Collaboration is a key area of proven scientific discovery at Mayo Clinic, and with an international research team led by investigators from the Center for Individualized Medicine and the National Institute of Health’s Pharmacogenomics Research Network, this team has identified specific single-nucleotide polymorhisms (SNPs) in and near the ZNF423 and CTSO genes that show promise to guide research towards pharmacogenomically individualized selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM) breast cancer prevention.

Lead author on the recently published paper in Cancer Discovery, Richard Weinshilboum, M.D., the international team are looking forward to beginning follow-up clinical studies to reveal how well the SNP markers will distinguish women who will benefit more from preventative therapy with SERMs than those who would not.

Samples from two breast cancer prevention trials were analyzed, one from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project P-1 trial of tamoxifen, and the NSAB P-2 trial comparing tamoxifen and raloxxifene. Collaborators at the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine in Japan genotyped the samples, and the team analyzed the results determining any SNPs with potential to distinguish cases from controls.

“It has been known for years that estrogen can induce BRCA1,” said Weinshilboum. “And now we think the two candidates that came out of the GWAS might be part of that induction…so we plan to study that.”

Read a detailed report of the study here.

Tags: BRCA1, breast cancer, center for individualized medicine, estrogen, genes, genetic therapy, Genetics, mayo clinic, national institute of health, pharmacogenomics, preventative therapy, snp, Uncategorized