issue No. 26 / November 2012
cancer update Brenda Rabeno, MLS, MBA, prepares tissue samples for shipment.
in this issue Exploring Nanotechnology to Study Breast Cancer Putting Cancer Care Strategies Into Practice Patient Guides Offer Friendly Welcome Groundbreaking Salivary Gland Research Cancer Case Distribution Table
Helen F. Graham Cancer Center contributes to landmark breast cancer study with the Cancer Genome Atlas Project T HE H ELEN F. G RAHAM C ANCER is one of an elite group of institutions that provided tumor samples for groundbreaking research hailed as the largest, most comprehensive breast cancer genomic study ever. The results that are emerging from this landmark work are redefining our understanding of breast cancer, as well as other cancers, and signal a transformation in future treatments that will benefit a wide range of patients. Recent discoveries, published in the October issue of Nature, identify four genetically different subtypes of breast cancer, and within those, the genetic drivers of many different types of cancer. Researchers analyzed data from 825 breast tumor samples supplied by the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and others as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. They identified at least 40 genetic alterations that could be targeted with anti-cancer drugs, many of which are being developed or used to treat other cancers with the same mutations. (continued on next page)