Biography
Dr. Regina Santella's research involves the use of biomarkers for the detection of human exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens in molecular epidemiology studies to identify causative factors, susceptible populations, and preventive interventions. Her work has allowed the determination of exposure to carcinogens by the measurement of their binding to DNA with highly specific and sensitive immunoassays using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies that her laboratory has developed. These studies have demonstrated higher levels of DNA damage in those with environmental or occupational exposures and in subjects with breast, lung, and liver cancer compared to controls. The role of genetic susceptibility in cancer risk is also being investigated. Current studies seek to understand the role of environmental/lifestyle factors on epigenetic changes in DNA methylation and microRNA expression, how they impact cancer risk as well as whether epigenetic changes in can be used for early diagnosis of cancer.
Topics
Education
PhD, 1976, City University of New York
MS, 1971, University of Massachusetts
BS, 1969, Brooklyn College
Editorial Boards
Columbia Affiliations
Co-leader Cancer Epidemiology Program and Director Biomarkers Shared Resource, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
Other Affiliations
Member, American Association for Cancer Research
Member, Society of Toxicology
Member, American Chemical Society
Member, Sigma Xi
Areas of Expertise
Cancer, Oncogenes, Chemical Hazards, Environmental Risk Factors, Molecular Epidemiology, Epigenetics, Gene-Environment Interactions, Genetic Susceptibility
Select Publications
Yoon AJ, Wang S, Kutler DI, Carvajal RD, Philipone E, Wang T, Peters SM, LaRoche D, Hernandez BY, McDowell BD, Stewart CR, Momen-Heravi F, Santella RM MicroRNA-based risk scoring system to identify early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma patients at high-risk for cancer-specific mortality. Head Neck. 2020; 42:1699-1712.1002/hed.26089. doi:10.1002/hed. PMID: 31981257
Wu HC, Do C, Andrulis IL, John EM, Daly MB, Buys SS, Chung WK, Knight JA, Bradbury AR, Keegan THM, Schwartz L, Krupska I, Miller RL, Santella RM, Tycko B, Terry MB. Breast Cancer Family History and Allele-Specific DNA Methylation in the Legacy Girls Study. Epigenetics. 2018 Feb 13:1-23. doi: 10.1080/15592294.2018.1435243. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:29436922
Chu YJ, Yang HI, Wu HC, Liu J, Wang LY, Lu SN, Lee MH, Jen CL, You SL, Santella RM, Chen CJ.
Aflatoxin B1 exposure increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis B virus carriers.
Int J Cancer. 2017 Aug 15;141(4):711-720. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30782. Epub 2017 May 26. PMID:28509392
Shen J, LeFave C, Sirosh I, Siegel AB, Tycko B, Santella RM. Integrative epigenomic and genomic filtering for methylation markers in hepatocellular carcinomas. BMC Med Genomics. 2015 Jun 10;8(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s12920-015-0105-1. PMCID:PMC4460673
Shen J, Wang S, Zhang YJ, Kappil M, Wu HC, Kibriya MG, Wang Q, Jasmine F, Ahsan H, Lee PH, Yu MW, Chen CJ, Santella RM Genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in hepatocellular carcinoma Hepatology 55 1799-1808 2012
Cho YH, Shen J, Gammon MD, Zhang YJ, Wang Q, Gonzalez K, Xu X, Bradshaw PT, Teitelbaum SL, Garbowski G, Hibshoosh H, Neugut AI, Chen J, Santella RM. Prognostic significance of gene-specific promoter hypermethylation in breast cancer patients Breast Cancer Res Treat. 131 197-205 2012
Zhang, Y-J., Wu, H-C., Shen, J., Ahsan, H., Tsai, W.Y., Yang, H.I., Wang, L.Y., Chen, S.Y., Chen, C.J. and Santella, R.M. Predicting hepatocellular carcinoma by detection of aberrant promoter methylation in serum DNA. Clinical Cancer Research 13 2378-2384 2007
Rossner, P., Gammon, M.D., Terry, M.B., Agrawal, M., Zhang, F.F., Teitelbaum, S.L., Eng, S.M., Gaudet, M.M., Neugut, A. I., and Santella, R.M. Relationship between urinary 15-F2t-isoprostane and 8-oxodeoxyguanosine levels and breast cancer risk Cancer Epi. Biomarkers & Prevention 15 639-44 2006
Chen SY, Wang LY, Lunn RM, Tsai WY, Lee PH, Lee CS, Ahsan H, Zhang YJ, Chen CJ, Santella RM Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in liver tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and controls Int. J. Cancer 99 14-21 2002
Kennedy, D.O., Agrawal, M., Shen, J., Terry, M.B., Zhang, F.F., Senie, R.T., Motykiewicz, G., and Santella, R.M. DNA repair capacity of lymphoblastoid cell lines from sisters discordant for breast cancer Journal of the National Cancer Institute 97 127-132 2005