Smita Dandekar, MD - Penn State Cancer Institute
Researcher Profile
Smita Dandekar, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Scientific Program:Cancer Control
Disease Teams:
Cancer Institute, Pediatric Cancer Team
Research Interests
Dr. Smita Dandekar's research is focused on studying survivorship outcomes to contribute to the development of recommendations for health screening among survivors of childhood, adolescent and young adult cancer.
- Pediatrics
- Therapeutics
- Neoplasms
- Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma
- Recurrence
- Young Adult
- Exercise
- Cancer Survivors
- Child
- Hematopoietic Stem Cells
- Transplants
- Leukemia
Clinical Trials
NMTT- Neuroblastoma Maintenance Therapy Trial Using Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO)
A Phase 1/2, Open-label, Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Anti-Tumor Activity Study of Repotrectinib in Pediatric and Young Adult Subjects with Advanced or Metastatic Malignancies Harboring ALK, ROS1, or NTRK1-3 Alterations (CARE)
Exercise intervention coupled with standard post-cancer directed treatment care to reduce chronic pain in adolescents and young adult cancer survivors who have completed cancer-directed therapy less than one year
Exercise intervention coupled with standard post-cancer directed treatment care to reduce chronic pain in childhood cancer survivors who have completed cancer- directed therapy less than one year
A Phase 2 Study of Reduced Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Average-RiskWNT-Driven Medulloblastoma Patients
Phase II Trial of Eflornithine (DFMO) and Etoposide for Relapsed/Refractory Neuroblastoma
SurvivorLink: Scalability of an Electronic Personal Health Record for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers at Pediatric Cancer Centers ( SurvivorLink Scalability )
Phase 1/2 Study to Evaluate Palbociclib (Ibrance®) in Combination with Irinotecan and Temozolomide or in Combination with Topotecan and Cyclophosphamide in Pediatric Patients with Recurrent or Refractory Solid Tumors
Adolescent and young adult professional and Olympian athlete cancer survivors
Retention of Vaccine-Mediated Humoral Immunity in the Post-Therapy Pediatric Oncology Population
A Pilot Study Using Molecular Guided Therapy with Induction Chemotherapy Followed by Maintenance with DFMO for Subjects with Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Neuroblastoma
Recent Publications
2024
Barone, T, Dandekar, S, McKeone, D & Mulieri, K 2024, 'Assessment on the use of allopurinol to improve safety and efficacy of mercaptopurine in pediatric patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Lymphoma during maintenance therapy', Cancer Reports, vol. 7, no. 2, e1987. https://doi.org/10.1002/cnr2.1987
Gay, K, Smink, G, Mulieri, K & Dandekar, S 2024, 'Delayed serum sickness reaction after initial hypersensitivity reaction to calaspargase during treatment for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia', Pediatric Blood and Cancer, vol. 71, no. 5, e30922. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.30922
2023
Dandekar, S, Caru, M & Schmitz, KH 2023, 'Behavioral physical activity intervention coupled with standard post-cancer directed treatment care to mitigate chronic pain in childhood cancer survivors: A protocol for a single-center, pilot randomized controlled trial', Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, vol. 36, 101216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2023.101216
Caru, M, Alberts, NM, Freeman, MC, Dandekar, SC, Rao, P, McKeone, DJ, Brown, VI, McGregor, LM & Schmitz, KH 2023, 'Chronic pain in children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer: the challenge of mitigating the pain and the potential of integrating exercise into pain management', Supportive Care in Cancer, vol. 31, no. 4, 228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07695-6
Feit, T, Beals, E, Dandekar, S, Kadan-Lottick, N & Joffe, L 2023, 'Nutritional assessment and dietary intervention among survivors of childhood cancer: current landscape and a look to the future', Frontiers in Nutrition, vol. 10, 1343104. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1343104
Caru, M, Wurz, A, Brunet, J, Barb, ED, Adams, SC, Roth, ME, Winters-Stone, K, Fidler-Benaoudia, MM, Dandekar, S, Ness, KK, Culos-Reed, SN, Schulte, F, Rao, P, Mizrahi, D, Swartz, MC, Smith, M, Valle, CG, Kadan-Lottick, NS, Dieli-Conwright, CM & Schmitz, KH 2023, 'Physical activity and physical fitness assessments in adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer: a scoping review', Supportive Care in Cancer, vol. 31, no. 10, 569. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-08008-7
2022
Caru, M, Levesque, A, Rao, P, Dandekar, S, Terry, C, Brown, V, McGregor, L & Schmitz, K 2022, 'A scoping review to map the evidence of physical activity interventions in post-treatment adolescent and young adult cancer survivors', Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, vol. 171, 103620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103620
2021
Bamme, Y & Dandekar, S 2021, 'Metastatic high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of unknown primary: Successful treatment in a child with extensive bone marrow involvement', Pediatric Blood and Cancer, vol. 68, no. 9, e29149. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.29149
2020
Horn, SR, Stoltzfus, KC, Mackley, HB, Lehrer, EJ, Zhou, S, Dandekar, SC, Fox, EJ, Rizk, EB, Trifiletti, DM, Rao, PM & Zaorsky, NG 2020, 'Long-term causes of death among pediatric patients with cancer', Cancer, vol. 126, no. 13, pp. 3102-3113. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.32885
Winkels, RM, Artrip, R, Tupinio, M, Veldheer, S, Dandekar, SC & George, DR 2020, 'Opportunities for Growth: Evaluating the Feasibility of a Community Gardening Intervention Pairing Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors with Experienced Gardeners', Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 115-119. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2019.0035
Bujold, KE, Dandekar, S & Barbour, M 2020, 'Successful Treatment of Relapsed Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia Presenting as Central Nervous System Myeloid Sarcoma: A Single-Institution Case Series', Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 319-321. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPH.0000000000001383