Publications by authors named "Melissa Yacur"

Peripheral neuropathy is a well-described complication of chemotherapy. There are no known treatments to reverse peripheral neuropathy. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a dose-limiting toxicity in cancer treatment and is debilitating.

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The under-representation of racial, sexual, and gender minorities in cancer clinical trials has long been a deficit in clinical cancer research. This review aims to survey current literature to determine the participation of minorities in the United States in lung cancer clinical trials and to find educational methods that have been studied and researched in order to improve patient clinical trial enrollment. A literature search of relevant articles published since 2015 was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar.

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Background: Male breast cancer (MBC) comprises <1% of all cancers and continues to rise. Because of rarity, there is paucity in the literature; therefore, management of MBC is generalized from female breast cancer (FBC).

Methods: Data from 152 VA Medical Centers were used to analyze the database of Veteran patient with breast cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2016 using biostatistical software (SAS 9.

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Article Synopsis
  • Venetoclax is a BCL2 inhibitor used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with specific genetic mutations, showing effectiveness even after previous kinase inhibitor treatments.
  • A study of 141 CLL patients revealed a 72% overall response rate to Venetoclax, with common side effects including neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, but many patients reached the maximum recommended dosage.
  • Further research is needed to determine the best order for using newer CLL therapies, as many patients successfully transitioned to other treatments like ibrutinib after stopping Venetoclax.
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Although diacylglycerol kinase α (DGKα) has been linked to several signaling pathways related to cancer cell biology, it has been neglected as a target for cancer therapy. The attenuation of DGKα activity via DGKα-targeting siRNA and small-molecule inhibitors R59022 and R59949 induced caspase-mediated apoptosis in glioblastoma cells and in other cancers, but lacked toxicity in noncancerous cells. We determined that mTOR and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) are key targets of DGKα inhibition, in addition to its regulation of other oncogenes.

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