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Predicting Breast Cancer on a Molecular Level

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

Study to search for biomarkers for women with benign breast disease

HealthScoutNews -- The Mayo Clinic will lead a national study to search for molecular predictors of breast cancer.

The scientists intend to research biomarkers that may help identify women with benign breast disease who are at risk for developing breast cancer. Women who have a breast biopsy with benign findings are defined as having benign breast disease.

"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," principal investigator Dr. Lynn Hartmann says in a news release.

"What we lack are good research studies that identify these women so they can receive the necessary screening and risk-reduction strategies," Hartmann says.

Each year, more than 200,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with benign breast disease. But few tests can pinpoint which women have a greater risk of developing breast cancer.

This study will examine benign tissue specimens taken from 700 women who had breast biopsies at the Mayo Clinic between 1967 and 1991 and later developed breast cancer. Their tissue samples will be compared to benign tissue samples taken over the same time period from 700 other women who didn't develop breast cancer.

The researchers will compare molecular tissue markers in the tissue samples from the two groups of women.

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On the Net:

The Mayo Clinic

Breast Cancer information

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