Jessica L Baumann

Publications (2)1.75 Total impact

• Article: Analysis of microsatellite mutations in buccal cells from a case-control study for lung cancer.

  Jessica L Baumann, Ming Li, Aslak Poulsen, Nicholson S Chadwick, Qiuyin Cai, Christine H Chung, Yu Shyr, Jørgen H Olsen, Wei Zheng, Robbert J C Slebos
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  ABSTRACT: Exposure to tobacco carcinogens is the major cause of human lung cancer, but even heavy smokers have only about a 10% life-time risk of developing lung cancer. Currently used screening processes, based largely on age and exposure status, have proven to be of limited clinical utility in predicting cancer risk. More precise methods of assessing an individual's risk of developing lung cancer are needed. Because of their sensitivity to DNA damage, microsatellites are potentially useful for the assessment of somatic mutational load in normal cells. We assessed mutational load using hypermutable microsatellites in buccal cells obtained from lung carcinoma cases and controls to test if such a measure could be used to estimate lung cancer risk. There was no significant association between smoking status and mutation frequency with any of the markers tested. No significant association between case status and mutation frequency was observed. Age was significantly related to mutation frequency in the microsatellite marker D7S1482. These observations indicate that somatic mutational load, as measured using mutation frequency of microsatellites in buccal cells, increases with increasing age but that subjects who develop lung cancer have a similar mutational load as those who remain cancer free. This finding suggests that mutation frequency of microsatellite mutations in buccal cells may not be a promising biomarker for lung cancer risk.
  Cancer epidemiology. 11/2011; 36(1):e33-9.
• Article: Human papillomavirus in early laryngeal carcinoma.

  Jessica L Baumann, Seth Cohen, Amy N Evjen, Jonathan H Law, Sangeetha Vadivelu, Albert Attia, Joshua S Schindler, Christine H Chung, Pamela S Wirth, Chris J L M Meijer, Peter J F Snijders, Wendell G Yarbrough, Robbert J C Slebos
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  ABSTRACT: To examine the role of HPV status in the etiology, prognosis, and treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in early larynx malignancies. Retrospective. Thirty-eight cases of T1 or carcinoma in situ (CIS) laryngeal lesions were examined for the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) using an inclusive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/hybridization technique capable of identifying 37 HPV subtypes. HPV DNA was detected in 6 (16%) of the 38 lesions, representing HPV types 16, 26, 31, 39, and 52, and p16 tumor suppressor protein expression was confirmed in 10 representative cases. This HPV prevalence is higher than that noted in many previous laryngeal cancer studies, possibly due to the relatively large panel of subtypes screened for in this study. Identification of HPV-26, which has been associated with uterine cervical cancer, in an early laryngeal cancer specimen represents the first evidence of this subtype in a laryngeal carcinoma. Consistent with reports focusing on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) arising from other subsites within the upper aerodigestive tract, patients with HPV-positive laryngeal carcinomas were of younger age and were somewhat less likely to have a history of tobacco use, although the latter of the two findings did not reach statistical significance. Our findings emphasize the presence of a broad spectrum of HPV types in a relevant proportion of early laryngeal cancers, and together with evidence of an association of HPV tumor status with a more favorable clinical course, provide a rationale for the routine HPV testing of small larynx lesions.
  The Laryngoscope 07/2009; 119(8):1531-7. · 1.75 Impact Factor