HPD Research Day | February 16, 2018

12 Melnick Auditorium Melnick Auditorium 10:45 – 11:15 a.m. Comparative Effectiveness of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Prophylaxis in Patients with Cancer Omar A. Almohammed, PharmD, Ph.D. in Pharmacy Student, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University Leanne Lai, Ph.D., Professor, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University Objective. To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of anticoagulants used for thromboprophylaxis in cancer patients. Background. Cancer patients account for 20% of all VTE cases in the United States, and VTE has a more substantial effect on cancer patients than on non-cancer patients. Despite many clinical practice guidelines, the anticoagulant’s effectiveness still remains controversial in cancer patients. Methods. A retrospective comparative effectiveness cohort study was conducted using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The incidence of VTE, bleeding, and all-cause death events; and health-related quality of life were used as outcomes to evaluate the two cohorts (prophylactic and matching-control). The effects of age, gender, race, and comorbidities on the clinical outcomes were controlled in logistic regression. Results. The incidence of VTE was higher in the prophylactic cohort than the matching-control (5.6% vs. 2.1%, respectively, with a relative risk (RR) of 2.66, 95%CI 2.64-2.68). Furthermore, there were more bleeding (29% vs. 24%, RR 1.21, 95%CI 1.21-1.22) and all-cause death events (10.13% vs. 6.86%, RR 1.47, 95%CI 1.46-1.48) in the prophylactic cohort than in the matching-control cohort. However, after controlling for the effect of age, gender, race, and comorbidities these differences between the two cohorts became statistically insignificant. The use of thromboprophylaxis was associated with a significant decline in physical quality of life, with no significant impact on mental quality of life. Conclusion. The present study findings support the current guidelines’ recommendation pertaining to VTE prophylaxis in cancer patients by providing evidence on the anticoagulants’ effectiveness for thromboprophylaxis in real-world practice. Melnick Auditorium 11:15 – 11:45 a.m. DNA Nucleotide Excision Repair in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Abdullah Alhamed, Ph.D. in Pharmacy student, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University Jean Latimer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University Stephen Grant, Ph.D., Project Director, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University Stefanie Sveiven, Research Assistant, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University Objective. To identify which Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) cases will remain indolent versus those will become invasive. Background. DCIS is a non-obligate precursor of invasive breast cancer (BC). 50% of cases progress to invasive BC with no accurate way to identify indolent versus aggressive types. We hypothesized that isolation of invasive cells from 2 pre-existing DCIS cell lines will allow for the identification of biomarkers for invasive and non-invasive DCIS. We further hypothesize that NER is the engine for invasion evolution, leading to DCIS progression to stage I disease. Methods. Using a novel tissue-engineering system, DCIS model systems with isogenically matched contralateral or non-tumor adjacent (NTA) tissues were created. Expression microarray and RNAseq are being used to determine the expression of 20 canonical NER genes. The Unscheduled DNA Synthesis (UDS) assay is being used to determine NER capacity. Results. A comparison of NER capacity of DCIS explants with the isogenically matched contralateral and NTA explants show a reduction in NER capacity in DCIS. NER capacities reflect a continuum of high repair in contralateral falling lower in non-tumor adjacent and the lowest repair in the isogenic DCIS. Supervised analysis reveals that DCISs clustered together with non-disease breast reduction epithelium while DCIS synchronous with stage I BC clustered together with stage I and II BC. Conclusion. This study will differentiate between indolent and aggressive DCIS cases. Ultimately, these data and that of other laboratories will improve DCIS management.