Three College of Medicine students presented cases at the annual American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) meeting in San Diego in February: Yostina Farid (shown in photo), a second-year student; Parker Hollingsworth, a third-year student; and Katherine Stiff, a third-year student. Funding from the NEOMED Student Council helped to support the students’ travel expenses, as it does for student presentations at many conferences. All three students are pursuing their interest in dermatology by working with dermatologist Eliot Mostow, M.D., professor of internal medicine, as a faculty mentor.
In three installments, we’re presenting the three students’ stories. Here’s the second.
Yostina Farid (M2)
Last summer, I had the privilege of getting involved in clinical dermatology research at the Cleveland Clinic under Alok Vij, M.D. One of the projects we worked on was a case report about a very rare type of cancer. The patient had a malignant and metastatic PEComa (Perivascular Epithelioid Cell tumor) that unfortunately took her life within six months of initial presentation. Most PEComas are benign, however this case depicted the aggressive nature of the very (very) rare malignant PEComa. Because of the rarity of disease, there is no standard treatment. We hope to see future research and trials regarding this type of cancer in order to help improve patient outcomes.