UF Health Cancer Center at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the first and largest cancer research organization dedicated to accelerating the conquest of cancer. Through its programs and services, the AACR fosters research in cancer and related biomedical science, accelerates the dissemination of new research findings among scientists and others dedicated to the conquest of cancer, promotes science education and training, and advances the understanding of cancer etiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment throughout the world.

The AACR Annual Meeting program covers the latest discoveries across the spectrum of cancer research — from population science and prevention to cancer biology, translational and clinical studies to survivorship and advocacy — and highlights the work of the best minds in research and medicine from institutions all over the world.

The AACR Annual Meeting 2024 is April 5-10 in San Diego. Check out University of Florida presentations below. UF Health Cancer Center members appear in bold.

Mini-Symposiums

Session MS.MCB08.01 | April 8 | 2:35-2:50 p.m.
3928 – Genomic landscape and estimation of immune infiltration of soft tissue sarcoma histology subtypes from the ORIEN network
Presenters include Nathan Seligon

All poster sessions

April 7 | 1:30 – 5 p.m.

1003 / 13 – Contact registry for health-related cancer research: Promoting inclusion in research
F. Webb, I. Guzman, B. Hensel, E. Ibarra, C. Aristizabal, J. Luque, R. Barahona, D. Wilkie, M.C. Stern, L. Baezconde-Garbanati, S. Suther

1004 / 14 – Establishing lung adenocarcinoma cell lines to mitigate lung cancer health disparities
S. Lugo, C. Leon, M. Gladstone, C. Yan, N.S. Lamango, I. A. Offringa, K. Ofosu-Asante, Y. Huang, J.K. Mensah-Mamfo

1008 / 18 – Pilot evaluation of an online course for primary care providers on preparing patients for cancer discussions with their oncologists
A. Crowe, E.S. Weiss, M. Michaels, D. Durante, M. Sae-Hau, A. Cassells, C.L. Fisher, J. Arnold, T. Vasquez, A. Natale-Pereira, R. Mailhot, Z. Zhang, C.L. Bylund

1010 / 20 – Feasibility of serial microbiome collection in a multi-site neoadjuvant pancreatic cancer clinical trial allowing for a diverse patient population
S. Rogers, R. Thomas, I. Nassour, I. Sahin, B. Ramnaraign, K. Russell, S. Hughes, K. Hitchcock, O. Kayaleh, A. Turk, M. Ratcliff, T. George

1015 / 25 – Potential of kava in reducing lung cancer risk and associated disparities: Mechanism-based biomarker discovery and analysis
C. Xing, B. Freeman, J. Mamallapalli, A. Lynch, N. Fujioka, R.G. Salloum, J. Malaty, F. Orlando, Z. Huo

133 / 5 – GMDS is a key driver of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma core fucosylation and tumorigenesis
B. Zhu, M. Pitts, M. Buoncristiani, L. Bryant, O. Lopez-Nunez, J. Gurria, C. Shedlock, R. Ribas, S. Keohane, J. Liu, C. Wang, M. Gentry, N. Shelman, D. Allison, B. Evers, R. Sun, E.J. Rellinger

471 / 18 – Attenuation of circulating miR-17-5p, miR-20b-5p, and miR-106a-5p in low-risk prostate cancer patients following proton therapy
J. Velasquez, C. Bryant, N. Mendenhall, L. Ricks-Santi

552 / 5 – Non-canonical disulfide isomerases are strongly selective, understudied targets for cancer therapy
M.E. Law, Z.M. Dulloo, E. Yaaghubi, G.M. Alexandrow, B. Forsyth, H. Su, R.K. Castellano, B.K. Law

582 / 5 – Oncogenic PIK3CA fortifies immune determinants in vascular cancers
D. Lee, E. Kozurek, M. Abdullah, R. Li, E.B. Dickerson, J. Kim

