Molly Croissette
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Research Mentor(s): Ajjai Alva
Co-Presenter: Vaddamani, Apurva
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Internal Medicine/Hematology-Oncology / Medicine
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 1 – 10am – 10:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Molly Croissette, Apurva Vaddamani, Edward Green, Alyssa Ghose, Alicia Ali, Claire Knaus, Ajjai Alva
Presenter: 8
Abstract
Michigan Retrospective Immunotherapy Experience focuses on cancer immunotherapy treatment and the side effects associated with it, specifically post COVID vaccination. Cancer immunotherapy is a relatively new treatment, so the general research in analyzing its negative side effects is important for the future of the major drugs and potential patients. Because the COVID pandemic is relatively new as well, knowing how the vaccination will impact the treatment is also critical. To conduct this research, existing medical records were sorted through and examined for over two hundred cancer patients, and the data relevant to the project was filtered. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through this process – for example, the adverse events were collected qualitatively and parameters like the number of treatments as well as the number of adverse events were collected qualitatively. All of these patients have been or are still on immunotherapy treatment for a variety of different cancer types. Because this study is still in the data collection phase, there are currently few results, however it can be predicted and inferred from the current collection that the COVID vaccination has caused the severity and frequency of certain immunotherapy toxicities to be worsened. The impacts of the findings are important and relevant to those receiving immunotherapy treatment, especially during the time of the pandemic. Being able to correlate a worsening in the effects of the immunotherapy treatment to the vaccine could allow patients to be better informed prior to treatment, or allow for medications themselves to be modified to limit the side effects that the patients experience.
Biomedical Sciences
