Research – Department of Medicine

Table of Contents

Research By Faculty Member:

Debabrata Banerjee, Ph.D.

Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells as a source of tumor associated myofibroblasts
Determining the mechanism of action of Aplidin in leukemia and lymphoma models in vitro and in vivo epigenetic therapy for colorectal cancer

Dr Banerjee’s research has shown that bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells is a source of Carcinoma Associated Fibroblasts and can be used in the modeling of tumor-stroma interactions. We are currently working on identification of novel therapeutic targets aimed at disrupting such interactions within the tumor microenvironment. Recent studies indicate that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) exposed to tumor-conditioned medium assume a tumor associated fibroblastic phenotype. More importantly, these cells also exhibit functional properties of tumor associated fibroblasts including increased expression of stromal derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and the ability to promote tumor cell growth both in vitro and in an in vivo coimplantation model.

Dr Banerjee previously determined that Aplidin synergizes with Ara-C; he is currently determining the most effective dose schedule of this combination in vitro and in vivo using the previously described models.

Tulin Budak-Alpdogan, M.D.

Dr. Budak-Alpdogan’s research focused on validation of ex vivo gene transfer into mobilized peripheral blood stem cells for their drug resistance gene therapy protocol, as well as developing new vector backbones for safer gene transfer strategies. Dr Budak-Alpdogan’s research group also collaborates with Dr. Bertino and Dr. Strair on Developing UCB expansion and/or co-transplant models for adult HSC transplant recipients.

Karine Cohen Solal, Ph.D.

Dr. Cohen-Solal’s research has two major axes. 1) The first one is to try to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance of melanoma cells to TGFβ tumor suppressive activities. 2) The second one is to analyze the signaling pathways affected by an inhibitor of glutamate release, called Riluzole, which has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy as single agent in a phase O trial on melanoma patients. Dr. Cohen-Solal is also interested in a possible link between the glutamate signaling and the TGFβ signaling pathway.

Shridar Ganesan, M.D., Ph.D.

Silencing Factors in DNA Repair. Basic project examining the role of chromatin silencing factors in DNA repair, and exploring the relationship between genetic instability and epigenetic instability in cancer.

Finding Targeted Therapy for Basal-like breast cancer. Bioinformatic approach to subclassification of BLC and identification of putative target pathways. Further characterization of DNA repair defects in BLC. Collaboration with Gyan Bhanot, Antoinette Tan, Deb Toppmeyer.

Computer-aided image analysis of breast cancer histology:; Collaboration with Anant Madabhushi at Rutgers: developing image-analysis based classification of breast cancer that will function as well as gene-expression based assays such as OncotypeDx.

Janice Mehnert, M.D.

Dr. Mehnert’s research has focused on novel therapeutic targets in melanoma and other solid tumors. She has an interest in angiogenesis in melanoma and ways to circumvent resistance to antiangiogenic inhibitors; in the insulin growth factor receptor signaling pathway and inhibitors of this pathway in solid tumors; and, in the autophagy pathways as a mechanism of survival in malignancy.

Rebecca Moss, M.D.

Autophagy and Anti-Angiogenesis in Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma: A Phase II trial of Hydroxychloroquine to Augment Effectiveness of XELOX-Bevacizumab.

Elizabeth Poplin, M.D.

Dr Poplin’s major interests are the development of innovative treatments for gastrointestinal malignancy and exploring avenues for improved care of the elderly. Dr Poplin has just published the results of ECOG 6201, an 832 patient study comparing standard care to two experimental treatments.

Michael Reiss, M.D.

Mechanisms of resistance of human cancer cells to inhibition of growth by Transforming Growth Factor-B
Development of selective TGFB receptor kniase antagonists as novel anti-cancer and anti-fibrotic agents
Structure-function studies of Transforming Growth Factor-B receptor germline mutations in cancer and Marfan-like syndromes.

Arnold Rubin, M.D.

