Research
Our Research
Breast Surgical Oncology research focuses on learning more about the genetic and molecular processes involved with the development, progression and spread of breast cancer. The aim is to translate laboratory findings into new treatment strategies to help patients live longer, healthier lives.
Innovative surgical options for breast cancer
Breast surgical oncologists are investigating ways to do less surgery with the same outcomes.
Breast surgical oncologist Kelly Hunt, M.D., helped to lead a multicenter study that showed no significant difference in survival between women undergoing sentinel node surgery alone versus complete axillary node dissection. The study led to a new standard of care for breast cancer patients worldwide. Now, along with breast surgical oncologists Henry Kuerer, M.D., Ph.D., and Abigail Caudle, M.D., they're starting to look at the same paradigm in women with more advanced breast cancers.
Recent research from our department has shown that doctors can use image-guided biopsies to collect samples after chemotherapy treatment to confirm no evidence of residual breast cancer for some patients. These patients would be able to avoid surgery altogether and not be subject to the side effects of more radical approaches.
A study on targeted axillary dissection (TAD) has also contributed to providing patients with less invasive surgical options for lymph node metastasis. The TAD procedure involves the removal of sentinel lymph nodes and other cancerous lymph nodes discovered at diagnosis.
This procedure can eliminate the need for more extensive surgeries for some patients, making them less susceptible to lymphedema, a painful swelling of the soft tissues in the arm.
Pioneered at MD Anderson, the TAD procedure has changed treatment guidelines at the institution and beyond.
Reducing risk and preventing breast cancer
Developing a deeper understanding of the mammogram is helping our researchers create profiles of women more likely to develop breast cancer.
Isabelle Bedrosian, M.D., and her team are investigating the changes in the structure of breast tissue in different types of breast cancer and comparing them to normal tissue. These different breast structures suggest that our researchers can create "mammographic signatures of risk." This is an integral step in determining why some women develop breast cancer.
Development of risk profiles is important, but our researchers know it is essential to create new ways to counteract genetic differences to address prevention.
Our researchers are exploring the use of common drugs such as statins and aspirin as possible ways to prevent breast cancer. The combination of these drugs may be able to reverse atypia, a marker of breast cancer risk.
Accurately predicting recurrence
Researchers in Breast Surgical Oncology are working to identify ways to predict recurrence and more accurately track how the disease changes over time.
Anthony Lucci, M.D., is studying liquid biopsies, a type of blood test that may give doctors more insight to the changes occurring at the cellular level in the battle against cancer. This non-invasive approach has yielded crucial results.
Researchers have learned that cancer cells that have spread beyond the primary tumor are usually very different from those collected at diagnosis. These circulating tumor cells can adapt and become resistant to radiation and chemotherapy.
Tracking the changes in these cells is vital to predicting the course of disease and devising better treatments.
Biomarkers: Improving treatment planning and overcoming resistance to therapy
Biomarkers are substances in the blood or tissue that relate to the status of the disease. Identifying and understanding the involvement of certain biomarkers related to breast cancer can point the way towards improved treatment planning and overcoming resistance to therapy.
Kelly Hunt, M.D., and her team were instrumental in changing the staging system used for breast cancer nationwide and in many other parts of the world. They accomplished this in part by analyzing the biomarkers within a tumor to create a more detailed profile of a patient's risk of recurrence.
Understanding these biomarkers were critical to the development of this new staging system for improved treatment planning.
Cyclin E is a biomarker involved with the cell cycle that plays an essential role in resistance to chemotherapy and endocrine therapy, especially in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
Hunt in collaboration with Khandan Keyomarsi, Ph.D., have translated laboratory results to successfully identify patients with the greatest risk of recurrence when compared to other prognostic factors. This research suggests it may be important to target Cyclin E in the development of future treatments for the most aggressive types of breast cancer.
Breast Surgical Oncology Research Database
The Breast Surgical Oncology Research Database houses demographic, clinical, pathological and treatment information related to the care of breast cancer patients over several decades. It combines information from three previous breast cancer databases: the Breast Conservation Treatment Database, the Breast Cancer Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping Database and the Breast Cancer Prospective Database.
This protected, secure database has information from more than 33,600 patients. Available to MD Anderson researchers, there is no fee for requesting data from this valuable institutional resource.