My projects involve studying biologic markers in breast carcinoma, including the use of specific molecular genetic markers to investigate relevant epidemiological factors. The main project involves the study of breast carcinoma as part of the NCI Black/White Cancer Survival Study in which behavioral and biologic variables have been studied to account for the racial disparity in survival between African-American and Caucasian women. While other investigators have studied the role of such factors as accessibility to health care as an explanation for this disparity, the purpose of our investigation is to evaluate the possibility of a biologic component as a contributing factor. Using a modified microdissection technique, recently devised by Drs. Emmert- Buck and Zhuang, DNA analysis is being performed to investigate loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 11q13 and 17q21-23 for breast carcinoma cases in which material is limited to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections. This method permits isolation and analysis of DNA from infiltrating and intraductal carcinoma cells and uses non-invasive cells from the same specimens as controls. A study of 62 representative cases from the NCI Black/White study cohort, approximately 30 from each race, is currently underway. Because the study is ongoing, the study is masked for race, but cases for analysis have been matched for age and stage. The other project involves immunohistochemical staining of normal tissues and breast carcinoma tissue with anti-peptide antibodies for autotaxin, a novel motility factor cloned and characterized in Dr. Mary Stracke's lab. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the distribution and intensity of staining in normal versus malignant cells in order to better understand the localization of this factor during tumor invasion and metastasis.
