatin structure remodeling and the activation of non-histone proteins; these epigenetic regulations play an important role during malignancy progression. This initiated a quest for development of inhibitors of histone deacetylase (HDAC) as novel drug candidates. We have designed and evaluated a series of potent phenyl acrylamides, based on the core structure of PXD101 and LBH589, demonstrating potent HDAC inhibition and anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. The synthesized compounds are found to be endowed with potent Hela Nuclear HDAC inhibitory activity, almost 2.5 folds to 42 fold better than SAHA. Synthetics exhibited significant inhibitory effects on various cancer cell lines with GI50 values in the range of 0.02 to 0.35 μM which are 10-50 folds better than SAHA (Vorinostat). N-hydroxy-3-{4-[2-(2-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)-ethylsulfamoyl]-phenyl}- acrylamide (MPT0G157) treatment significantly inhibited different tumor growth at submicromolar concentration and was particularly potent in human colorectal cancer (HCT116) cells. Apoptosis and inhibited HDACs activity induced by MPT0G157 was more potent than that by the marketed drugs PXD101 (Belinostat) and SAHA. In an in vivo model, MPT0G157 markedly inhibited HCT116 xenograft tumor volume and reduced matrigel-induced angiogenesis. The anti-angiogenetic effect of MPT0G157 was found to increase the hyperacetylation of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and promote hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α) degradation followed by down-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Our results demonstrate that MPT0G157 has potential as a new drug candidate for cancer therapy.

Biography:

Andrei L Gartel, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is the academic editor of PLOS ONE. He is the author of 90 peer-review publications that include more than 25 reviews. He has more than 11,000 citations and his h-index is 41. His scientific interests include cancer, regulation of oncogenic transcription factors FOXM1, protein-protein interactions; cell cycle and regulation of CDK inhibitor p21. Specifically, his lab is interested in the identification of new FOXM1 inhibitors. He received his funding from NIH, DOD and private companies/foundations.

Abstract:

FOXM1 is an oncogenic transcription factor that is overexpressed in the majority of human cancers and is a potential target for anticancer drugs. We identified proteasome inhibitors as the first type of drugs that target FOXM1 in cancer cells. Moreover, we found that HSP90 inhibitor PF-4942847 that does not act as proteasome inhibitor also suppresses FOXM1. Chaperone HSP70 is induced after treatment with both proteasome/HSP90 inhibitors and after heat-shock stress and we identified this chaperone as a novel negative regulator of FOXM1 after proteotoxic stress. We showed that FOXM1 and HSP70 interact in cancer cells following proteotoxic stress and FOXM1/HSP70 interaction led to inhibition of FOXM1. We have previously shown that FOXM1 interacts with nucleophosmin (NPM) in cancer cells and NPM determines the cellular localization of FOXM1. Mutations in NPM1 result in cytoplasmic re-localization of NPM (NPM1mut) and favorable outcome for the patients. We found the evidence that improved outcomes in the subset of NPM1mut AML may be partially explained by the cytoplasmic re-localization and consequent functional inactivation of FOXM1. First, we confirmed the co-localization of FOXM1 and NPMmut in the cytoplasm of AML patients bone marrow biopsies and determined a strong cytoplasmic expression of FOXM1 only in NPM1mut AML cells. We also showed an important role of FOXM1 in chemo-resistance in leukemia cell lines with nuclear, but not cytoplasmic FOXM1. These data imply that suppressing of FOXM1 in AML could increase sensitivity to standard chemotherapy.

Biography:

Sujata Maiti Choudhury is a Professor and In-charge of Biochemistry, Molecular Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology Laboratory in the postgraduate Department of Human Physiology with Community Health of Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India. She completed her M.Sc. in Physiology in 1986 and M.Phil. Degree in Environmental Science in 1988 from University of Calcutta, Kolkata. She was awarded Doctor of Philosophy in 1995 from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. She was also graced as the Founder Director of Women’s Studies Centre, of Vidyasagar University (2010-2015). She is a Life member of Indian Science Congress of India, Indian Association of Cancer Research (IACR), Physiological Society of India, Kolkata, and South Asian Association of Physiologists. She is acting as a reviewer for many journals including Nanotoxicology (Taylor & Francis), Food and Chemical Toxicology (Elsevier), Journal of Basic Microbiology (Wiley-VCH), Drug and Chemical toxicology (Taylor & Francis) etc.