754 / 7 – Exploring the association among pain, gut microbiota, and dietary intake of macronutrients
E. Samami, F. Yi, M. Weaver, A. Starkweather, D. Lyon, D.L. Kelly

756 / 9 – Differences in composition, diversity, and function of the fecal microbiota of post-menopausal breast cancer patients compared to healthy, age-matched controls
N. Kabbej, F. Ashby, E. Atencio, E. Rosenkrantz, D. Day, K. Dang, J. Gauthier, R. Newsome, J. Sommerville, T. Naas, R. Gharaibeh, C. Jobin, A. Quevedo, C.D. Heldermon

April 8 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

1601 / 26 – The role of complement in pancreatic cancer cachexia
A.C. D’Lugos, C. Callaway, S.M. Judge, A.R. Judge

1823 / 18 – In vitro evaluation of novel pyrimidine nucleosides for the treatment of pancreatic cancer
R. Bulusu, J. Okoro, E. Frimpong, B. Han, S. Rogers, X. Zhu, E. Agyare

2230 / 4 – Connecting Black men to point of prostate cancer diagnosis (PPCD) support using precision intervention based on Virtual Reality Assistant (ViRA)
F. T. Odedina, C. Ngufor, A. Merriweather, D. Pereira, R. Dronca, E. Kaninjing, K. Ashing, S. Rotimi, V. Gordon, iCCaRE for Black Men Consortium

2249 / 23 – Clinical outcomes of discontinuing long-term opioid therapy among older cancer survivors in nursing homes
Y.-J. Wei, A. G. Winterstein, S. Schmidt, R.B. Fillingim, M. Daniels, S.T. DeKosky, B. Kinder, T.-Y. D. Cheng

2469 / 13 – PROTAC mediated NR4A1 degradation as a novel strategy for cancer immunotherapy
L. Wang, Y. Xiao, Y. Luo, R. Master, J. Mo, M.-C. Kim, Y. Liu, C. Maharjan, U. Patel, X. Li, D. Shaffer, G. Kevin, H. Zhuang, E. Moser, K. Smalley, D. Zhou, G. Zheng, W. Zhang

2902 / 10 – CA-4948 (emavusertib) improves treatment response of preclinical metastatic brain melanoma to anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade
C.A. von Roemeling, B.P. Doonan, A.M. Acevedo, J.A. Patel, S.L. Carpenter, A. Bhatia, R.W. von Roemeling, J. Hoffman, M. Lane, D.A. Mitchell

3167 / 15 – Impact of gemcitabine modification on redox-driven responses in pancreatic cancer organoids cultured in distinct 3D microenvironments
B. Han, S. Zhao, E. Agyare, X. Zhu, J. Trevino, S. Rogers, E. Velazquez, J. Brant, P. Eliahoo, J. Barajas, B.X. Hoang

3177 / 25 – Angiopoietin-like 4 suppress clear cell renal cell carcinoma via inhibition lysosomal acid lipase
Z. Jin, U. De, T. Tithi, J. Kleberg, A. Nataraj, E. Jolley, B. Davies, W. Zhang, R. Kolb

3236 / 20 – Discovery of hydrazide-based HDAC8 selective PROTACs
Y. Xiao, Y. Liu, N. Awasthee, C. Meng, M. He, S. Hale, R. Karki, Z. Lin, R. Kridel, D. Liao, G. Zheng

3395 / 19 – Polyisoprenylated cysteinyl amide inhibitors: Effects on RAS signaling pathway intermediates and viability of mutant KRAS African American lung cancer cell line
J.K. Mensah-Mamfo, K. Ofosu-Asante, J.M.S. Lazarte, A.G. Burra, S.A. Lugo, Y. Huang, I.A. Offringa, N.S. Lamango

