URC Poster Summary - Primary Tumors and Brain Metastasis

During the Undergraduate Research Conference Poster Session, I was taken back by my fellow classmates and their professionalism while presenting their research topics. Both Michael and Marcus did excellent jobs and both should be very proud of themselves for the job they did.

I chose to summarize, Marcus's poster on Primary Tumors and Brain Metastasis because I found the information to be extensive yet well organized. I believe if a passer-by was to read this poster not having any pre-existing knowledge about tumors or metastasis he would walk away having a good handle on what tumors are, their signs and symptoms, how they are diagnosed, and what can be done to treat them. The poster even accomplishes this without being entirely covered in text.

A tumor is an abnormal mass of cells while metastasis is the process by which cancer spreads from the place to distant locations in the body. Not all tumors will undergo metastasis and are referred to as benign. Tumors which do continue to grow and spread to other parts of the body via metastasis are referred to as malignant. Signs of such tumors could include seizure, headaches, anemia, lymphademiopathy, and hemoptysis, much of which depends where the tumor is located.

If you were to notice similar signs a doctor would order lab test such as blood tests for tumor marker, and a complete blood count (CBC). In addition to this he would order urine test for protein cytology. If any of these test were to suggest a tumor was present treatments are available but are not 100% effective.

Marcus used a variety of sources to compile his research; however he relied heavily on peer review journal articles. Some source obtained via pubmed, and other by obtaining the actual journal text.