Breast Cancer
Leadership
Program Overview
Recent discoveries in genetics and genomics hold great promise for the development of target-defined prevention and chemotherapeutic strategies for breast cancer. However, a coordinated, multi-disciplinary research effort is required to translate these new research discoveries into the next generation of therapeutic strategies.
To meet this challenge the Breast Cancer Research Program aims to:
- Define early events in breast carcinogenesis
- Translate these advances into targeted therapeutic approaches for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer
- Test these new therapies in investigator-initiated and multi-institutional clinical trials
Since its inception, the program has successfully fostered scientific interactions between members of the Duke Cancer Institute who have basic, translational, and clinical research interests in breast cancer.
Within the domain of the program we developed five subprograms that draw from our translational research strength and ability to translate basic science discoveries to impact the early detection and treatment of breast cancer:
- Early detection strategies for breast cancer
- Methylation imprinting and epigenetic dysregulation
- Basic breast cancer biology and novel therapeutic targeting
- Genomics
- Disparities for African American women
The diversity of interest and experimental approaches used by the members of the Breast Cancer Research Program represents an effective environment for fostering cross-fertilization of ideas aimed at understanding breast cancer. In addition, the program supports developmental projects, new faculty awards, and tissue procurement and banking.