3928 – Genomic landscape and estimation of immune infiltration of soft tissue sarcoma histology subtypes from the ORIEN network
A.C. Soupir, O.E. Ospina, D. Hedges, J.K. Teer, M.D. Radmacher, D.M. McKean, N. Seligson, M. McCarter, B. Wilkey, G. Riedlinger, J. Groundland, B.J. Miller, B. Schneider, R. Patel, A. Rafeh-Naqash, S. Edge, B. Salhia, C. Moskaluk, M. Johns, M.L. Churchman, O. Hampton, D. Liebner, B.L. Fridley, A.S. Brohl

April 9 | 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

4123 / 5 – Attenuating breast cancer metastasis with BCL-XL-targeting PROTACs
M.E. Carelock, P. Zhang, M. Jiao, U. De, Z. Jin, R.M. Stump, S.G. Williams, G. Zheng, W. Zhang

4451 / 5 – Regulation of lipid metabolism and ferroptosis by DAXX
W. Yang, N. Awasthee, Q. Chen, S. Hale, D. Liao

4459 / 13 – Metabolic liabilities of iron-dependent ferroptosis mediated through NRF2/GPX4 axis in osteosarcoma
M. Abdullah, D. Lee, R. Li, J. Kim

4513 / 14 – Exploration degradation of intrinsically disordered protein YAP induced by PROTACs
C. Zhou, C. Sun, L. Pi, C. Li

4516 / 17 – Inhibiting YAP activity in cancers by targeted degradation of TEAD
H. Chen, A. Gridnev, N. Schlamowitz, G. Zheng, J. Misra

4547 / 2 – A novel drug combination with improved therapeutic efficacy over sorafenib in multiple preclinical models of hepatocellular carcinoma
A. Chambers, S. Shrestha, A. Ladd, S. Duarte, A. Zarrinpar

4568 / 23 – Rational targeting of BCL-xL and/or mTOR enhance the efficacy of KRASG12D inhibitor in pancreatic cancer
S. Khan, L. Cao, V. Vudhata, Y. Yang, P. Zhang, G. Zheng, J. G. Trevino, D. Zhou

4692 / 12 – A novel ceramide synthase 2 agonist and its implication in triple-negative breast cancer therapy
H. Alatawi, N. Koo, I. Mahmud, H. Nair, A. Singh, T.J. Garrett, A.K. Sharma, S. Hong, S. Narayan

4752 / 18 – Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 inhibitors overcome glucocorticoid resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia by augmenting pro-apoptotic signaling
M. Dalal, J. Yi, J. Li, A. Sobh, D. DupereRicher, R. Bennett, J. Licht

4774 / 10 – Inhibition of pancreatic acinar ductal metaplasia by novel YAP/TAZ inhibitor, CV-4-26
C.M. Perkins, C. Zhou, M. Campbell-Thompson, Y. Mao, K.R. Atanasova, J. Jiang, R. Ratnayake, H. Luesch, J. Ali, C. Li, T.D. Schmittgen

4791 / 8 – Characterizing interventions to reduce disparities in lung-cancer screening uptake by state Medicaid expansion status: A scoping review
M.J. Reid, C. Washington, M. Wheeler, L. Adkins, D. Braithwaite, R. Salloum

4812 / 1 – Evaluating racial and ethnic differences in advanced-stage laryngeal cancer treatment and outcomes in Florida: Unmasking the inequities
C.J. Washington, C. Lattimore, D. Braithwaite, K. Fredenburg, S. Karanth

4816 / 5 – Racial disparities in adjunctive supportive care medication use in pancreatic cancer patients
O.M. Trejos Kweyete, Y. Guo, S.C. Rogers, L. Scarton, D.L. DeRemer, C.L. Whitner, D.J. Wilkie, J.M. Allen

4834 / 23 – Racial disparities in pain and psychiatric medication use in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
J.M. Allen, O.M. Trejos Kweyete, Y. Guo, S.C. Rogers, L. Scarton, D.L. DeRemer, C. Whitner, D.J. Wilkie

April 9 | 1:30 – 5 p.m.

