The RAF-MEK-ERK is an important signaling pathway that controls cellular proliferation, differentiation and survival. Recent reports indicate that R-RAF is mutated at a high frequency in human cancer. The mutations are clustered in the glycine-rich loop and activation segment which are encoded by exon 11 and exon 15, respectively. Among these mutations, V600E is the most prevalent found in varieties of human cancers, include melanoma and thyroid carcinomas. In this thesis, we analyzed 86 human cancer specimens, including 62 lung cancers and 24 esophageal cancers, for the mutation of exons 11 and 15 by PCR and direct DNA sequencing. However, we can not detect any mutation in these two exons in these clinical samples, these results suggest indicating that BRAF mutation might be rare and analysis of larger sample size is needed to confirmed this conclusion.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-173). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-156). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references and vita.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Food Science." Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-74).

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on January 21, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Gary Solbrekken. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-156). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 194-207). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

More people are likely to be diagnosed with cancer and the number of people living with cancer is expected to increase, which means that patients live longer with cancer and different treatments. All patients in Sweden should have access to a nurse navigator to facilitate the cancer trajectory. The purpose of this literature review was to delineate patients' experiences of the care given by the nurse navigator. The result is based upon twelve scientific articles included in this review. The results show that the experiences of the patients can be divided into four different categories: emotional support- being present and offering supportive talks, support for physical symptoms- counseling and relief from symptoms due to illness and treatments, educational support- receiving information and knowledge about the disease and cancer trajectory and coordination support- collaboration with other healthcare professionals involved in patients´care. The result shows that the experiences of the patients were mainly positive and they received the care that was the aim of introducing nurse navigators in Sweden. It is important to continue doing research of the care given by the nurse navigator to ensure that patients with cancer are receiving evidenced based care. / Antalet människor som drabbas av cancer och som lever med cancer förväntas öka, vilket innebär att patienter lever längre med cancersjukdom och olika behandlingar. Alla patienter med cancer skall i Sverige ha tillgång till en kontaktsjuksköterska för att underlätta för patienten genom vårdprocessen. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva patienters erfarenheter av kontaktsjuksköterskans omvårdnad inom cancervården. Tolv vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades och ligger till grund för resultatet. Resultatet visade att patienternas erfarenheter av kontaktsjuksköterskans omvårdnad kunde delas in i fyra kategorier: emotionellt stöd - att finnas till hands och ge stödjande samtal, stöd vid fysiska besvär- råd och lindring av symptom på grund av sjukdom och behandling, kunskapsstöd - information och utbildning om sjukdom och vårdprocessen och samordningsstöd - samarbete med andra vårdgivare delaktiga i patientens vård. Resultatet visade att patienternas erfarenheter av kontaktsjuksköterskans omvårdnad i huvudsak var positiva och att de fick den omvårdnad som var syftet med införandet av kontaktsjuksköterskefunktionen i Sverige. Fortsatt forskning om kontaktsjuksköterskans omvårdnad inom cancervården ses som betydelsefullt för att säkerställa att evidensbaserad omvårdnad erbjuds patienter med cancersjukdom.

published_or_final_version / Anatomy / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy