Publications by authors named "F Elizabeth Pritchard"

Photo-dynamics can proceed differently at the water/air interface compared to in the respective bulk phases. Second-order non-linear spectroscopy is capable of selectively probing the dynamics of species in such an environment. However, certain conclusions drawn from vibrational and electronic sum-frequency generation spectroscopies do not agree as is the case for the formation and structure of hydrated electrons at the interface.

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Cancers develop resistance to inhibitors of oncogenes mainly due to target-centric mechanisms such as mutations and splicing. While inhibitors or antagonists force targets to unnatural conformation contributing to protein instability and resistance, activating tumor suppressors may maintain the protein in an agonistic conformation to elicit sustainable growth inhibition. Due to the lack of tumor suppressor agonists, this hypothesis and the mechanisms underlying resistance are not understood.

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Article Synopsis
  • Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks targeted treatments and includes a subtype called luminal androgen receptor (LAR) TNBC, which represents 15% of cases and is characterized by high levels of androgen receptor (AR) expression.
  • Research shows that about 80% of TNBC cases express AR, with around 20% also showing AR splice variants (AR-SVs), particularly noted in specimens from African American women and linked to more aggressive cancer traits.
  • The study indicates that AR and AR-SV expressing TNBC can potentially be targeted with specific drugs like AR degraders or JAK inhibitors, and suggests a growth-promoting relationship between AR and JAK-STAT signaling pathways.
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Sustained treatment of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer with ER-targeting drugs results in ER mutations and refractory unresponsive cancers. Androgen receptor (AR), which is expressed in 80%-95% of ER-positive breast cancers, could serve as an alternate therapeutic target. Although AR agonists were used in the past to treat breast cancer, their use is currently infrequent due to virilizing side effects.

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Although significant progress has been made in improving breast cancer survival, disparities among racial, ethnic, and underserved groups still exist. The goal of this investigation is to quantify racial disparities in the context of breast cancer care, examining the outcomes of recurrence and mortality in the city of Memphis. Patients with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of breast cancer from January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2012, were obtained from the tumor registry.

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