Abstract:

Cancer is a universal public health problem as it is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles, one of the most effective biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles, are approved by the US FDA to use for the encapsulation of various cancer-related drugs and their successful delivery in vivo due to its controlled and sustained release properties, low toxicity, and biocompatibility. Diosgenin (DGN), a steroidal saponin phytocompound, plays a predominant role in decreasing cell malignancy and inhibits tumor promotion reducing matrix metalloproteinases expression and inducing apoptosis through cell cycle arrest, activation of p53 and caspase-3 but DGN has many limitations in clinical application due to its poor solubility and low bioavailability. The present study was designed to synthesize PLGA encapsulated diosgenin nanoparticles (PLGA-DGN NPs) and to evaluate its anticancer efficacy. The PLGA-DGN nanoparticles exhibited high entrapment efficacy (73.8%), and a higher blood circulation half-time as well as sustained release kinetics, better bioavailability, and rapid intracellular uptake capability. PI and DAPI staining, cell cycle study by flow cytometry, DNA laddering, measurement of generation of reactive oxygen species using H2DCFDA stain, mitochondrial membrane potential by rhodamine 123 and Western blot analysis were performed to explore the pathways involved in the apoptosis. PLGA-DGN NPs showed cytotoxicity to MCF-7 and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells without producing no toxicity to human and mouse lymphocytes. PLGA-DGN NPs induced apoptosis by elevating ROS, chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, cell cycle arrest, expression of proapoptotic proteins and mitochondrial dysfunction in MCF-7. The immunofluorescence studies of cytoskeletal and nuclear morphology revealed that after PLGA-DGN NPs treatment, the regular reorganization of actin filaments in MCF-7 cells became disrupted. In EAC-induced mouse solid tumor model, PLGA-DGN NPs significantly decreased cell proliferation, angiogenesis by reducing Ki-67 and CD-31 expression and the solid tumor were regressed and increased mean survival time of EAC-bearing mice was seen through the restoration of antioxidant status of the host mice. The findings confirm that PLGA-DGN NPs induced an antineoplastic effect that led to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway and it is a promising anticancer nano-drug candidate for breast carcinoma.

Biography:

Ananya Pradhan is a PhD candidate in Department of Human Physiology in Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal, India. She completed her BSc in Physiology (2007-2010) and MSc in Human Physiology (2010-2012) from Vidyasagar University. She joined Inspire fellowship, Dept of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, since 2014. Her research area is cancer nano-therapeutics and she has some good quality peer reviewed papers. Her special interest is to explore different mechanistic pathway of cancer therapeutics. She is a life member of Indian Science Congress Association and a member of Indian Association of Cancer Research.

Abstract:

Background: Gold nanoparticles have potential use in cancer diagnosis and therapy due to their size and enhanced permeability and retention effect that enables easy penetration and accumulation at tumor sites. Indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a phenolic phytochemical, has been reported to possess pro-apoptotic, anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic properties via modulation of immune pathways in Jurkat cell. So, an attempt has been made to green synthesize gold nanoparticles using indole-3-carbinol and to investigate whether its anticancer efficacy is enhanced at the nanoscale level or not by the induction of apoptosis.

Methodology: AuNPI3Cs were characterized and its cellular uptake was investigated using fluorescence microscopy. Induction of apoptosis of AuNPI3Cs in Jurkat and Dalton ascites lymphoma (DLA) cells was assessed by DAPI/PI staining, cell cycle study by flow cytometry, immunoblotting assay and by other relevant methods.

Findings: FTIR analysis confirmed the role of indole-3-carbinol in the stabilization of AuNPI3Cs. TEM analysis study revealed that AuNPI3Cs were mostly spherical in shape with an average particle size of 3nm. Results showed that the respective IC50 doses of AuNPI3Cs were significantly capable of elevating intracellular reactive oxygen species in Jurkat and DLA cells. AuNPI3Cs induced apoptosis by increasing reactive oxygen species, chromatin condensation, cell cycle arrest at G0/G1, expression of proapoptotic proteins and mitochondrial dysfunction in Jurkat cell, T cell leukemia and also in lymphoma cell. The fluorescence studies of cytoskeletal and nuclear morphology showed that AuNPI3Cs treatment changed the structural organization of actin filaments in T-cell leukemia cell.