5696 / 17 – Exploring the association between miR-9-5p levels and the mTORC1/mTORC2 pathway in laryngeal cancer cell lines
C. Gobin, M. Chang, C.C. Lattimore, K.M. Fredenburg

5768 / 3 – Proximity labeling with molecular signal sensing of oncogenic PIK3CA
R. Li, D. Lee, M. Abdullah, J. Kim

5829 / 5 – Elucidating the significance of amphiregulin and its implications for EGFR inhibition strategies in LKB1-mutant NSCLC
X.K. Solone, X. Zhou, M. Yu, J.W. Li, F. Rimay, F. Kaye, L. Wu

6004 / 19 – HOXC8 epigenetically controls caspse-1 expression and pyroptosis in lung cancer cells
L. Sun, R. Padia, O. Calbay, C. Chi, M. Akter, L. Jin, S. Huang

6110 / 4 – Computational exploration of genomic differences in Black patients treated with chemoradiation for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)
C.C. Lattimore, C.J. Washington, D. Braithwaite, S.D. Karanth, K.M. Fredenburg

6225 / 28 – Tumor evolution through selection by ECM stiffness
T.-C. Wang, S. Sawhney, D. Morgan, R. Rashmi, M.R. Estecio, A. Brock, I. Singh, R.L. Bennett, C.F. Baer, J.D. Licht, T.P. Lele

6336 / 27 – Unleashing CAR T cell activity against osteosarcoma using tumor specific RNA-based vaccination
A. Barpujari, R. Liu, E. Ogando-Rivas, X. Ma, H. Taoa, H. Gomez, D. Mitchell, J. Huang, E. Sayour, P. Castillo

LB332 / 6 – Spatial transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of the treatment resistant slow cycling micro environment in GBM
A. Chakraborty, D. Feier, A. Silver, C. Yang, M. Anica, A. Pittu, O. Sobanjo, E. Hodge, M. Engelbart, C. Von Roemeling, M. Rahman, M. Sarkisian, J. Huang, J. Harrison, D. Mitchell, L. Deleyrolle

April 10 | 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

7028 / 28 – Optimization of DNA extraction methods and DNA methylation array quality from FFPE prostate tumor tissues to identify DNA methylation biomarkers
C.D. Stensrud, L. Gonzalez-Smith, C. Stevens, H. Cao, J. Mack, O. Arigbede, D. Weisenberger, S.G. Buxbaum, S.M. Falzarano, S. Rhie

7058 / 7 – NSD2 overexpression drives multiple myeloma dependence on adenylate kinase 2 by diverting one-carbon metabolism to the epigenome
A. Sobh, E. Encinas, A. Patel, G. Surapaneni, C. Kaestner, J. Poullard, M. Clerio, K. Vasan, T. Freeman, D. Lv, D. Dupere-Richer, A. Riva, B. Barwick, D. Zhou, L. Boise, C. Mitsiades, B. Kim, R. Bennett, N. Chandel, J. Licht

7223 / 11 – A triplet therapeutic strategy targeting MEK, BCL-XL, and EGFR, for KRAS-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
G.W. Tushoski-Alemán, A.J. Crespin, C.J. Oguejiofor, J.A. McKean, K.M. Herremans, T.J. George, C.J. Allegra, S.J. Hughes, S. Han

7273 / 10 – Small molecule activation of PP2A in the treatment of melanoma
H. Johnson, A. Singh, A. Raza, S. Narayan, A.K. Sharma

7388 / 16 – Deep learning-implemented molecular signature identification in vascular malignancies
D. Lee, H. Heo, J. Kim, J. Kim

LB410 / 11 – Contrasting roles of different mismatch repair proteins in basal like breast cancer
T. Tithi, J. Mo, W. Zhang


Florida-California Cancer Research, Education and Engagement (CaRE2) Health Equity Center

April 7 | 1:30 – 5 p.m.