Dr. Ruben’s translational research focuses on two major areas. The first involves attempts to make stem cell transplantation more effective, safer, and applicable to a larger portion of the population. He is working with unrelated cord blood, which has looser matching requirements and can be applied to larger numbers of potential recipients but is limited by the number of stem cells in a given cord unit. Additionally, he is working with radiated lymphocytes as a means of facilitating engraftment of less than optimal numbers of cells in a unit. This research is still in the animal model stage. Using mesenchymal stem cells derived from placental Wharton’s Jelly, Dr Rubin studies whether these stem cells may be helpful in preventing graft vs host disease, the scurge of allogeneic transplantation. This project is being carried out in conjunction with Dr. Bertino’s group.

Secondly, Dr. Rubin is working with Dr. Strair’s team on ‘micro transplants’, which can induce immunotherapy of leukemias and other malignancies without relying on engraftment and the potential of graft vs host disease.

Birin Saraiya, M.D.

Dr. Saraiya’s research is focused on improving the care of patients with cancer. She is interested in understanding the symptoms suffered by patients, the impact of the symptoms on their quality of life and the impact of interventions such as focus on symptom management on the improvement of symptoms and quality of life.

Dale Schaar, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Schaar’s Laboratory showed that microRNAs induced by differentiation agents were able to the human transferrin receptor and modulating cell proliferation. These results have afforded new insights into iron metabolism and have the potential to be translated as novel anti-cancer agents.

Deborah Toppmeyer, M.D.

Is the Newly Discovered SNP309 a Genetic Marker for early-age onset of Breast Cancer?”
CINJ High School Breast Cancer Education and Outreach Program
LOH at BRCA1/BRCA2 Loci as a Precursor to Breast Tumorigenesis
Computational and Systems Biology-Enhanced Molecular Epidemiology Network
Epithelial Itegrity in Breast Cancer Recurrence.

Publications

Saraiya B, Gounder M, Dutta J, Saleem A, Collazo C, Zimmerman L, Nazar A, Gharibo M, Schaar D, Lin Y, Aisner J, Strair RK, Rubin EH: Sequential topoisomerase targeting and analysis of mechanisms of resistance to topotecan in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Anticancer Drugs, 2008; 19:411-420.

Medina DJ, Gharibo M, Savage P, Cohler A, Kuriyan M, Balsara B, Anand M,

Schaar D, Krimmel T, Saggiomo K, Manago J, Talty L, Dudek L, Grospe S, Rubin A, Strair RK. A Pilot study of allogeneic cellular therapy for patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. Leuk Res. 32(12):1842-1848, 2008.

Strair RK, Gharibo M, Schaar D, Rubin A, Harrison J, Aisner J, Lin HC, Lin Y,

Goodell L, Anand M, Balsara B, Dudek L, Rabson A, Medina DJ. Nuclear factor- Kappa B modulation in patients undergoing induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia. Clin Cancer Res.15;14(22):7564-7568, 2008.

Lu-Yao GL, Moore DF, Shih W, Lin Y, DiPaola RS, Albertsen P, SL Yao, Survival following primary androgen deprivation therapy among men with localized prostate cancer. JAMA 2008; 300:173–181 PMID 2645653.

Parekh N, Lin Y, Marcella S, Kant AK, Lu-Yao GL. Associations of lifestyle and physiological factors on prostate‑specific antigen concentrations from NHANES(2001‑2004). Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 2008; 17(9): 2467-72.

Meissner HI, Tiro JA, Haggstrom D, Lu-Yao G, Breen N. Does Patient Health and Hysterectomy Status Influence Cervical Cancer Screening in Older Women? J Gen Intern Med 2008; 23(11): 1822-1828.

Lu-Yao G, Albertsen PC, Stanford JL, Stukel TA, Corkery EW, Barry MJ.

Screening, treatment, and prostate cancer mortality in the Seattle area and Connecticut: Fifteen-year follow-up. J Gen Intern Med 2008; 23(11): 1809-1814.

Hudson S, Ohman-Strickland P, Ferrante J, Lu-Yao GL, Crabtree B. Prostate-specific antigen testing among the elderly in community-based family medicine practices. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 2009; 22:257-65.

