Familial Cancer Registry Shared Resource - Claudine Isaacs, MD The Familial Cancer Registry (FCR) Shared Resource is a unique shared resource that provides investigators access to one of the nation?s largest collections of individuals from high-risk breast cancer families. The FCR is a comprehensive resource that includes detailed demographic data, family history information, medical history, cancer risk factors, tissue from surgeries (benign and malignant), immortalized lymphocytes, red blood cells, buffy coat, plasma, blood clot and serum, all of which can be linked confidentially to the results of genetic testing. The FCR has existed since 1998. In 2001 the FCR received developmental funds from the Cancer Center Support Grant of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (Lombardi) to become a shared resource. Currently, 2,143 subjects are enrolled in the FCR, representing an increase of 1,119 individuals since the last grant submission. The FCR aims to provide interested investigators with high-quality data and biospecimens from a genetically characterized population that is at high risk of developing certain types of cancer. The FCR resources have supported important research in three Lombardi programs. Research topics have ranged from behavioral research (e.g., how genetic testing affects medical decision-making) to basic science (e.g., examining DNA repair gene polymorphisms in hereditary breast cancer). Fifty publications were supported by the FCR from 2003 through 2008. New developments in the FCR since the last application include the creation of tissue microarrays of breast tumors from women with a hereditary predisposition to this disease, the expansion of the FCR to recruit from another MedStar Hospital (Washington Hospital Center), and the recruitment of individuals with hereditary predisposition to colorectal cancer. Claudine Isaacs, MD, directs the FCR, is the Medical Director of the Cancer Assessment and Risk Evaluation (CARE) program, and is the codirector of the Fisher Center for Familial Cancer Research. Dr. Isaacs is an expert in the genetic factors that predispose to breast and other cancers. Her clinical interest also includes the treatment of patients with breast cancer.
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