The effect of cardamonin on PD-L1 expression in triple-negative breast cancer cells
Patricia Mendonca, Bhonesa Kirpal, Sukhmandeep Kaur, and Karam F.A. Soliman

Kaempferol Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Inhibits Proliferation of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells from Caucasian and African American Women
Sukhmandeep Kaur, Patricia Mendonca, and Karam F.A. Soliman

Attenuation of circulating miR-17-5p, miR-20b-5p, and miR-106a-5p in low-risk prostate cancer patients following proton therapy
Johnny Velasquez, Curtis Bryant, Nancy Mendenhall, Luisel Ricks-Santi

Florida-California Cancer Research, Education and Engagement (CaRE2) Health Equity Center – Contact Registry for Health-Related Cancer REsearch: Promoting Inclusion in Research
Ileana Guzman, Brooke Hensel, Eduardo Ibarra, Carolina Aristizabal, Rosa Barahona, Fayetta justin, Diana Wilkie, Mariana Stern, John Luque, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Sandra Suther, Fern Webb

Establishing Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines to Mitigate Lung Cancer Health Disparities
Sofia Lugo, Christopher Leon, Matthew Gladstone, Chunli Yan, Kweku Ofosu-Asante, Justin K. Mensah-Mamfo, Yong Huang, Nazarius S. Lamango, Ite A. Offringa

Feasibility of serial microbiome collection in a multi-site neoadjuvant pancreatic cancer clinical trial allowing for a diverse patient population
S. Rogers, R. Thomas, I. Nassour, I. Sahin, B. Ramnaraign, K. Russell, S. Hughes, K. Hitchcock, O. Kayaleh, A. Turk, M. Ratcliff, T. George

April 8 | 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

In vitro evaluation of novel pyrimidine nucleosides for the treatment of pancreatic cancer
Raviteja Bulusu, Joy Okoro, Esther Frimpong, Sherise Rogers, Bo Han, Xue Zhu, Edward Agyare

ProTALKS: A community outreach project founded by a graduate of the CaRE2 Community Scientist Research Advocacy training program, Mrs. Lynn Jones-Turpin
Lynn Jones-Turpin, Ileana Guzman, Brooke Hensel, Fern Webb

Development and Evaluation of Novel Gemcitabine Analog for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
Joy Okoro, Raviteja Bulusu, Esther Frimpong, Sherise Rogers, Bo Han, Xue Zhu, Edward Agyare

April 8 | 1:30 – 5 p.m.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 5-FU analogs against pancreatic cancer
Esther Frimpong, Raviteja Bulusu, Joy Okoro, Andriana Inkoom, Nkafu Ndemazie, Sherise Rogers, Xue Zhu, Bo Han, Edward Agyare

Impact of gemcitabine modification on redox-driven responses in pancreatic cancer organoids cultured in distinct 3D microenvironments
Bo Han, Shuqing Zhao, Edward Agyare, Xueyou Zhu, Jose Trevino, Sherise Rogers, Enrique Velazquez, Jason Brant, Payam Eliahoo, Jonathan, Barajas, Ba Xuan Hoang

Polyisoprenylated Cysteinyl Amide Inhibitors: Effects on RAS Signaling Pathway Intermediates and Viability of Mutant KRAS African American Lung Cancer Cell Line
Justin Mensah-Mamfo, Kweku Ofosu-Asante, Jassy Mary S. Lazarte, Amarender Goud Burra, Sofia Lugo, Yong Huang, Ite A. Offringa, Nazarius S. Lamango

April 9 | 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Inhibition of Pancreatic Acinar Ductal Metaplasia by Novel YAP/TAZ Inhibitor, CV-4-26 (Abstract #4774)
Corey M. Perkins, Chen Zhou, Martha Campbell-Thompson, Yating Mao, Kalina R. Atanasova, Jinmai Jiang, Ranjala Ratnayake, Hendrik Luesch, Jamel Ali, Chenglong Li, Thomas D. Schmittgen

Racial disparities in pain and psychiatric medication use in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
Allen JM, Kweyete OM, Guo Y, Rogers SC, Scarton L, DeRemer DL, Whitner C, Wilkie DJ

Racial disparities in adjunctive supportive care medication use in pancreatic cancer patients
Olga M. Trejos Kweyete, Yi Guo, Sherise C. Rogers, Lisa Scarton, David L. DeRemer, Chardae L. Whitner, Diana J. Wilkie, John M. Allen

April 9 | 1:30-5 p.m.

