People undergoing breast biopsies to diagnose whether they have breast cancer are being urged to consider donating a sample of tissue to help with future research.
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Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute head Professor George Kannourakis said the institute needed more breast tissue samples to help them better understand breast cancer and how to treat it.
"We have a newly-established breast cancer research group looking at samples from breast cancer patients, trying to discover new proteins on breast cancer cells, especially for more aggressive breast cancer such as triple negative breast cancer which comprises about 15 per cent of breast cancers because they tend to do very badly compared to other types of breast cancer," he said.
"We are looking at the possibility that this type of cancer produces a protein on the cancer cell that forms a bog around cancer and stops the immune system from attacking it."
Breast tissue samples are collected during the biopsies that doctors order when there is a suspicion of breast cancer.
Professor Kannourakis said even if samples proved not to be cancerous they were still helpful for use in research.
The process is not an additional procedure and is done using samples collected for pathology. Samples are then stored in liquid nitrogen in the FECRI's tissue bank to be used later.
"What happens is women, when they get a biopsy done, it's only after a biopsy comes back that they are diagnosed with breast cancer," he said.
"It's not ethical to ask a patient to give a sample, so at time of suspicion of possible breast cancer we are asking them to give permission for some of that sample to go to FECRI," he said.
The FECRI breast cancer research project began in March, made possible after seed funding from a philanthropic donation in 2019 and this year's Ballarat Cycle Classic which raised $300,000 for the project.
The research group has since published world first work first describing the behaviour and function of a pregnancy associated plasma protein (PAPPA), that is highly found in aggressive triple-negative breast cancers. This research has provided evidence that could lead to a potential therapeutic target for the subset of breast cancers with elevated levels of the plasma protein that will improve treatment outcomes for these patients.
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"Our research program is possible, because of our tissue bank of nearly 4500 patient samples," Professor Kannourakis said. "Our breast cancer project needs patient samples to continue to develop its work."
Professor Kannourakis said FECRI was working with local radiology providers, including partners Lake Imaging, to make patients more aware and put consent forms in to clinics to help boost the number of breast tissue donations.
"We want to empower women to make this decision that yes they want to donate tissue. What it will do is allow us to make more discoveries in the future so future women with breast cancer can be better treated."