Browsing by Subject "Metastases"

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    A Case of Metastatic Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) With Spinal and Pulmonary Metastases Treated With Vismodegib, Sonedigib, and Radiotherapy
    (Springer Nature, 2022-03-17) Samia, Arthur M.; Nenow, Joseph M.; Boyer, Philip; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignancy worldwide and has one of the most favorable prognoses due to its tendency to remain local. Clinical presentation with rare distant metastases significantly increases morbidity and mortality. Historically, no effective therapies have existed for locally advanced or metastatic BCC. Recent research highlights the possibility of treating patients with advanced and metastatic BCC with hedgehog pathway inhibitors, such as vismodegib or sonedigib. We present the case of a 62-year-old male with a history of a large left shoulder lesion, which was diagnosed as a nodulocystic BCC following biopsy and histopathologic examination. The primary lesion was managed with surgical excision, and his ensuing metastatic disease was treated with vismodegib, sonedigib, tumor debulking, and radiation therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography of the chest revealed probable metastases to the apical segment of the left upper lobe and thoracic spine, leading to spinal stenosis and probable cause of the patient's ataxia and paresthesias. Due to the ability of BCCs to transform during metastasis, it is impossible to identify the nature of metastatic lesions (i.e., basaloid, squamous, or hybrid) without biopsy. In this case report, we review the etiologies, typical demographics, presentation patterns, and treatment regimens for metastatic BCC and the possibility of metastatic disease transforming to squamous or hybrid variants.
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    MammOnc-DB, an integrative breast cancer data analysis platform for target discovery
    (Research Square, 2024-09-26) Varambally, Sooryanarayana; Karthikeyan, Santhosh Kumar; Chandrashekar, Darshan; Sahai, Snigdha; Shrestha, Sadeep; Aneja, Ritu; Singh, Rajesh; Kleer, Celina; Kumar, Sidharth; Qin, Zhaohui; Nakshatri, Harikrishna; Manne, Upender; Creighton , Chad; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Breast cancer (BCa) is one of the most common malignancies among women worldwide. It is a complex disease that is characterized by morphological and molecular heterogeneity. In the early stages of the disease, most BCa cases are treatable, particularly hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive tumors. Unfortunately, triple-negative BCa and metastases to distant organs are largely untreatable with current medical interventions. Recent advances in sequencing and proteomic technologies have improved our understanding of the molecular changes that occur during breast cancer initiation and progression. In this era of precision medicine, researchers and clinicians aim to identify subclass-specific BCa biomarkers and develop new targets and drugs to guide treatment. Although vast amounts of omics data including single cell sequencing data, can be accessed through public repositories, there is a lack of user-friendly platforms that integrate information from multiple studies. Thus, to meet the need for a simple yet effective and integrative BCa tool for multi-omics data analysis and visualization, we developed a comprehensive BCa data analysis platform called MammOnc-DB (http://resource.path.uab.edu/MammOnc-Home.html), comprising data from more than 20,000 BCa samples. MammOnc-DB was developed to provide a unique resource for hypothesis generation and testing, as well as for the discovery of biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The platform also provides pre- and post-treatment data, which can help users identify treatment resistance markers and patient groups that may benefit from combination therapy.