Interests

surgery

Titles

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Primary Appointment in Surgery; Secondary Appointments in Oncology, Pathology

Research Summary

We are applying morphological, biochemical, and genetic approaches to the problem of preinvasive cancer and what determines its progression to invasive disease. Our main focus has been on breast cancer and thyroid cancer, and on the role of specific genes, such as telomerase, or the Vitamin D receptor, in the progression to invasive cancer. We are currently using genome-wide cDNA and SNP arrays to identify changes in gene expression and DNA copy number variation during tumor progression, and following up on promising leads by developing DNA methylation markers, real-time RT-PCR assays, and immunohistochemical analysis for individual genes. 

Journal Citations

Hu, S.; Liu, D.; Tufano, R.P.; Carson, K.A.; Rosenbaum, E.; Cohen, Y.; Holt, E.H.; Kiseljak-Vassiliades, K.; Rhoden, K.J.; Tolaney, S.; Condouris, S.; Tallini, G.; Westra, W.H.; Umbricht, C.B.; Zeiger, M.A.; Califano, J.A.; Vasko, V.; Xing, M. Association of aberrant methylation of tumor suppressor genes with tumor aggressiveness and BRAF mutation in papillary thyroid cancer. Int J Cancer. 2006 Nov 15;119(10):2322-2329.
Prasad, N.B.; Somervell, H.; Tufano, R.P.; Dackiw, A.P.; Marohn, M.R.; Califano, J.A.; Wang, Y.; Westra, W.H.; Clark, D.P.; Umbricht, C.B.; Libutti, S.K.; Zeiger, M.A. Identification of genes differentially expressed in benign versus malignant thyroid tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2008 Jun 1;14(11):3327-3337.
Wang, Y.; Kowalski, J.; Tsai, H.L.; Marik, R.; Prasad, N.; Somervell, H.; Lo, P.K.; Sangenario, L.E.; Dyrskjot, L.; Orntoft, T.F.; Westra, W.H.; Meeker, A.K.; Eshleman, J.R.; Umbricht, C.B.; Zeiger, M.A. Differentiating alternative splice variant patterns of human telomerase reverse transcriptase in thyroid neoplasms. Thyroid. 2008 Oct;18(10):1055-1063.
Pesce, C.E.; Shiue, Z.; Tsai, H.L.; Umbricht, C.B.; Tufano, R.P.; Dackiw, A.P.; Kowalski, J.; Zeiger, M.A. Postoperative hypocalcemia after thyroidectomy for Graves' disease. Thyroid. 2010 Nov;20(11):1279-1283.