Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

Email

Breast Cancer Tumor Characterization Studies

DCEG investigators are helping to lead large-scale molecular pathology studies within the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), an international consortium of more than 80 epidemiological and clinical breast cancer studies. Analyses from BCAC’s large resource of genetic and environmental risk factors, tissue microarrays and clinical data, have revealed important tumor markers that delineate the etiologic heterogeneity of breast cancer.

BCAC collaborators are characterizing thousands of breast tumors using targeted DNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry and in-situ hybridization analysis in an effort known as Breast CAncer STratification (BCAST). Investigators are studying how genetic and environmental risk factors are related to tumor features and clinical progression, providing critical information for the development and validation of integrated risk and prognostic models.

The ultimate goal of this research is to better understand breast cancer etiology and clinical progression, and inform the development of targeted prevention and screening strategies for different types of breast cancer.

For more information, contact Thomas Ahearn.

Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch - Research Areas

Email