Research Summaries
These lay summaries of published research using KTB Samples were produced by KTB Consumer Advocate Gena Asher.
Alterations in the immune cell composition in premalignant breast tissue that precede breast cancer development
Degnim, A. C., et al., 2017 The normal mammary gland contains a mucosal (moist) immune system, as do other organs such as the lung and gastrointestinal tract. In the mammary gland, this immune system protects against infection, among other benefits. An impaired mucosal immune system, then, may caus[...]
Continue reading >Phenotypic plasticity in normal breast derived epithelial cells
Sauder, C., et al., 2014 Within the normal human breast are epithelial cells (cells that line the ducts), which sometimes have “phenotype plasticity,” that is, the ability to change to adapt to their environment. This adaption may lead to metaplasia, which is the replacement of cell tis[...]
Continue reading >Characterizing the heterogeneity of triple-negative breast cancers using microdissected normal ductal epithelium and RNA-sequencing
Radovich, M., et al., 2013 Triple-negative breast cancer is defined by its properties that do not respond to traditional therapies: It is not estrogen or progesterone positive; it is not HER-2 positive. This means patients with triple-negative breast cancer have fewer treatment options than ER-posi[...]
Continue reading >A Novel Qualitative Approach for Identifying Effective Communication for Recruitment of Minority Women to a Breast Cancer Prevention Study
E. Ridley-Merriweather, K. J. Head, S. M. Younker, M. D. Evans, C. M. Moore, D. S. Lindsey, C. Y. Wu, S. E. Wiehe The Komen Tissue Bank is the only biobank in the world that collects healthy breast tissue to be used as normal controls in breast cancer research. However, the challenge is to co[...]
Continue reading >Inflammation Markers on Benign Breast Biopsy are Associated with Risk of Invasive Breast Cancer in African American Women
Shaik, A. et al., 2020 Over the last decade, breast cancer rates have risen for African American women, who suffer a 40 percent higher breast cancer mortality than white women. Despite this burden, African American women are under-represented in research examining breast cancer risk. Researchers wa[...]
Continue reading >Serum Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF)-I and IGF Binding Protein-3 in Relation to Terminal Duct Lobular Unit Involution of the Normal Breast in Caucasian and African American Women: The Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank
Oh, H. et al. 2018 Scientists have long studied how proteins affect activity in cells, some of which may lead to the formation of breast cancer. As they seek to determine what causes the racial disparities of breast cancer in Caucasian and African American women, they are looking at these cellular-[...]
Continue reading >Ethnicity-Dependent and Independent Heterogeneity in Healthy Normal Breast Hierarchy Impacts Tumor Characterization
Nakshatri, H. et al. 2015 Ethnicity and genetics are partly responsible for “heterogeneity,” or the genetic differences from one area of tissue to another. These differences may show up as different types of cells or mutations of the cells themselves. For this research, scientists wante[...]
Continue reading >Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Stem Cells and African Ancestry
Jiagge, E et al. 2018 In many respects, women of African ancestry fare worse than other populations when diagnosed with breast cancer. For example, mortality rates are higher than those of white Americans, and some types of breast cancer that are harder to treat are especially common in women of Af[...]
Continue reading >Inflammatory Signatures Distinguish Metabolic Health in African American Women with Obesity
Denis, G. et al. 2018 Among all U.S. racial and ethnic categories, elevated body mass index is a leading cause of preventable death, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and several cancers. African American women with obesity have higher risk for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabete[...]
Continue reading >Relationships among obesity, Type 2 diabetes and plasma cytokines in African American Women
Denis, G., et al, 2017 African American women have higher risk of poor-prognosis triple negative breast cancer and breast cancer mortality than white women, and scientists have been looking at reasons for these discrepancies. For this study, researchers wanted to explore the ways obesity, Type 2 di[...]
Continue reading >Estimating breast tissue-specific DNA methylation age using next-generation sequencing data
Castle, J.R. et al., 2020 Increasing age is one risk factor for developing breast cancer. Your chronological age is one factor, but researchers also are looking at biological age, or how your chromosomes are changing over time. This study aims to develop a model to estimate breast tissue-specific b[...]
Continue reading >Upregulation of lipid metabolism genes in the breast prior to cancer diagnosis
Marino, et. al, 2020 For years, researchers have been looking for signs of changes in the breast that may lead to the formation of cancer cells as keys to earliest diagnosis and prevention. They want to pinpoint changes that, ultimately, they could halt or change to prevent cancer from forming. For[...]
Continue reading >Genetic ancestry-dependent Differences in Breast Cancer-induced Field Defects in the Tumor-adjacent Normal Breast
Nakshatri, H. et al., 2019 Scientists know that genetic ancestry affects how cancer develops. For example, women of African American ancestry suffer higher mortality from triple-negative breast cancer than women of European ancestry. Breast cancer in Hispanic and Native American women is less prev[...]
Continue reading >Increased epigenetic age in normal breast tissue from luminal breast cancer patients
Hofstatter, E.W. et al., 2018 Increasing age is one risk factor for developing breast cancer. Your chronological age is one factor, but researchers also are looking at biological age, or how your chromosomes are changing over time. The authors of this study wanted to see if faster biologic, or epig[...]
Continue reading >Dual PI3K and Wnt pathway inhibition as a synergistic combination against triple negative breast cancer
Solzak, J. et al., 2017 “Triple negative breast cancer” accounts for 15 to 20 percent of breast cancers. Triple negative means the tumor is not positive for estrogen, progesterone or HER-2, all types of receptors that help cancer grow. This may sound like a good problem to have, but wom[...]
Continue reading >African American Women’s Perspectives on Donating Healthy Breast Tissue for Research: Implications for Recruitment
Ridley-Meriweather, K. et al., 2016 African American women die of breast cancer at a higher rather than any other racial group, and they are more likely to develop triple-negative breast cancer, a type harder to treat than others. Yet they also seem to be reluctant to donate breast tissue to the Ko[...]
Continue reading >Postpartum breast involution reveals regression of secretory lobules mediated by tissue-remodeling
Jindal, S. et al., 2014 Scientists have long been interested in the changes in the breast during pregnancy, breast feeding and weaning, and how these affect breast cancer risk. They already know that about 35 percent breast cancer cases in younger women are negatively affected by a recent pregnancy[...]
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