Mayo Clinic will lead national research study to search for molecular predictors.

2003 JUN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Women's Cancer Program of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has been awarded a $6 million research grant to conduct research on biomarkers that may indicate which women with benign breast disease are at risk for eventually developing breast cancer.

The U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program awarded this Breast Cancer Center of Excellence grant. Lynn Hartmann, MD, a Mayo Clinic medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer research and treatment, is the principal investigator and will lead the research team.

Women who have a breast biopsy with benign findings are currently 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," 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 draw upon benign tissue specimens taken from 12,000 women who had breast biopsies performed at Mayo Clinic between 1967 and 1991. About 700 of ...