Allison Roecker Background: Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, and while mortality has decreased due to the approval of new immunotherapy therapies, treatment resistance remains a major hurdle to overcome.¹ Melanoma development and progression is driven by several genetic mutations, and then exacerbated by UV…

Evan Zuo Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, primarily due to its poor prognosis and ineffective diagnosis due to nonspecific symptoms early on.1,5,9 One of the primary drivers for HCC is chronic alcohol consumption.1,5,6 Alcohol is normally metabolized to acetaldehyde, a carcinogen whose subsequent…

Kelly Tran Background: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide.1 Incidence rates of breast cancer are increasing yearly, while mortality rates are decreasing.2 Cancer originates from accumulated genetic mutations and/or epigenetic modifications leading to aberrant cell proliferation and growth. While early cancer detection…

Alex Nicole Staat Background:  Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype that disproportionately affects obese individuals, in part due to hyperactivation of insulin signaling and promotion of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Current therapeutic options fail to adequately address the metabolic and immune dysregulation seen in obesity-driven TNBC, highlighting…