BREAST CANCER METASTATIC DORMANCY and EMERGENCE, a ROLE for ADJUVANT STATIN THERAPY by Colin Henry Beckwitt Bachelor of Science
BREAST CANCER METASTATIC DORMANCY AND EMERGENCE, A ROLE FOR ADJUVANT STATIN THERAPY by Colin Henry Beckwitt Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The School of Medicine in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2018 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE This dissertation was presented by Colin Henry Beckwitt It was defended on May 22, 2018 and approved by Chairperson: Donna Beer Stolz, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology Zoltán N. Oltvai, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology Partha Roy, PhD, Associate Professor, Departments of Bioengineering and Pathology Kari N. Nejak-Bowen, MBA, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology Linda G. Griffith, PhD, School of Engineering Teaching Innovation Professor, Departments of Biological and Mechanical Engineering Dissertation Advisor: Alan Wells, MD, DMSc, Thomas J. Gill III Professor, Department of Pathology ii Copyright © by Colin Henry Beckwitt 2018 iii BREAST CANCER METASTATIC DORMANCY AND EMERGENCE, A ROLE FOR ADJUVANT STATIN THERAPY Colin Henry Beckwitt University of Pittsburgh, 2018 Breast cancer is responsible for the most new cancer cases and is the second highest cause of cancer related deaths among women. Localized breast cancer is effectively treated surgically. In contrast, metastatic cancers often remain undetected as dormant micrometastases for years to decades after primary surgery. Emergence of micrometastases to form clinically evident metastases complicates therapeutic intervention, making survival rates poor. The often long lag time between primary tumor diagnosis and emergence of metastatic disease motivates the development or repurposing of agents to act as safe, long term adjuvants to prevent disease progression.
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