Group to Develop Blood Test for Breast Cancer

A consortium of internationally recognized scientists at seven leading biomedical-research centers has announced its quest to pinpoint breast-cancer biomarkers, unique proteins in the blood that may signal the presence of cancer at its earliest stages, when survival rates are highest.

The consortium, called the Breast Cancer Biomarker Discovery Project, brings together U.S. researchers in the field of proteomics, informatics, and clinical breast-cancer care to share research methodologies, critical data, and tissue and blood samples from human subjects to speed the discovery of biomarkers that may lead to a blood test for early breast-cancer detection. The leader of the consortium is Lee Hartwell, Ph.D., Nobel laureate and president and director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, WA, USA; www.fhcrc.org). Member scientists come from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and six other prominent U.S. cancer research centers.

The group's effort is being funded by a three-year, U.S.$9 million award from the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF, Los Angeles, CA, USA) and its Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). EIF is the philanthropic arm of the entertainment industry. "By creating this consortium, EIF aims to fast-track the development of blood tests for screening purposes, which in turn could help dramatically improve cancer-survival rates,” said Kate Capshaw, honorary co-chair.

The five-year survival rate for breast-cancer patients with early stage disease is 85-95%, but the survival rate is only 22% in patients whose cancer has spread to distant organs. The researchers will work to isolate the proteins that herald early-stage breast cancer when detected in serum. Led by Dr. Hartwell, Hutchinson Center researchers will provide expertise in the areas of whole-protein analysis, bioinformatics, proteomics-technology assessment, marker discovery, and antibody technology.




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