Goodin S. Ixabepilone: a novel microtubule-stabilizing agent for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Am J Health Sys Pharm 2008;65:2017-2026.

Medina PJ, Goodin S. Lapatinib: A review of the dual inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase. Clinical Therapeutics 2008 August, 30 (8):1426-1447.

DiPaola R, Stein M, Goodin S, Eddy S, Rubin E, Doyle-Indrud S, Dvorzhinski D, Beers S, Shih WJ, White E. Warburg science goes to the bedside: A phase I trial of 2-deoxyglucose in patients with prostate cancer and advanced malignancies. (2008) ASCO meeting Abstracts, 26: 16087

M. N. Stein, B. Knox, E. Wesolowsky, R. Moss, E. Poplin, M. Gounder, S. Gaddam, C. Thomas, S. Goodin, R. DiPaola. (2009) Phase I trial of patupilone (P) and RAD001 (R) in patients (pts) with advanced solid tumors. J Clin Onc meeting abstracts.

R. S. DiPaola, Y. Chen, G. J. Bubley, N. M. Hahn, M. Stein, J. Schlom, J. L. Gulley, E. Lattime, M. Carducci, G. Wilding (2009) R. S. DiPaola, Y. Chen, G. J. Bubley, N. M. Hahn, M. Stein, J. Schlom, J. L. Gulley, E. Lattime, M. Carducci, G. Wilding. ASCO GU meeting poster 2009.

Parikh R, Housman D, Yang Q, Toppmeyer D, Wilson L, Haffty, B. Prognostic value of Triple-Negative (TN) Phenotype at the time of locally recurrent, conservatively treated breast cancer. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, 2008 Nov 15;72(4):1056-6.

Tan A, Toppmeyer D. Ixabepilone in metastatic breast cancer: Complement or alternative to taxanes? Clinical Cancer Research, 2008 Nov 1;14(21):6725-9.

Budak-Alpdogan T, Chen B, Warrier A, Medina DJ, Moore D, Bertino JR. Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene expression determines the response to sequential flavopiridol and doxorubicin treatment in small-cell lung carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2009 15(4):1232-40.

Schaar DG, Medina DJ, Moore DF, Strair RK, Ting Y. miR-320 targets transferrin receptor 1 (CD71) and inhibits cell proliferation. Exp Hematol. 2009 37(2):245-55.

Strair RK, Gharibo M, Schaar D, Rubin A, Harrison J, Aisner J, Lin HC, Lin Y, Goodell L, Anand M, Balsara B, Dudek L, Rabson A, Medina DJ. Nuclear factor-kappaB modulation in patients undergoing induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia. Clin Cancer Res. 2008 14(22):7564-8.

Zhu H, Wu H, Liu X, Evans BR, Medina DJ, Liu CG, Yang JM. Role of MicroRNA miR-27a and miR-451 in the regulation of MDR1/P-glycoprotein expression in human cancer cells. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008 76(5):582-8.

Medina DJ, Gharibo M, Savage P, Cohler A, Kuriyan M, Balsara B, Anand M, Schaar D, Krimmel T, Saggiomo K, Manago J, Talty L, Dudek L, Grospe S, Rubin A, Strair RK.A pilot study of allogeneic cellular therapy for patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. Leuk Res. 2008 32(12):1842-8.

Yip D, Le M, Chan J-L, Lee JH, Mehnert JM, Yudd A, Kempf JS, Shih WJ, Chen S, and Goydos JS. A Phase 0 Trial of Riluzole in Patients with Resectable Stage III and IV Melanoma. 2009, Clin Cancer Res 2009 Jun 1;15(11):3896-902.

August DA1, Serrano D1, Poplin E2. 1Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 2Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey. ‘‘Spontaneous,’’ Delayed Colon and Rectal Anastomotic Complications Associated With Bevacizumab Therapy. Journal of Surgical Oncology 2008; 97:180–185.

