Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:No standards regarding what should be learned during medical school exist. PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:We investigated what medical students and clerkship directors (CDs) believe students are, and should be, doing during clerkships. METHODS:From January to June 2011, Mount Sinai School of Medicine CDs (n = 4) and 3rd-year students (n = 132) estimated how students spend time and should spend time during clerkships. Mann-Whitney U-tests compared students' and CDs' replies. RESULTS:All CDs and 105 of 132 students (79.5%) participated. Medicine CDs believed that students did more rounding and studying, and surgery CDs perceived that students did more note writing and studying and less waiting than students reported. Medicine CDs felt students should round more, whereas surgery CDs felt students should spend more total time in the hospital as well as in educational activities and studying than students did ( p < .05). CONCLUSIONS:Students and CDs disagree about how students allocate (and should allocate) time during clerkships.

112 Background: Maintaining a healthy weight after breast cancer diagnosis has been associated with improved survival outcomes. Lifestyle interventions are particularly important in overweight women who are at an increased risk of overall and breast-cancer specific death compared to non-overweight women. The purpose of this study is to examine the barriers and acceptance of a lifestyle intervention program among overweight women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. METHODS: The Breast Cancer Database of NYU Langone Medical Center was queried for women who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer and who had a body mass index (BMI) >/=25kg/m2. Eligible patients participated in the Moving for Life (MFL) exercise program for 16 sessions. Questionnaires were administered at baseline and at the end of the intervention. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient characteristics and paired t-tests were used to see if there were any significant differences before and after the intervention. RESULTS: A total of 40 women were eligible to participate in the MFL exercise program. A total of 20 women declined to participate due to location, transportation limitations, and conflicts in schedule. Of the 18 women who enrolled in the MFL program, 13 (72%) were regular attendees and completed the study. The median age was 61 years (range: 38-76) and the average baseline BMI was 31kg/m2(range: 25-42). After completing the MFL intervention, there was a significant decrease in weight and BMI (p=0.04). The average weight loss was 10lbs. Participants also reported a greater enjoyment of exercise (p=0.02), as well as a decrease in pain related to treatment (p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Moving for Life is a unique exercise program for breast cancer patients and had a high rate of acceptance and completion in a cohort of overweight breast cancer patients. This study resulted in a statistically significant average weight loss of 10lbs, as well as a greater enjoyment of exercise and decrease in treatment-related pain which may impact long-term lifestyle changes. Longitudinal follow-up at 6- and 12-months will allow assessment of secondary endpoints, including exercise frequency and attitudes about exercise, allowing us to examine sustainability and changes in behaviors and attitudes over time.

Previous reports have demonstrated a role for hedgehog signaling in melanoma progression, prompting us to explore the therapeutic benefit of targeting this pathway in melanoma. We profiled a panel of human melanoma cell lines and control melanocytes for altered expression of hedgehog pathway members and determined the consequences of both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of the hedgehog pathway activator Smoothened (SMO) in melanoma, both in vitro and in vivo. We also examined the relationship between altered expression of hedgehog pathway mediators and survival in a well-characterized cohort of metastatic melanoma patients with prospectively collected follow up information. Studies revealed that over 40% of the melanoma cell lines examined harbored significantly elevated levels of the hedgehog pathway mediators SMO, GLI2, and PTCH1 compared to melanocytes (p < 0.05). SMO inhibition using siRNA and the small molecule inhibitor, NVP-LDE-225, suppressed melanoma growth in vitro, particularly in those cell lines with moderate SMO and GLI2 expression. NVP-LDE-225 also induced apoptosis in vitro and inhibited melanoma growth in a xenograft model. Gene expression data also revealed evidence of compensatory up-regulation of two other developmental pathways, Notch and WNT, in response to hedgehog pathway inhibition. Pharmacological and genetic SMO inhibition also downregulated genes involved in human embryonic stem cell pluripotency. Finally, increased SMO expression and decreased expression of the hedgehog pathway repressor GLI3 correlated with shorter post recurrence survival in metastatic melanoma patients. Our data demonstrate that hedgehog pathway inhibition might be a promising targeted therapy in appropriately selected metastatic melanoma patients.

