Evie Carchman

Focus Groups

Cancer Biology

Research Summary

The Carchman Laboratory pursues research on anal cancer prevention and treatment. They utilize several preclinical models including spheroid culture and various mouse models of anal cancer to dissect the mechanisms for anal cancer development and progression.

RESEARCH DETAIL

The Carchman laboratory research focus is on anal cancer prevention and treatment. In 2019 alone, an estimated 8,300 patients in the US were newly diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA, hereafter “anal cancer”), and approximately 1,280 died from this disease. Unlike most HIV/AIDS-associated malignancies, which have been decreasing since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, the incidence of anal cancer is rapidly increasing and has doubled in the last three decades, with the biggest increase seen in HIV-positive patients. A paucity of preclinical models, especially those that mimic HIV infection, severely limits efforts to prevent this deadly disease. Using in vivo models, the proposed critical research allows for testing novel agents for treatment of precancerous anal lesions to advance our mechanistic understanding of anal cancer, especially in patients living with HIV. The long-term goal of our research program is to understand the mechanisms leading to anal cancer development in order to target and inhibit specific pathways that are fundamental to anal carcinogenesis. Our research team includes virologists, pathologists, oncologists, radiation oncologists, pharmacologists, and biostatisticians.

HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

Carchman EH, Matkowskyj KA, Meske L, Lambert PF. Dysregulation of Autophagy Contributes to Anal Carcinogenesis. PLoS One. 2016 Oct; 11(10):e0164273. PMID 27706233.

Rademacher BL, Matkowskyj KA, Meske LM, Romero A, Sleiman H, Carchman EH. The role of pharmacologic modulation of autophagy on anal cancer development in an HPV mouse model of carcinogenesis. Virology. 2017 Jul; 507:82-88. PMID: 28431282.

Rademacher BL, Meske LM, Matkowskyj KA, Hanlon BM, Carchman EH. Genetic Inhibition of Autophagy in a transgenic mouse model of anal cancer. J Carcinog. 2018 Jul;17:3. PMID 30123096.

Rademacher BL, Matkowskyj KA, LaCount ED, Carchman EH. Topical application of a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor prevents anal carcinogenesis in a human papillomavirus mouse model of anal cancer. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2019 Nov; 28(6):483-491. PMID: 30888976.