How and why do breast cancers develop and grow? What influences those changes?
Experts at the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research are exploring the genetics that drive tumors—and creating better outcomes for patients across Indiana and around the world.
Every breakthrough in prevention, screening, and diagnosis helps women at high risk for breast cancer make informed decisions about their medical care.
Yunlong Liu, PhD and Harikrishna Nakshatri, PhD, use sophisticated technology to compare normal and cancerous breast cells to determine the exact cells where cancer originates.
They identified 23 cell types in the normal breast and pinpointed four cell types that give rise to most breast cancers—upending previous assumptions about the origins of breast cancer. Their work is now part of the Human Cell Atlas, a global reference map of all cell types in the human body.
Their next goal is to map the genes of 75 healthy tissue samples from women of different genetic ancestries, provided by the Komen Tissue Bank, to learn the types of cells that are present in the breast, how cell composition differs between women of different genetic ancestry, and, eventually, how to understand age-related cellular changes.
If we can create a human cell atlas based on genetic ancestry, that would help in streamlining disease characterization and addressing health disparities among different ethnic populations.
Hari Nakshatri, PhD — Marian J. Morrison Professor of Breast Cancer Research
Endoxifen is a purified Tamoxifen metabolite developed as an alternative drug and now used by women who are unable to take Tamoxifen to suppress estrogen production.
The metabolite, discovered in the early 2000s by Todd Skaar, PhD, and his mentor, the late David Flockhart, MD, is more potent than Tamoxifen, allowing for smaller doses to be taken.
Now, Swedish pharmaceutical company Atossa Therapeutics is recruiting patients in a Phase II clinical trial studying the use of Skaar’s metabolite in reducing breast density.
Donor support is crucial to advancing discoveries that will have the most meaningful impact on women’s lives. You can help us make it happen.
Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research
535 Barnhill Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46202