Tan AR, Alexe G, Reiss M. Transforming growth factor-beta signaling: emerging stem cell target in metastatic breast cancer? Breast Cancer Res Treat 2009; 115: 453-95.

Hu, G, Yang, Q, Chong, R, Li, F, Blanco, MA, Reiss, M, Haffty, B, and Kang, Y. Genomic Gain of 8q22 Activates Metadherin and Promotes Chemoresistant Metastasis of Poor-Prognosis Breast Cancer. Cancer Cell. 2009 Jan 6;15(1):9-20.

Lu X, Wang Q, Hu G, Van Poznak, C., Fleisher, M., Reiss, M., Massague, J., and Kang, Y. ADAMTS1 and MMP1 proteolytically engage EGF-like ligands in an osteolytic signaling cascade for bone metastasis. Genes & Dev 2009; 23: Published online 7/15/2009.

Saraiya, B., Bodnar-Deren, S., Leventhal, EA, Leventhal H., End of Life Planning and its relevance for patients and oncologists’ decision in choosing cancer therapy, Cancer. 2008 Dec 15; 113(12 Suppl):3540-7.

Saraiya, B. Oncologists and end-of-life care Journal of Palliative Medicine 2009 February; 12(2):116.

Saraiya, B., Gounder, M., Dutta, J., Saleem, A., Rajendra, R., Collazo, C., Zimmerman, L., Nazar, A., Gharibo, M., Schaar, D., Lin, Y., Shih, W., Aisner, J., Strair, R.K., and Rubin, E. H. (2008) Sequential topoisomerase targeting and analysis of mechanisms of resistance to topotecan in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Anti-Cancer Drugs 19(4): 411-420.

Medina DJ, Gharibo, M, Savage P, Cohler A, Kuriyan M, Balsara B, Anand M, Schaar D, Krimmel T, Saggiomo K, Manago J, Talty, L, Dudek L, Grospe S, Rubin A, Strair RK. (2008) A Pilot Study of Allogeneic Cellular Therapy for Patients with Advanced Hematologic Malignancies. Leukemia Research 32(12): 1842-1848.

Strair RK, Gharibo M, Schaar D, Rubin A, Harrison J, Aisner J, Lin H-S, Lin Y, Goodell L, Anand M, Balsara B, Dudek L, Rabson A, Medina DJ. (2008) Nuclear Factor-kappaB (NF-kB) modulation in patients undergoing induction chemotherapy for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Clinical Cancer Research. 14(22): 7564-8.

Schaar, Dale G., Medina, Daniel J., Moore, Dirk F., Strair, Roger K. and Ting, Yi. (2009) miR-320 targets transferrin receptor 1 (CD71) and inhibits cell proliferation. Exp. Hematology. 37(2): 245-55.

Medina DJ, Gharibo, M, Savage, P., Cohler A, Kuriyan M, Balsara B, Anand M, Schaar D, Krimmel T, Saggiomo K, Manago J, Talty L, Dudek L, Grospe S, Rubin A, Strair RK. A Pilot Study of Allogeneic Cellular Therapy for Patients with Advanced Hematologic Malignancies. Leukemia Research. 32 (2008) 1842-1848.

Strair RK, Gharibo M, Schaar D, Rubin QA, Harrison J, Aisner J, Lin H-S, Lin Y, Goodell L, Anand M, Balsara B, Dudek L, Rabson A, Medina DJ. Nuclear Factor-kappaB (NFkB) modulation in patients undergoing induction chemotherapy for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Clinical Cancer Research. 2008. 14(22):7564-8.

Schaar, Dale G., Medina, Daniel J., Moore, Dirk F., Strair, Roger K., and Ting, Yi. miR-320 targets transferrin Receptor 1 (CD71) and inhibits cell proliferation. Exp. Hematology (2009).

Fetterly G.J., Grasela T.H., Sherman J.W., Dul J.L., Grahn A., Lecomte D., Fiedler-Kelly J., Damjanov N., Fishman M., Kane M.P., Rubin E. H., Tan A.R., Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling and simulation of neutropenia during phase I development of liposome entrapped paclitaxel. Clin Cancer Res 2008; 14:5856-5863.