Purpose. In November 2009, the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force (USPSTF) revised their breast cancer screening guidelines. We evaluated the pattern of screening subsequent to the altered guidelines in a cohort of women. Methods. Our database was queried for the following variables: age, race, method of diagnosis, mass palpability, screening frequency, histology, and stage. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson's chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. Results. 1112 women were diagnosed with breast cancer from January 2010 to 2012. The median age at diagnosis was 60 years. Most cancers were detected on mammography (61%). The majority of patients had invasive ductal carcinoma (59%), stage 0 (23%), and stage 1 (50%) cancers. The frequency of screening did not change significantly over time (P = 0.30). However, nonregular screeners had an increased risk of being diagnosed with later stage breast cancer (P < 0.001) and were more likely to present with a palpable mass compared to regular screeners (56% versus 21%; P < 0.001). Conclusions. In our study, screening behavior did not significantly change in the years following the USPSTF guidelines. These results suggest that women who are not screened annually are at increased risk of a delay in breast cancer diagnosis, which may impact treatment options and outcomes.

the molecular characterization of melanoma has ex- panded to include studies of microRNA (miRNA) ex- pression. As miR-16 has been utilized as a normalizer in serum-based miRNA studies in several cancers, we evaluated miR-16 expression as a potential reference for normalization of serum miRNA expression in melanoma patients. Methods: 143 primary cutaneous melanoma patients who presented to New York Uni- versity (NYU) Langone Medical Center for surgical resection of AJCC stage I-III disease were studied. In addition, sera samples from 60 control subjects were utilized including 22 healthy volunteers, 13 rheuma- toid arthritis patients, 20 non-melanoma cancer pa- tients (10 renal cell carcinoma and 10 bladder cancer), and 5 Atypical Mole Syndrome patients. The Kruskal- Wallis test (k = 6) or Wilcoxon test (k = 2) with Bon- ferroni correction was used for analyses of miR-16 expression in melanoma patients compared to various control groups, using raw Ct values directly. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare miR-16 ex- pression across stages of melanoma. The equivalence test for independent samples was used to test the equivalence of miR-16 expression among different groups. Results: No significant differential expression of miR-16 was observed between melanoma patients and healthy volunteers (Wilcoxon test, p = 0.37). How- ever, miR-16 did show a significant difference in ex- pression as it related to stage of melanoma (p = 0.015). Additionally, the equivalence test was unable to con- firm equivalent expression of miR-16 in any melanoma versus control group pair. Conclusion: Our data in- dicate that miR-16 cannot be used as a universal normalizer in sera studies of melanoma patients

Background: We hypothesize that BRAF mutations result in microRNA (miRNA) alterations which contribute to orchestrating the mutant BRAF's oncogenic effects in melanoma. Our study is the first to examine the association between the BRAF mutation status in primary melanomas and the expression of miRNAs that target known tumor suppressors. Methods: 84 prospectively accrued melanoma patients at New York University Langone Medical Center were studied. DNA and total RNA were extracted from consecutive sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary tissues. BRAF mutation status was determined by DNA sequencing. RNA was hybridized to miRCURY miRNA microarrays containing 1314 probes. Normalized miRNA data were analyzed using the t-test (p<0.05) to identify differentially expressed miRNAs between BRAFmut vs. BRAFwt cases. Those with an average fold change (FC) > 2 were selected for predicted (TargetScan, PicTar) and validated (miRWalk) gene target analysis, and overlapping genes targeted by 2 miRNAs were analyzed using pathway-mapping algorithms (KEGG, BioCarta, PANTHER). Results: 48 (57%) primaries were BRAFwt and 36 (43%) were BRAFmut (26 V600E, 4 V600K, 1 V600R, 1 V600D, 4 other). 30 miRNAs met the criteria for statistically significant differential expression and FC thresholding: let-7i, miR-23c, -26a/b, -27b, -34a, -98, -126*, -141, -148a, -181b, -195, -199a-3p, -199a/b-5p, -200a/b/c, -203, -205, -455-3p, -491-3p, -606, -641, -646, -1297, -4301; miRPlus-C1070, -C1110, -G1246-3p (average FC: 2.3-3.5, all increased in BRAFmut vs. BRAFwt). Predicted and validated target gene analysis revealed 317 genes, of which 110 (35%) were convergent targets of 2 miRNAs. Pathway analyses of the predicted, validated, and convergent target genes pointed to the potential impact of BRAFmut-associated miRNAs on known tumor suppressors FAS, PTEN, and TNF and the p53 pathway. Conclusions: Differentially expressed miRNAs in BRAFmut vs. BRAFwt primaries target genes with known roles in melanoma biology and/or treatmen!