Conclusion and Significance: The overall results firmly indicated that indole-3-carbinol, as appropriate reducing and stabilizing agent, led to the green synthesis of potent anticancer agent AuNPI3Cs with high potential for cancer therapy and may be considered as one of the best anticancer theranostic nanostructures among those reported until date.

Biography:

Mohamed Zakaria is currently working as a Assistant Lecturer of Gynecology & Obstetrics at Menoufia University. His Research Interest includes Ovarian tumors.

Abstract:

Data of 92 patients diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) during the period from 2010 to 2017 in the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University, Egypt were retrospectively evaluated, Median follow up period was 42 months. The mean age at diagnosis was 42.7 yrs. Histopathology was serious in 63%, mucinous in 28.3%, and endometrioid in 3.3%. 65 patients (70.7%) had Stage IA disease, 17 patients had Stage IB disease (18.5%), 4 patients had Stage IC disease (4.3%), 2 patients had Stage II disease (2.2%) and 4 patients had Stage III disease (4.3%) at diagnosis. 49 patients (53.3%) underwent fertility-sparing surgery, of which 19 patients underwent Unilateral ovarian cystectomy, 5 patients underwent Bilateral ovarian cystectomy, 25 underwent Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. 43 patients (46.7%) underwent radical surgery including hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. 39 patients had micropapillary disease (42 %) and 2 patients had microinvasive disease (2.2%) on histopathology. 6 patients (6.5 %) had peritoneal implants of which 1 was invasive and 5 were non-invasive. The recurrence rate in the entire study group was 18.5%, 17.6% among patients underwent radical surgery and 82.4% among patients underwent fertility-sparing surgery. 12 of the recurrences (70.6%) were borderline whereas 5 were invasive (29.4%). Stages IA and IB had significantly higher disease-free survival than other stages. Patients with micro invasion had significantly lower free disease-free survival 10.5(9.52–11.5) vs 77.6(70.9 – 84.1). Radical surgery had significantly higher FDS than fertility-sparing surgery 75.8(70.2 – 81.4) vs 68.5(58.2 – 78.8).

Biography:

Mohamed Zakaria is currently working as a Assistant Lecturer of Gynecology & Obstetrics at Menoufia University. His Research Interest includes Ovarian tumors.

Abstract:

Data of 92 patients diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) during the period from 2010 to 2017 in the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University, Egypt were retrospectively evaluated, Median follow up period was 42 months. The mean age at diagnosis was 42.7 yrs. Histopathology was serious in 63%, mucinous in 28.3%, and endometrioid in 3.3%. 65 patients (70.7%) had Stage IA disease, 17 patients had Stage IB disease (18.5%), 4 patients had Stage IC disease (4.3%), 2 patients had Stage II disease (2.2%) and 4 patients had Stage III disease (4.3%) at diagnosis. 49 patients (53.3%) underwent fertility-sparing surgery, of which 19 patients underwent Unilateral ovarian cystectomy, 5 patients underwent Bilateral ovarian cystectomy, 25 underwent Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. 43 patients (46.7%) underwent radical surgery including hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. 39 patients had micropapillary disease (42 %) and 2 patients had microinvasive disease (2.2%) on histopathology. 6 patients (6.5 %) had peritoneal implants of which 1 was invasive and 5 were non-invasive. The recurrence rate in the entire study group was 18.5%, 17.6% among patients underwent radical surgery and 82.4% among patients underwent fertility-sparing surgery. 12 of the recurrences (70.6%) were borderline whereas 5 were invasive (29.4%). Stages IA and IB had significantly higher disease-free survival than other stages. Patients with micro invasion had significantly lower free disease-free survival 10.5(9.52–11.5) vs 77.6(70.9 – 84.1). Radical surgery had significantly higher FDS than fertility-sparing surgery 75.8(70.2 – 81.4) vs 68.5(58.2 – 78.8).

