our impact

Treating Patients with the Right Medicines

• The development of gene-based approaches to predict with high accuracy which women with breast cancer will benefit most from treatment with tamoxifen or with an aromatase inhibitor
• The finding, which relates directly to prognostication and the selection of best therapies, that breast cancer is a collection of diseases with different patterns of gene activity
• The establishment of a global research network to determine, by clinical trials with molecular analysis of specimens, which breast cancer patients with good prognosis should be treated with chemotherapy or with hormone therapy
• The development of a clinically-useful test for gene copy number and the finding that certain patterns of gene copy abnormalities predicts prognosis in early breast cancer
• The development of a new, highly sensitive and specific blood test for the presence of breast cancer cells that have spread beyond the breast
• The characterization of the biology of basal-like breast cancers and the development of therapies tailored specifically for this disease
• The finding that young BRCA1/2 carriers with early stage breast cancer may be safely treated with breast-conserving therapy if they also have their ovaries removed
• The finding that patients with HER2-positive tumors derive the greatest benefit when paclitaxel is added to adjuvant chemotherapy
• The discovery that the activity of certain genes predicts breast cancer resistance to docetaxel

• The discovery of how some HER2-positive breast cancer cells become resistant to trastuzumab (Herceptin) and how this might be overcome by the use of new drugs and novel combinations
• The discovery and development of several drugs that can keep breast cancer cells in a dormant state by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels
• The characterization of the effect of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in preventing recurrence after surgery of primary HER2-positive breast cancers, and the discovery that radiation therapy to the conserved breast may be given safely in such cases
• The finding of a biological, potentially treatable basis for several of the adverse effects of breast cancer treatment: early menopause, fatigue, and cognitive problems
• The development and testing of anti-cancer vaccines, teaching the body to attack cells with abnormal molecules like excessive HER2, MUC-1, sTn and also cancer-induced blood vessels

• The discovery of fundamental properties of the cells that give birth to breast cancers (cancer stem cells), with major implications regarding prevention and therapy
• The collection of more than 1300 human genes related to breast cancer, which is now available to scientists worldwide for major studies of all aspects of breast cancer, from cause to cure
• The discovery of two genes that protect the human genome from mutations that can cause cancer

• The finding of a new hereditary gene mutation that predisposes to the development of lobular breast cancers
• The discovery of a normal DNA variation that nevertheless increases the chances that a normal breast cell may turn into a cancerous one
• The finding that maintaining a normal body weight can have a profound influence on breast cancer incidence and prognosis, even in genetically-predisposed women
• The observation that a mother's diet during pregnancy can affect her daughter's chances of getting breast cancer
• The discovery that milk consumption increases growth hormone levels, which might explain an association of prepubertal dairy intake and breast cancer, and the evaluation of the implications of the female hormones found in American cows' milk
• The definition of the role of Patient Navigators in the culturally-sensitive coordination of care for women with and at risk for breast cancer