The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a top-rated cancer research charity, together with the Goldberg Family Foundation and Gray Foundation are pleased to announce that they are jointly funding promising new research into treatments for BRCA cancers. The grant, co-funded by these three groups, will be made to a team at the University of California, […]
Building on the Promise of PARP Inhibitors
Cancer drugs known as PARP inhibitors target an enzyme that repairs damaged DNA. Blocking this repair mechanism can keep cancer cells from repairing themselves and cause them to die. However, not all cancers respond well to PARP inhibitors. In particular, about half of cancers with mutations to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes (mutations […]
Closing The Health Disparity Gap
The field of genetics is rapidly expanding and becoming a centerpiece of the modern healthcare experience. Hereditary cancer genes, like BRCA1 and BRCA2, are now household terms, thanks to considerable efforts to raise awareness. Unfortunately, most of the data available to help interpret testing for these and other genes comes almost exclusively from Caucasian individuals […]
The Best Test for You: Navigating At-Home BRCA Testing
My name is Dena Goldberg and I’m a genetic counselor at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in cancer genetics. I see patients and their relatives with a personal or family history of cancer, tumors, or polyps, and use their history to determine the most appropriate genetic test. I use genetic test results […]
Cascade Genetic Testing of Relatives for Hereditary Cancer Risk: Results of an Online Initiative
Testing those diagnosed with a disease is the most efficient way to identify carriers of predisposing germline genetic variants, and is consistent with clinical practice guidelines. To achieve the goal of genetically targeted primary disease prevention, testing for an identified familial pathogenic variant must then extend to disease-free relatives in a process known as “cascade […]
At SF synagogue: BRCA, Cancer and Ashkenazi Genetics
One in 40 Ashkenazi Jews has a gene mutation that drastically increases the chance of certain cancers — and Gail Fisher thinks people need to know about it. Go to article
bioRxiv The PrePrint Server for Biology
Germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes predispose carriers to breast and ovarian cancer, and there remains a need to identify the specific genomic mechanisms by which cancer evolves in these patients. Here we present a systematic genomic analysis of breast tumors with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, comparing these to common types of sporadic […]
Looking Toward the Future of Cancer Treatment with Dr. Allison Kurian
Over the course of my BRCA Journal posts, I have highlighted emerging technologies and highly tailored therapeutics. These exciting innovations have the potential to change the way cancer is studied and treated. While they advance the trend of personalized medicine, they currently only benefit a small portion of cancer patients. Existing treatments have proven highly […]
How the CRISPR Craze will Change Cancer Treatment
In my final few posts, I will focus on the future of cancer treatment. Over the course of my series of posts, I discussed what scientists have learned about the genetic basis of disease, how these findings have led to the development of targeted therapies, and how the sequencing revolution has enabled the personalization of […]
How the DNA Sequencing Revolution is Personalizing Medicine
Many of the topics I have discussed in my posts have mentioned using DNA sequencing to both distinguish cancers and curate treatments. While interpretations of data obtained from DNA sequencing are often highlighted in the news, the methods behind how this process works and is analyzed can be a mystery to non-scientists. Over the past […]