Biography:

Katy French MD, BA University of Kansas 1996, MD Tulane University School of Medicine 2003, Anesthesia Residency Tulane University 2007, Cardiovascular Anesthesia Fellowship Texas Heart Institute 2008. Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and the Perioperative Medicine University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 2008-current. Research and interests-maximizing efficiency in patient-driven perioperative anesthesia assessment, application of information technology to streamline clinical operations, and time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) applied to the healthcare setting. Published and/or presented over 50 abstracts and peer-reviewed publications.

Abstract:

In 2017, an estimated 1,688,780 new cancer cases will be diagnosed. Many patients with a cancer diagnosis will need surgery as part of their treatment. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center saw 38,888 new patients in 2017 and performed over 20,000 operating room anesthetics. Advanced assessment of patients scheduled for operating room procedures helps reduce the percentage of cancellations that occur on the same day of the scheduled procedure. Same day surgery cancellations cause stress and frustration to all involved but most crucially for the patient and their family. The stress of the cancellation of a planned procedure has a negative impact on the perioperative patient experience. Our perioperative care process assesses all patients with planned OR procedures. All patients are screened using a 40 question triaging tool, embedded into our electronic health record and sent to our patients with the OR case is requested. All answers are validated with the patient by a clinical provider. Patients are then either seen in the clinic or called by phone prior to their planned procedure. 47% of our patients have a complex medical history as indicated by their triage questionnaires and seen in the clinic. Subspecialty consults are arranged as needed. The remaining 53% had less complex medical history and are assessed by phone. Our institution maintains a same day cancellation rate of 2.07%, assessing patients before their procedure date through direct contact with each patient by our providers. This contributes to positive patient experience in the perioperative period.

Biography:

Meda-Monzón E (MSc in Health Sciences), Biotechnology specialist, with a great passion for innovation. MSc Elizabeth has demonstrated ability to turn a promising concept into a world class product by implementing cutting edge technology. During the last four years, she has dedicated her talent and energy to the development of technologies for affordable in vitro diagnostics tools for HPV and cancer genetic propensity detection.

Abstract:

Most efforts of allopathic medicine are directed to treat diseases. This path has proved to be costly when chronic diseases, such as cancer and its associated viral co-morbidities, need to be treated and monitored in the long term. Hence, the development of prevention-oriented medicine may reduce the magnitude of the financial burden associated with practicing remedy-based medicine. GanplexTM and Kimera-TestTM, the prime products of Hakken Enterprise, were then conceived to identify individuals with high genetic risk of developing cancer before the disease becomes symptomatic. GanplexTM and Kimera-TestTM take advantage of DNA extracted from saliva and urine samples to identify cancer-related viruses and SNPs through multiplex assays in a single reaction. At current stage of development, both assays identify cancer related SNPs and the viral sequences with a sensitivity, specificity, and confidence higher than those reported for Sanger’s sequencing. Both assays require small DNA quantities to begin with and no purification of PCR products prior hybridization. This shortens to approximately 7 hours the time to provide a result. Hence, GanplexTM and Kimera-TestTM are biotechnological tools that provide the genetic information needed to identify individuals under risk of developing cancer, a circumstance that would help in personalizing cancer preventing protocols and introducing precision medicine into everyday’s life.

Biography:

Samir Mehndiratta is a postdoctoral research fellow in Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Taipei Medical University (TMU), Taiwan. He has his expertise in small molecules as potent anticancer compounds and his work accentuates on designing and synthesizing inhibitors of various epigenetic modulations like HDAC inhibitors, HAT Inhibitors, target based therapy, designed multiple ligand (DML) based drug design and personalized medicines for the treatment of cancer. During his doctorate, he received QS-Apple Scholarship 2014 for outstanding research and social engagements. With high impact papers in various research journals he has been awarded with Outstanding Postdoctoral Award for year 2016 and 2017 from TMU and has also received Young Research Scientist Award 2018 from SBMLS (India).

Abstract:

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) display multifaceted functions by coordinating the interaction of signal pathways with chromatin structure remodeling and thus play an important role during malignancy progression. HDAC inhibition shows promise as a new strategy for cancer therapy and four HDAC inhibitors have been approved. We have synthesized a PXD101-LBH589 core model based series of potent indole-3-ethyl sulfomoylphenylacrylamides as potent inhibitors of HDACs, developed the SAR and evaluated them for their anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic effects.

