Cancer Genetics to combine forces with Nanotechnology

The identification and treatment of women with early stage breast cancer, who are at risk of developing advanced breast cancer, is one of the most important aspects of breast cancer management. Once cancer cells have spread past the breast, in other words once the cancer has metastasised, the prognosis for patients is poor.

“Our grant is aimed at developing a test that will tell women early if breast cancer has returned after treatment, so they can receive earlier intervention rather than having to wait anxiously to see if another lump or symptoms return,” said Professor Clark from the Garvan Institute.

The research team proposes to couple two state-of-the-art novel technologies: nanoscaled biosensors and epigenetic breast cancer markers. Biosensors are tiny, uniquely bar-coded particles that can be used to detect specific changes associated with cancer DNA. Professor Clark and her colleagues plan to identify breast cancer specific DNA codes that can be recognised with a simple blood test using these tiny barcodes.

“The combination of nanotechnology and epigenetics research with clinical trials has the potential to further our knowledge about breast cancer in addition to improving diagnosis and treatment. This multi-disciplinary program gives us the opportunity to make major advances that would be impossible were the primary research teams working separately.”

Alison Heather / Jackie Crossman

Garvan Institute

http://www.garvan.org.au/