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2008 Research Grants Dedicated in loving memory of
How Does the Combination of Radiation and Surgical Intervention for Metastatic Breast Cancer Affect Local Bone Health
Since the advent of bisphosphonate treatment for patients with metastatic breast cancer, the prevalence of bone metastases has decreased, but need for radiation and surgery still occurs. Both the surgery and radiation individually may damage bone, and the combination of effects may lead to fractures that are debilitating and difficult to treat.
We propose to test the hypothesis that external stripping of the bone and placing a rod inside the bone add to the effects of irradiation in their cumulative damage to the bones reparative ability. This amplifies the altered bone geometry, density and microstructure over time, further reducing the biomechanical strength of the bone. We also propose to determine the extent to which bisphosphonate treatment alleviates these damaging effects.
Bisphosphonates are small, inorganic molecules that bind to the surface of damaged bones to strengthen them.
Dedicated in loving memory of
Spot Compression Elasto-mammography
Principal Investigator: Vinay Pai PhD
In conventional digital mammography the presence of a suspicious lesion usually leads to a spot compression mammography (SCM) for characterizing the lesion. However for inconclusive characterizations, stereotactic biopsies are performed for histologic diagnosis. In a stereotactic biopsy, a special mammography machine uses radiation to help the radiologist locate the lesion. Nearly 7 in 10 of such lesions turn out to be benign, raising the question of necessity of such biopsies in these patients. This proposal presents the development of spot compression elasto-mammography (SCEMaG prounounced ˇ°see-magˇ±) as a diagnostic tool for minimizing invasive biopsies. Since changes in soft tissue elasticity are related to pathologic processes, SCEMaG can supplement a spot-compression mammography by acquiring more specific information about the ill-defined lesions.
Dedicated in loving memory of
A Possible Peptide-Based Therapy for Breast Cancer
Principal Investigator: Steven Taffet PhD
One way normal cells communicate with other cells is through a structure called the gap junction. When cells become tumor cells, these gap junctions close and stop communicating. The amount of gap junction protein may even be reduced in the cells. Groups studying breast cancer cells have determined that increasing the amount of gap junction protein reduces the tumor-forming potential of these cells, and that further inhibiting gap junction function increases the growth and spread of such tumor cells.
Several years ago our group used a screening technique to determine if we could identify proteins that bind to and alter the function of one gap junction protein. This study yielded a novel peptide that had the unusual property of increasing gap junction function. We predict that the delivery of this peptide into breast cancer cells will help to restore normal gap junction function.
With help from the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Fund, we will determine if the treatment with our compound or its derivatives will alter the tumor-causing potential of breast cells in culture. We have partnered with a biotech firm to try to develop derivatives of our peptide that may be more active and more stable and will be able to test these compounds as well. It is our hope that this may lead to a potential new therapy for breast cancer. |