Vadhat L.T., Pruitt B., Fabian C.J., Rivera R.R., Smith D.A., Tan-Chiu E., Wright J., Tan A.R., DaCosta N.A., Chuang E., Shuster D.E., Menses N.L., Chandrawansa K., Fang F., Cole P.E., Ashworth S., and Blum J.L. A phase II study of eribulin mesylate (E7389), a halichondrin B analog, in patients with metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline and a taxane. J Clin Oncol 2009; 27: 2954-2961.

Tan A.R., Rubin E.H., Vamos D.C., Shuster D.E., Wong N.Y., Fang F., Ashworth S., and Rosen L.S. A phase I dose-finding study of eribulin mesylate (E7389) administered once every 21 Days in patients with advanced solid tumors. Clin Cancer Res 2009; 15: 4213-4219.

Tan, A.R., Alexe, G., and Reiss, M.R. Transforming growth factor-b signaling: emerging stem cell target in metastatic breast cancer? Breast Cancer Res Treat 2009; 115: 453-495.

Tan A.R. and Toppmeyer D.L. Ixabepilone in metastatic breast cancer: complement or alternative to taxanes? Clinical Cancer Res 2008; 14: 6725-6729.

Tan A.R. and Swain S.M. Therapeutic strategies for triple-negative breast cancer. Cancer J 2008; 14: 343-351.

Wasserman EJ and Tan AR. Evolving Strategies for the Treatment of “Triple Negative” Breast Cancer, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Educational Book, 2008.

Abstracts Published

Aisner J, Dahlberg S, Rodgers JS, Aisner SC, Schiller JH: Interferon alpha + 13-cis-retinoic acid modulation of bcl-2 + paclitaxel for recurrent SCLC. Proc. Am Soc Clin Oncol 26:2008 (May 20 suppl; abstr 19048).

A. Chanan-Khan, M Gharibo, S Jaganath, N Munshi, K Anderson, D DePaolo, K Lee, K Miller, R Guild, S Zildjan and QuinA. Phase I Study of IMGN901 In Patients with Relapsed and Relapsed/Refractory CD56-Positive Multiple Myeloma. ASH Abstract # 3689, 2008.

Stein MN, Knox B, Wesolowsky E, Levitt M, Moss R, Poplin E, Mehnert J, Gounder M, Goodin S, DiPaola R. Phase I trial of patupilone and RAD001 in patients with advanced solid tumors. J Clin Oncol 2009;15s:abstract 2529.

Karine Cohen-Solal, Leungkai Chan, Kim Merrigan, James Goydos and Michael Reiss. Linker domains of Smad2 and Smad3: A role in the resistance of melanoma cells to TGFβ-mediated tumor suppression? The 2009 Annual Retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, May 27, 2009.

Hirshfield, K.M., Use of SNPs as Prognostic Indicators in Cancer Outcomes. (2008) AACR Centennial Conference Translational Cancer Medicine 2008: Cancer Clinical Trials and Personalized Medicine. ED04-02.

Jager A., Hirshfield K., Hait WN, B. Haffty, Jin Ming Yang. The selective estrogen receptor down-regulator, fulvestrant, decreases MDM2 expression and enhances sensitivity of human breast carcinoma cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. (2009) AACR 100th Annual Meeting Abstracts, p. 280.

Jäger A, Hait WN, Toppmeyer D, Haffty B, Hirshfield K, Yang JM. Fulvestrant Decreases MDM2 Expression and Enhances Sensitivity of Human Breast Carcinoma Cells to Chemotherapeutic Drugs. (2009) Annual Retreat on Cancer Research.

Kostialik J, Hirshfield KM. Association of Polymorphic Variants in the Melatonin Receptor with Breast Cancer Phenotypes. (2009) Aresty, Rutgers University.

