Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2013 - (Page 10)

TheWar on Cancer Making it Personal by Alexandra Wong I used to think that the “battle against cancer” was just a cliché. I didn’t know much about cancer; it was just a bad thing to have. Then, in 2010, when I was in eighth grade, my grandmother was diagnosed with gastric cancer. She underwent surgery to remove her stomach. Afterward, she was given the choice of receiving radiation and chemotherapy—the current standard of treatment for gastric cancer patients—or doing nothing. When she looked at the data, my grandmother found that chemotherapy, with all its inherent side effects, wasn’t likely to buy her more than a few years at best. THINKSTOCK My grandmother decided against further treatment, and more than three years later, is fortunate to be alive and well. But while her battle appears to have been won, there’s always a nagging fear that the cancer could return. Unfortunately, there are no reliable tests to know if or when this happens. The only tests available had come back negative—even before her surgery. That is what compelled me to research a non-invasive means of detecting gastric cancer cells in the body. Biomarkers might be basic molecules, DNA, or proteins that correlate with cancer characteristics such as how far cancer has spread or how aggressive it is. I found a couple of peer-reviewed articles on biomarkers that had been shown to be related to gastric cancer. Once I learned specifically what they were correlated with and what they could be useful for, I could investigate individual biomarkers to identify those that would, hopefully, fulfill my goal. Strategic Planning Understanding the Enemy I began by reading the scientific literature. Initially, progress was slow: As I read, my mom used an online dictionary to translate every other esoteric word. But once I understood terms such as metastasis (the spread of cancer to an area beyond the organ in which it originated), the literature became easier to understand. When I read about biomarkers—distinct biochemical, genetic, or molecular characteristics or substances that can indicate the presence of disease—I decided to investigate using specific biomarkers to detect gastric cancer in the blood. 10 imagine From an email community for homeschooled students, I located the Schmahl Advanced Science Research Program, through which students can pursue biological research. After submitting a project proposal, budget, and research plan, I was accepted into the program. I began working with a mentor and by the spring of 2011 had developed an experimental design. I would use an ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay), a test that uses an enzyme linked to an antibody as a marker to detect a specific substance such as a protein. ELISAs have been used to detect hepatitis B, TB, and HIV antibodies, among Sept/Oct 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2013

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2013
Contents
Bridging the Gap
The War on Cancer
Teen Researchers on the Forefront of Medicine
Ancient Medicine Meets Modern Technology
Innovations in Medicine
Wherever Help Is Needed
Summer in the Lab
Our Second Genome
The Defi nition of Determination

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2013