Interactions of processed meat and red meat intake with pathway-based polygenic risk scores for colorectal cancer: A novel approach for PRSs construction
Joel Sanchez Mendez, Mariana C. Stern, Yubo Fu, John Morrison, Juan P. Lewinger, Eric Kawaguchi, Bryan Queme, Huaiyu Mi, Flora Qu, Ulrike Peters, Li Hsu, Stephen B. Gruber, Li Li, Michelle Cotterchio, Loic Le Marchand, Andrew J. Pellat, Elizabeth A. Platz, W. James Gauderman

Determinants of generalized self-efficacy and genetic knowledge among Hispanic/Latino colorectal cancer patients participating in ENLACE: A Cancer Moonshot Study
Joel Sanchez Mendez, Julie O. Culver, Charité N. Ricker, Natalia Gutierrez, Sandra Algaze, John D. Carpten, Heinz-Josef Lenz, Mariana C. Stern

Racial and ethnic disparities in site of de novo metastases in patients with colorectal cancer: A SEER analysis
Nicole C. Loroña, Mariana C. Stern, Stephanie L. Schmit, Jane C. Figueiredo

Increasing Self Efficacy and Genetic Knowledge Via the Community Genetic Navigation Engagement Specialist (CoGENES) Train-the-Trainer program
Janet Rodriguez, Joel Sanchez Mendez, Yaneth L. Rodriguez, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Charité Ricker, Rosa Barahona, Bianca Rosales, Daisy Hernandez, Natalia Gutierrez, Yvonne Cardona, Jesus Resendiz, Julie Culver, and Mariana C. Stern

Computational exploration of genomic differences in Black patients treated with chemoradiation for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC)
Chayil C. Lattimore, Caretia Washington, D Braithwaite, S Karanth, and Kristianna M. Fredenburg

Exploring the relationship between miR-9-5p levels and the mTORC1/mTORC2 pathway in laryngeal cancer cell lines
Christina Gobin, Matthew Chang, Chayil C. Lattimore, and Kristianna M. Fredenburg

April 10 | 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Optimization of DNA extraction methods and DNA methylation array quality from FFPR prostate tumor tissues to identify DNA methylation biomarkers
Colton Duran Stensrud, Leonardo Gonzalez-Smith, Claire Stevens, Huan Cao, Jenaye Mack, Olumide Arigbede, Daniel Weisenberger, Sarah G. Buxbaum, Sara M. Falzarano, Suhn Rhie

Sessions

Session PAS01 – Grant Writing Workshop: Tips for Success from Experienced Scientists
Grand Hall A – Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego; Friday, April 5, 2:15-2:40 p.m.
Chair: Mariana C. Stern

Session PAS04 – Navigating The Path to a Successful Career in Cancer Research
Grand Hall A – Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego; Monday April 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Chair: Mariana C. Stern & Chanita Hughes Halbert

Session PAS08 – Special Program for High School Students; The Conquest of Cancer and the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers
Grand Hall C – Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego; Tuesday April 9, 9:30-9:55 a.m.
Chair: Chanita Hughes Halbert

Session NIH08 – NCI Network: Participant Engagement and Cancer Genome Sequencing (PE-CGS) Community Health Educator Supplement Program. Increasing cancer genetic education and research engagement among Latino communities: The community genetic navigation engagement specialists (CoGENES) training program
Room 2 – Upper Level – Convention Center; Tuesday, April 9, 10:22-10:27 a.m.
Presenter: Mariana C. Stern

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