Dr. Priyanka Sharma and Dr. Carol Fabian are on the cutting edge of breast cancer research in the country. From their labs at the University of Kansas Medical Center, both scientists working on their separate projects are on the brink of discoveries that could save lives.
Sharma is focusing on a study involving triple-negative breast cancer patients.
"It has a higher recurrence rate and we don t have to date as effective treatment options as we do for the other subtypes, so that sparked my interest," Sharma explained.
She's analyzing triple-negative breast cancer tumors at the molecular level.
"Looking at the DNA repair capacity of the tumor. Lots of these triple-negative cancers lack the ability to repair DNA when it's damaged. So if you can find good drugs that can damage the tumor DNA without affecting the normal cells, then these cancers will respond very well to these treatments," Sharma explained.
Fabian's research is focused on preventing breast cancer. She explained that there are many causes of breast cancer.
"Everything from hormones getting processed in the wrong way to inflammation to genetic defects that we are born with, most people have a combination of those things," Fabian explained.
Shes studying breast tissue samples, looking at cellular patterns and growth rates.
"So people who have too many cells in the ducts, people whose cells are growing faster than they should be and people whose cells are not cancerous but they're starting to have abnormal features are the ones that we worry about," Fabian said.
Women who know they are at risk can take action to reduce their risk. Fabian recommends:
- Overweight patients should lose weight.
- Get three to five hours of exercise per week.
- Don't drink more than one alcoholic beverage per day.
- Postmenopausal women should try to avoid taking combined hormone replacement for a prolonged period of time.
Fabian is also studying the effects of high doses of Omega 3 fatty acids on cells that have features that could become breast cancer cells.
"We've had very encouraging results. We're seeing both normalization of the tissue as well as the reduction in proliferation," said Fabian.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at Cynthia.Newsome@kshb.com.