Biography:

Edyta Zyla has been started her PhD studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. From the very first beggining of Bachelor studies she was gripped by Salmonella using in anticancer immunotherapy. She was chairing student project and currently she is beneficiary of project financed by Biophysics, Biochemistry and Biotech­nology Department UJ. To expand her horizons she has started working in Protein Crystallography Laboratory.

Abstract:

The interaction of PD-L1 with T cell PD-1 receptor leads to the inactivation and death of T cells resulting in immunosuppression and undisturbed tumor development. We engineered Salmonella strain to deliver soluble PD-1 into tumor tissue. In principle, soluble PD-1 will compete with the PD-1 receptor on the T cell surface for binding to the PD-L1 ligand present on the surface of tumor cells and thus prevent T cell inactivation. The main goal of this work was to modify Salmonella therapeutic strain so it will be capable of efficiently secreting soluble PD-1 through the flagellar system. The flagellar system functions as a bacterial mobility motor but also serves as a secretory system for the extracellular elements of the flagellum. Special secretion signals direct certain proteins for flagellar channel-mediated secretion. To use the flagellar system for the secretion of recombinant proteins bacteria should be deprived of flagellin synthesis. To achieve this, we removed the fliC gene coding for flagellin monomer from the VNP20009 chromosome by homologous recombination and transformed the new strain with a plasmid coding for soluble PD-1 equipped with a suitable secretion signal. At present we are testing various secretion signals for optimal synthesis and secretion of PD-1 via the flagellar system. Interestingly, the characterization of the ΔfliC strain showed similarities characteristics to the parental one in terms of viability and growth kinetics. What is more, the mobility of the modified bacteria and the wild-type VNP20009 did not differ. However, the exposure of RAW264.7 cells to both Salmonella strains revealed that ΔfliC bacteria are less infective when compared to the parental strain. Nonetheless, in this case, the decreased cell infectivity might be beneficial as it will allow secreting PD-1 to the extracellular environment, where it may fulfill its anti-immunosuppressive task.

Biography:

Anuja Konda is passionate about biology, human anatomy, and disease detection and prevention. She is part of the Roberts Summer Academy Program 2018 at City of Hope National Medical Center focusing on research related to cancer and detection methodologies. She will be a senior at Mission San Jose High School in 2018-2019. She is shadowing physicians at Tri-City Health Center, and volunteering at Fremont Healthcare Center. She has certification in CPR. She has co-founded “All Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse” (AAADA.org) in 2016 for promoting awareness about Alcohol and Drug Abuse. AAADA has received recognition and commendation letters from the Congressman, Assembly members, and the Mayor.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Pancreatic cancer has been reported as the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Due to the covert location of the pancreas in the human body, pancreatic cancer may go undetected until it progresses to an advanced stage. Pancreatic cancer starts in the pancreas and generally spreads to different parts of the body as it progresses. By the time the disease reaches the advanced stages, it can be fatal, and treatment or surgical resection may not be possible. Due to lack of awareness and obvious symptoms at an early stage, individuals seem to overlook the potential pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study is to provide current information about pancreatic cancer, types of diagnosis, prominent cancer treatment facilities, and supportive resources for better self-management of disease.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Among chronic diseases with high mortality rates, cancer is considered one of the most devastating diseases. In the normal process of the human body, cells continuously undergo division, death, and replacement by themselves in a controlled fashion. Cancer starts when cells are altered and uncontrollably divide without diminishing. The growth of abnormal cells in an uncontrolled fashion could spread cancer to different parts of the body, impacting the normal functionality of organs throughout the body. Some prevalent cancer diseases include lung & bronchus, colon & rectum, prostate, pancreas, breast, ovary, etc. In this research, a brief review and compilation of key information pertaining to pancreatic cancer are discussed along with historical data.

Conclusion & Significance: Due to the severity of pancreatic cancer, it is important that individuals be aware of the symptoms and signs of pancreatic cancer. With awareness, individual may be able to be proactive about the disease in its earlier stages so that the probability for successful long-term treatment may increase.