DETECTION OF OCCULT DISSEMINATED TUMOUR CELLS AND TUMOUR DNA IN EARLY STAGE OPERABLE BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/350452

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

Most of the reduction in breast cancer death rate in recent years is due to earlier diagnosis because of mammographic screening. Even among women with very favorable tumours, at least 20% will die of breast cancer. The risk increases to over 50% in less favorable cases of operable early breast cancer. Current practice relies very heavily upon prognostic factors such as lymph node status and tumour size in determining the risk of subsequent failure and the need for therapy. There is a significant risk of under treating good prognosis disease patients (20%) and over treating women with intermediate and high risk disease (40%). The first aim of the study is to use novel molecular methodologies to detect breast cancer cells in the blood of patients with early stage breast cancer at diagnosis. The presence of tumour cells will be correlated with the usual prognostic factors used in the management of women with breast cancer. The patients will be followed long-term to clarify the relationship between disseminated tumour cells in the blood and bone marrow and eventual outcome to assess the effectiveness of these new methodologies in patient management. We will also assess new molecular methodologies which will allow us to track very low levels of disease, and thereby monitor the effectiveness of treatment, and allow prediction of impending relapse. Studying the blood of breast cancer patients represents a unique opportunity for determining whether the cancer has spread before surgery and for monitoring of disease after surgical removal of the tumour. This study may prove invaluable in predicting disease free and survival outcomes and provide a more rational approach to the use of chemotherapy in patients with early breast cancer.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2005

End Date: 01-01-2007

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $561,000.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Oncology and Carcinogenesis

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

breast cancer | distant relapse | identification of high risk patients | molecular markers | monitoring response to therapy | new prognostic markers | occult disease in blood and bone marrow

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