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PHILLIP J. BUCKHAULTS, PhD
Assistant Professor, USC School of Medicine, Pathology and Microbiology
Director, South Carolina Cancer Tissue Bank
Senior Member, South Carolina Cancer Center
DEGREES
B.S., Chemistry, 1984-1988, University of South Florida
M.S., Chemistry, 1988-1990, University of California: San Diego
Ph.D., 1990-1996, Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology, University of Georgia
Postdoctoral Fellow, 1996–2002, Molecular Genetics, Howard Hughes
Medical Institute and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns
Hopkins Oncology Center/School of Medicine
RESEARCH INTEREST
The
goal of our laboratory is to elucidate the molecular events associated
with the progression of colon cancer, with particular focus on changes
in gene expression that occur during transitions between stages of
significantly different probabilities of good clinical outcome. Two
such transitions are of great interest, and the necessary reagents are
now available to us for study. First, we seek to identify
alterations in gene expression that are diagnostic for the transition
from node-negative (T3N0M0) to node-positive (T3N2M0), two states with
very significantly different clinical courses and treatment
regimens. Once identified, these diagnostic genes will then be
assessed for their predictive value in a retrospective analysis of a
large set of tumors for which node status and outcome data is
available. The gene expression signature will allow for a rapid
and more sensitive identification of node-positive tumors, and
elucidate the molecular mechanism of the transition between these two
clinically important biological states. Second, we seek to
identify alterations in gene expression signature that accompany loss
of heterozygosity along chromosomal arms 8p and 18q, and to use this
data to identify tumor suppressors located in these
regions. Patients with mismatch repair proficient tumors that have
retained both arms have a 100% 5-year survival rate, while those
patients with LOH at both locations have only a 40% 5-year survival
rate. LOH at these two locations is therefore a more accurate
prognostic indicator than is histopathologic grade. However, LOH
is tedious and technically demanding, and not practical for clinical
deployment. Measurements of the expression levels of a small,
highly informative subset of genes is a reasonable surrogate, and will
allow for the identification of high-risk early stage tumors for which
adjuvant therapy should be indicated. SAGE is a method of gene
expression analysis that will allow the identification of unknown
genes. Our analysis of alterations in expression of tumors with
and without LOH may reveal unknown genes mapping to previously
identified minimally lost regions, which are candidate tumor suppressor
genes to be evaluated for mutations.
RECOGNITION
Awards:
First
Prize, Graduate Student Research Competition, Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia. 1995
Invited Talks:
Serial Analysis of Gene Expression. Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute Symposium. June 2002, Athens, GA.
Insights into Carcinogenesis Revealed by Serial Analysis of Gene Expression. Cambridge Healthtech InstitutesHuman Genome Discovery. February 2002, Santa Clara, CA
Genes Expressed in Benign and Malignant Colorectal Tumors. SAGE 2001;Frontiers in Transcriptome Exploration. September 2001, San Diego, CA
Genes Expressed in Benign and Malignant Colorectal Tumors. Keystone Symposium on Colorectal Cancer. March, 2001
Gene Expression Analysis of Human Tumors. The University of Georgia Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar Series. September, 2000
Transcriptional Regulation of N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase V. Regulation of Glycoconjugate Expression. August, 1995. Rigi, Switzerland
CONTACT INFORMATION
Cancer Genetics Lab
South Carolina Cancer Center
14 Richland Medical Park, Suite 500
Columbia, SC 29203
E-mail
Office: 803 . 434 . 1333 | Lab: 803 . 434 . 2067 | Fax: 803 . 434 . 3795 | Cell: 803 . 466 . 7343
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