Rahim H, Levine A, Hirshfield KM. P53 Codon 72 Genotype is Linked to an Accelerated Age of Diagnosis in Caucasian Women with Estrogen Receptor Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. (2009) Aresty, Rutgers University.

Rahim H, Kulkarni D, Toppmeyer D, Hirshfield KM. Effect of Reproductive Characteristics and BMI on Age of Diagnosis in Breast Cancer. (2009) Annual Retreat on Cancer Research.

Sreenath M, Vazquez A, Hirshfield KM.Tuberous sclerosis genes TSC1 and TSC2, and breast cancer risk. (2009) Annual Retreat on Cancer Research.

Kulkarni D, Vazquez A, Hu W, Sun Y, Toppmeyer D, Levine A, Hirshfield KM. A Polymorphic Variant in MDM4 Associates with Accelerated Age of Onset of ER Negative Breast Cancer. (2009) Annual Retreat on Cancer Research. Oral presentation.

Lu-Yao GL, Albertsen P, Moore DF, Barry M, Zietman A, O’Leary M, Walker-Corkery B, Shih W, Lin Y, DiPaola RS, Yao SL. Outcomes of conservatively managed localized prostate cancer. 2009 ASCO oral presentation.

Shao J, Albertson PC, Roberts CB, Lin Y, Mehta AR, Stein MN, DiPaola RS, Lu-Yao GL Risk Profiles and Treatment Patterns among Men with Prostate Specific Antigen below 4 in the USA. The 2009 Annual Retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, May 27, 2009.

Shao J, Demissie K, Shih W, Mehta AR, Stein MN, Roberts CB, DiPaola RS, Lu-Yao GL. Contemporary profile of prostate cancer in the US. The 2009 Annual Retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, May 27, 2009.

Roberts CB; Shao Y; Mehta A; Stein MN, Moore D, Lu-Yao, GL. Patterns and Correlates of Attempted Curative Therapy in Older Men with Clinically Low-Risk Localized Prostate Cancer. The 2009 Annual Retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, May 27, 2009.

Lu-Yao GL, Albertsen P, Moore D, Lin Y, Shih W, DiPaola RS, Yao S. Disease Trajectory of Screen-Detected Localized Prostate Cancer. The 2009 Annual Retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, May 27, 2009. Oral presentation.

Parekh N, Lu-Yao GL. Demographic and anthropometric determinants of insulin like growth factor-1; preliminary evidence from the third national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES III) Experimental Biology April 2009.

Rothenberg ML, Poplin EA, Mehnert J, LoRusso P, Fox F, Schwartz J, Rowinsky E and Higano C. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and Pharmacodynamic (PD) Results of Phase 1 Studies of IMC-A12, a Recombinant Human Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Receptor IgG1 Monoclonal Antibody, in Patients With Advanced Solid Malignancies EORTC-AACR-NCI 2008 meeting, Geneva, Switzerland.

Karantza-Wadsworth V, Stein M, Tan A, Mehnert J, Poplin E, Lin Y, White E, DiPaola RS. Rationally designed treatment for solid tumors with MAPK pathway activation. J Clin Oncol 27:15s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 2532).

Stein MN, Knox B, Wesolowsky E, Levitt M, Moss R, Poplin E, Mehnert J, Gounder M, Goodin S, DiPaola R. Phase I trial of patupilone (P) and RAD001 in patients (pts) with advanced solid tumors. J Clin Oncol 27:15s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 2529).

Stein M. N., Knox B., Wesolowsky E., Levitt M. Moss R., Poplin E., Mehnert J., Bounder M., Goodin S., DiPaola R.; The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. “Phase I Trial of Patupilone (P) and RAD001 ® in Patients (pts) with Advanced Solid Tumors. ASCO 2009.

Saraiya B., Karantza-Wadsworth V., Stein M. N., Chugh R., Mehnert J., Moss R., Lin Y., Poplin E.; The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ; University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI. “Phase I Study of Gemcitabine, Docetaxel and Imatinib in Refractory and Relapsed Solid Tumors. ASCO 2009.

