- Thanks to this innovation, it has been identified that women who carry certain genes have a higher risk of presenting this neoplasia.
- During 2020 there were 2.2 million new cases of breast cancer on the planet and the trend continues to increase.
- When the tumor is identified at an advanced stage, the chances of cure are lower.
Although the years pass, breast cancer remains a serious public health problem. Its impact is so great that it is estimated that one in 12 women in the world will develop this tumor at some point in her life. The main drawback is when the disease is detected at an advanced stage because the risk of cure is lower.
A deadly disease that keeps on rising
With this in mind, The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that during 2020, 2.2 million new cases were reported. In fact, it is one of the most frequent and in recent years it has reported an increase in its incidence.
For its part, one of the greatest current challenges is identify the risk that a woman has to develop breast cancer. There are multiple risk factors but the reason why one patient may suffer from this disease and another not is still not known with certainty.
However, one of the most hopeful developments is the living breast tissue biobank at Mayo Clinic. Their work has been useful for researchers to identify the ways in which carriers of certain genes may have a higher risk of developing this neoplasm.
For example, in a recent study, the biobank proved to be of great value in understanding the influence that BRCA1 gene in the increased risk of breast cancer in women who carry the gene.
The research team used specimens from the biobank to validate their findings, says the Dr Nagarajan Kannandirector of the Mayo Clinic Cancer and Stem Cell Biological Laboratory.
How does the biological bank of living breast tissue work?
Understand how the biobank Living Breast Biobank endorsed this study means understanding its far-reaching purpose, and what makes it unique.
“In 2016, with the support of many clinical and research colleagues, I founded this biobank to collect tissues from women who, in particular, have an inherited mutation and have had breast surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.”
The biobank now collects samples at all Mayo Clinic sites and includes any genes associated with increased risk of breast cancer.
At Mayo Clinic in Rochester, samples also include breast tissue from cosmetic surgeries, including live male breast tissue.
“Accessing living male breast tissue to study the origin of male breast cancer has been a significant challenge, and we have overcome it,” says Dr. Kannan. “One in every hundred cases of breast cancer occurs in men, but the male mammary gland and breast cancer in men continue to be little studied. We want to change this by using the unique resource that we have developed.”
The breast samples for the biological bank are obtained the day the patient has surgery. They are then taken to a central processing unit in Dr. Kannan’s laboratory.
“It is very intensive work. Each sample is obtained and processed on the spot, then it takes about a day and a half to generate what we call epithelial stem cell-rich tissue organoids. These are units of tissue that still have self-regenerating stem cells. They are cryopreserved and then stored in the bank. It is possible to spoil samples during processing steps due to small errors, so there was a high degree of optimization of the methodology that went into streamlining this process.”
Many physicians and technology experts have collectively contributed more than 10,000 hours to obtain, process, and store these stem cell-rich samples.
Experience isolating intact stem cell growth is why Dr. Kannan wanted the word “living” in the biobank name. Even tissues stored in autopsy banks a few days after death generate living stem cells. The death of a patient does not deplete stem and progenitor cells in breast tissue, and these cells serve as a vital resource for research.
Currently, the biobank has approximately 500 patient samples. Each includes a survey of about 150 questions from participating patients. The survey provides information about other factors that may contribute to elevated cancer risk, such as diet, lifestyle, genetics, and medical and family history.
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