Cancer Biology Program

Address

112 Stemmler Hall.
Mail address: 5 Ravdin Bldg.

Office tel.: 215-898-0075
Lab tel.: 215-349-5055
Fax: 215 898-4227
E-mail: bziober@mail.med.upenn.edu

Texas A&M University: BS(Biology)

Baylor College of Medicine: PhD (Molecular Biology)

University of California, San Francisco: post-doc (Tumor invasion/integrin biology)

Research Interests

• Main research is in tumor invasion and metastasis.

Key words: tumor, invasion, integrins, laminin, microarray, RNA expression, microRNA, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, oral cancer.

Search PubMed for articles

Description of Research

My overall interest is in cancer. I find studying cancer absolutely fascinating. My current research is focused on oral cancer development, invasion and diagnosis. We are approaching these general areas several directions with the hope of finding a commonality between them,

1. we are using microarrays to determine the genes that are differentially expressed between normal oral mucosa and pre-cancer and cancer. We have recently found a 25 gene predictor that distinguishes normal tissue from cancer tissue and recently published this in Clinical Cancer Research. This predictor was over 94% accurate and was tissue specific in that it could not predict normal or tumor in other tissues including renal, breast, lung and lymphoma;
2. We are using a cell biology approach to understand how extracellular matrix material is secreted and processed or unprocessed by cancer cells and used as a pathway for the cancer cell to invade;
3. We are again using microarrays to determine the genes involved in lymph node invasion. In addition, we are trying develop a prediction gene expression signature that will predict, in addition to or above current pathological techniques, using primary tumors, which will become lymph node invasive and metastastic;
4. We are collaborating with Dr. Haim Bau, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, School of Engineering and Applied Science to develop a credit size device that can be used in a clinical setting or operating room to determine normal tissue from tumor, for example clean tumor margins, determine whether the primary tumor has the propensity to become lymph node invasive, to mass screen for pre-cancer and cancer lesions before they are determined by routine examination or noticed by the patient, determine how well a tumor is responding to current treatment, etc. This device is based on microfluidics and is referred to as lab-on-a-chip that is able to takes body fluids from colon, lung, oral cavity, and urine and isolate the cancer cell using specific proteins expressed in epithelial cancer cells and confirms that the cells are indeed cancer by using gene expression signatures that have been predetermined to be the best predictors of the cancers. We already have two patents on this device.
5. Finally, we are looking at gene expression changes associated with recurrent cancers of the oral cavity in patients who smoke and consume alcohol as compared to those who have stopped smoking or who are never smokers. This study also involves analysis of gene expression and microRNA expression in lung cancer of smoker and non-smokers.
   

Recent Publications

Yuen, H.W., Ziober, A.F., Gopal, P., Nasrallah, I., Falls, E.M., Meneguzzi, G.,, Ang, H.Q., and Ziober, B.L. Increased tumorigenicity and invasion in squamous cell carcinoma by siRNA mediated suppression of laminin-5. Exp Cell Res. 10;309 (1):198-210, 2005.

Ziober, A.F., Falls, E.M., and Ziober, B.L. The extracellular matrix in oral squamous cell carcinoma: friend or foe? Head and Neck, 28(8):740-749, 2006.

Ziober, A. F.; Patel, K. R.; Alawi, F.; Gimotty, P.; Feldman, M. M.; Chalian, A. A.; Weinstein, G. S.; Hunt, J.; Ziober, B. L. Identification of a Gene Signature for Prediction of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Clin. Cancer Res, 12(20):5960-5971, 2006.

Lab

Rotation Projects

There are several rotation projects that deal with the aspects described in Description of Research. All deal with some aspect of tumor invasion, microarray analysis, siRNA, microRNA, array-cgh, human tumor tissue, etc.

Lab personnel:

Amy F. Ziober, B.A., J.D., Research Specialist
C; Erica M. Falls, B.A., Research Specialist A.