Shannon Lu Introduction. Lung cancer is the most common global cancer and cause of cancer death.1  Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), a subset of cell-free DNA (cfDNA), are extracellular DNA fragments released from tumor cells into the bloodstream. Detection and testing of ctDNA can potentially be used for early screening and…

Mitchell Hsu Introduction. Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a malignant growth of C cells, which are calcitonin secreting cells that are derived from neural crest cells.1 The majority of these tumors and tumor conditions are related to point mutations of RET with RET M918T being the most prominent, leading to…

Johnny McMurray Introduction Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease that even with surgical resection has a poor prognosis. It is estimated that 430,000 people died in 2018 making this the 7th most deadly type of cancer. With most cases presenting at late stages, at which point surgical resection and chemotherapy…

Jovesh Zachariah Introduction: Gastric cancer is the 5th most common cancer worldwide.1 Although there is a greater than 95% chance of 5-year survival if the disease is caught early enough due to recent advancements in radiotherapy and chemotherapy,2 most patients die within 5 years of diagnosis because of how late…

Gregory Wilson Introduction: Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer among males and the sixth most common cause of death of men in the world2. While first line therapies, including androgen deprivation therapy, are effective treatments for most patients, some suffer a progression of the disease to castration resistant…

Gabriella Webster Introduction. Despite being the second most common hematologic cancer which accounts for 10% of all hematological malignancies, Multiple Myeloma is a currently incurable, genetically heterogeneous plasma cell neoplasm with a complex underlying mechanism that is poorly understood.1-3 While Multiple Myeloma is associated with specific genetic mutations and instabilities, the…