Meeting at UTEP with DR Zhang and DR CHOI

2/11/14
Monthly meeting to mark completion of the first phase of the lung cancer project.  This is preliminary completion of gene detection Mutations that will appear in a Kit for early detection of lung cancer.  Dr Zhang has obtained 77 additional samples that will undergo the same PCR evaluations.
The Inclusion of MUC1 and MUC7 was also discussed.  We are going to test for Avastin resistance through genetic evaluation.
Vista college students were included in the discussion
The insensitivity to stage of disease, and whether or not the patient received treatment was welcome news as the persistence of these genes show strength through time during the neoplastic process and speak to curability particularly if future studies suggest that their persistence point to low disease free progression. 

Today we learned from the tissue bank that surrounding tissue that is normal tissue is available as back ground mutations is needed for comparison/ baseline!

We did not look at genes that may be suppressed in lung cancer such as PTEN.  With PCR, that information is obtainable but tricky whereas amplified or overexpressed gene seem readily obtainable.

Things are still exciting as we progress toward concrete finding.  The MDM2 was the most overexpressed!