Tan A.R.1, Lin H.1, Gounder M.1, Gibbon D.1, Stein M.1, Moss R.A.1, Karntz-Wadsworth V.1, Savkina N.1, Lin Y. 1, Egorin M.J.2, and Chen A.3. 1UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ; 2University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA; 3Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, Rockville, MD. “Phase I Trial of ABT-888, a Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase (PARP) Inhibitor, in Combination with Cyclophosphamide (CPA) in Patients with Advanced Malignancy: Preliminary Results. New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research 2009 Annual Retreat, Piscataway, NJ, May 27, 2009.

Saraiya B, Karantza-Wadsworth V. Stein MN, Chugh R, Mehnert J, Moss R, Lin Y and Poplin E. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ; University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI. Phase I study of gemcitabine, docetaxel, and imatinib in refractory and relapsed solid tumors. J Clin Oncol 27, 2009 (suppl; abstr e13538).

Stein MN, Knox B, Wesolowsky E, Levitt M, Moss R, Poplin E, Mehnert J, Gounder M, Goodin S, DiPaola R; Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. Phase I trial of patupilone (P) and RAD001 in patients (pts) with advanced solid tumors. J Clin Oncol 27:15s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 2529).

Karantza-Wadsworth V, Stein M, Tan A, Mehnert J, Poplin E, Lin Y, White E, DiPaola RS; The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. Rationally designed treatment for solid tumors with MAPK pathway activation. J Clin Oncol 27:15s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 2532).

Rongrong Ge, Vidya Ganapathy, Yibin Kang, John McPherson, Jonathan M. Yingling, and Michael Reiss. Transforming Growth Factor β pathway antagonists inhibit human basal cell-like breast cancer metastases to lung and bone. Abstract. Era of Hope. 2008.

Saraiya, B., Poplin EA et al., Phase I study of Gemcitabine, Docetaxel and Imatinib in refractory and relapsed solid tumors 2009 ASCO Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL.

Tan A.R., Mekhail T., Edelman M.J., Iacono L.C., Messina M., and Trifan O.C. Phase I trial of ixabepilone administered as a 24-hour infusion in patients with advanced solid malignancies: updated safety and maximum tolerated dose. Eur J Cancer Suppl 2008; 6:131 (abstr 416) (Poster presentation).

Burstein H., Sun, Y., Tan, A.R., Dirix, L., Vermette, J., Powell, C., Zacharchuk, C., and Badwe, R. Neratinib (HKI-272), an irreversible pan erbB receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor: phase 2 results in patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res and Treat 2008; (abstr) (Oral presentation).

Hemminger L, Campbell J, Vig H, Toppmeyer D. BioCONECT(Biology and Cancer, ONline Education Connecting Teens): An innovative and interactive high school curriculum” selected for Oral presentation during the 137th APHA Annual Meeting (November 7-11, 2009) in Philadelphia, PA.

Jager A., Hirshfield K., Hait WN, Toppmeyer D, B. Haffty, JM Yang. The selective estrogen receptor down-regulator, fulvestrant, decreases MDM2 expression and enhances sensitivity of human breast carcinoma cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. (2009) AACR 100th Annual Meeting Abstracts, p. 280.

Rahim H, Kulkarni D, Toppmeyer D, Hirshfield KM. Effect of Reproductive Characteristics and BMI on Age of Diagnosis in Breast Cancer. (2009) Annual Retreat on Cancer Research.

Patrick-Miller L, Cummings S, Fetzer D, Schmidheiser H, Daly MB, Toppmeyer D, Olopade O, Bradbury AR. The disclosure of BRCA1/2 test results: Opinions of recipients of BRCA1/2 testing. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2098, 2008.

Patrick-Miller L, Cummings S, Fetzer D, Schmidheiser H, Daly MB, Toppmeyer D, Olopade O, Bradbury AR. Telephone disclosure of BRCA1/2 test results? Telephone disclosure of BRCA1/2 test results? Experience and opinions of consumers and genetic counselors. 11th International Meeting on the Psychosocial Aspects of Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer, 2009.