Background: Cell surface glycans, oligosaccharides present on proteins and lipids, play important roles in a range of biological processes. Our group recently reported on the role of aberrant glycosylation in promoting melanoma cell invasion and immunosuppression (Cancer Cell, 2011). In this study, we further exploit the ability of glycomic profiling of melanoma, using lectin microarrays, to identify differences in melanoma-associated glycosylation for new melanoma biomarkers and/or targets of treatment. Methods: We utilized a ratiometric dual colored 90-lectin microarray to examine differences in glycosylation between 13 primary and 14 metastatic melanoma cell lines, 5 human melanoma tissues and 4 human epidermal melanocytes (HEM). One HEM was used as a biological reference for hybridization. A subset of melanoma cell lines (n=4) was used for comparison with the glycomic profiles of the NCI-60 lines using a mixed reference. Hierarchical clustering of lectins with significant differences in binding to the sample sets (t-tests, p<0.05) was used to visualize and infer differences in glycosylation patterns. Results: A shift in the glycome related to reduction in expression of high mannose and core fucosylated complex N-glycans was seen in melanoma cell lines and tissues compared to HEMs. Glycomic profiles of primary and metastatic melanoma were similar. Interestingly, enrichment of high mannose and potentially a-2,3 sialic acid was seen in BRAF mutant (n=19) compared to BRAF wild type (n=8) cell lines. Our tested melanoma cell lines showed similar glycosylation patterns compared to melanoma lines of the NCI-60 panel, which all show higher expression of high mannose and complex N-glycans compared to other cancers. Comparison of melanoma cell lines to tissues shows similar glycomic profiles, suggesting that glycosylation of melanoma cells is not significantly altered (or blunted) due to culture. Conclusions: Our data suggest that alterations in cell surface glycosylation may be an early event in the!

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Identification of melanoma patients at high risk for recurrence and monitoring for recurrence are critical for informed management decisions. We hypothesized that serum microRNAs (miRNAs) could provide prognostic information at the time of diagnosis unaccounted for by the current staging system and could be useful in detecting recurrence after resection. METHODS: We screened 355 miRNAs in sera from 80 melanoma patients at primary diagnosis (discovery cohort) using a unique quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) panel. Cox proportional hazard models and Kaplan-Meier recurrence-free survival (RFS) curves were used to identify a miRNA signature with prognostic potential adjusting for stage. We then tested the miRNA signature in an independent cohort of 50 primary melanoma patients (validation cohort). Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine if the miRNA signature can determine risk of recurrence in both cohorts. Selected miRNAs were measured longitudinally in subsets of patients pre-/post-operatively and pre-/post-recurrence. RESULTS: A signature of 5 miRNAs successfully classified melanoma patients into high and low recurrence risk groups with significant separation of RFS in both discovery and validation cohorts (p = 0.0036, p = 0.0093, respectively). Significant separation of RFS was maintained when a logistic model containing the same signature set was used to predict recurrence risk in both discovery and validation cohorts (p < 0.0001, p = 0.033, respectively). Longitudinal expression of 4 miRNAs in a subset of patients was dynamic, suggesting miRNAs can be associated with tumor burden. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that serum miRNAs can improve accuracy in identifying primary melanoma patients with high recurrence risk and in monitoring melanoma tumor burden over time.