Abedalfattah Twam, Verrazzano Class of 2025, completed major in Biology
My research goal
was to look into melanoma and how expression levels of different oncogenes can
impact patient prognostics. The oncogenes I chose for this study were EGFR and
the isoforms of RAS which consist
of Kras, Hras and Nras.
Using the Kaplan
Meier database, I found
that higher expression levels from EGFR and Hras were associated with shorter
survival times in patients with melanoma whereas Kras and Nras expression
levels were found to have no significant impact. Additionally, I also
researched PKI-166. PKI-166 was a drug which had inhibitory effects on EGFR
reducing its activities, however it had many adverse effects leading to it
being discontinued.
I chose this
area of research because I strive to become a future healthcare provider. I
believe the knowledge I learned from taking on this research and also the
skills I've developed throughout will help me as a future
provider. Reading through
a variety of publications and using
resources like google scholars to find relevant information was a major
challenge and at times very exhausting, it taught me just how challenging
researching can be and the amount of patience needed. If I were to ever go back
and add to my research I would like to study which oncogenes are found to
impact melanoma patient prognostics, how common these oncogenes are and
possible treatment options.
Overall, this
experience was challenging but very rewarding!
No comments:
Post a Comment