| New research project will look for molecular predictors of breast cancer in women with benign breast disease A new research grant will enable U.S. investigators to look for biomarkers that predict which women with benign breast disease are at risk for eventually developing breast cancer. The project will be led by Lynn Hartmann, M.D. "We know that some women with benign breast disease have an increased risk of eventually developing breast cancer and that the cancer can occur in either breast," said Hartmann. "What we lack are good research studies that identify these women so they can receive the necessary screening and risk-reduction strategies." Each year, more than 200,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer. However, very few of the current risk-prediction tests can identify which women are at greater risk for developing breast cancer. This new study will look for molecular risk predictors in benign breast tissue that identify women at increased risk for breast cancer. The study will utilize benign tissue specimens
taken from 12,000 women who had breast biopsies performed at the
Mayo Clinic between 1967 and 1991. Roughly 700 of those women later
developed breast cancer. The benign tissue samples from those 700
women will form the core material for the research project. The
comparison group of benign tissue samples will be selected from
another 700 women in that population who have not developed breast
cancer. "Through this innovative project developed
by Dr. Hartmann and her collaborators at the Mayo Clinic Cancer
Center, the discovery and use of new biomarkers to determine breast
cancer risk will allow patients, physicians and researchers to develop
improved prevention and treatment approaches to breast cancer,"
said Kenneth A. Bertram, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Congressionally
Directed Medical Research Programs at the Department of Defense
in Washington, D.C.
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