It was less than 20 years ago when Dr. Nancy E. Davidson was in the audience to hear geneticist Mary-Claire King announce she had identified the chromosome with a gene responsible for some inherited breast cancer.
In the ensuing years, researchers isolated the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, invented lab tests to identify those at risk and developed treatments proven to reduce the risk by up to 90 percent.
“I think this is a triumph of biology,” Davidson said last week at the UPMC Cancer Center, John Murtha Pavilion, 337 Somerset St., Johnstown.
Davidson is director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
“It is amazing that you can have that advance in biology in that period of time,” Davidson said.
Women who have the BRCA genes have from 50 percent to
80 percent chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetimes. In the general population, the chance is about 12 percent.
“If somebody knows that they have the gene, they can take action,” Davidson said. “They might be screened more rigorously.
“They may have an MRI in addition to their mammogram. In some cases they may choose preventive surgery. A mastectomy reduces chances by 90 percent.”
Now the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute is leading human clinical trials of new drugs to fight resistance to chemotherapy found in women with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
The drugs target a family of enzymes known as poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase, or PARP. They are responsible for a wide variety of cellular processes in cancer cells.
“Cancer cells have been shown to have increased levels of PARP, which we believe causes resistance to chemotherapies and other cancer treatments,” the study’s principal investigator, Shannon Puhalla, said in a press release.
For patients with BRCA genes, PARP enzymes interfere with the body’s natural ability to fight cancer, Davidson explained.
“It is particularly useful,” Davidson said.
“We now understand the cancer and the underlying processes. We hope we can move this forward into routine care. It may even be able to be used as a preventive. They may not have to have the preventive surgery.”
The PARP inhibitor study is the latest example of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute’s drive to bring the latest science to patients, Davidson said.
“I have become interested in how we move cancer discoveries from the lab to the clinic, and then into the community,” Davidson said.
“You have to get all these discoveries out to where the people are.”
The institute’s partnership with the network of UPMC Cancer Centers provides an ideal mechanism to advance that cause, she said. It was a primary factor in her decision to accept the position of cancer institute director in May.
Her visit to Johnstown last week marked the first in a series of visits to the satellite centers across western Pennsylvania.
“This network is almost unique in the United States,” she said.
Those community-based centers allow physicians to identify individual needs of each patient, she said.
“We are very interested in targeting our therapy,” Davidson said. “It’s the personalization of medicine.”
The key is not only identifying the specific nature of the cancer, but also breaking down the patient’s characteristics, she said.
“When cancer is growing a lot of things are going wrong in the cells, but also in the rest of the body,” she said. “A person’s immune system should be fighting. Why does the body allow the cancer to live in there?”
By identifying which enzymes and proteins in the cells affect the behavior of the cancer, doctors can zero in on treatment options.
“I want to have the right patient, the right treatment at the right time,” Davidson said.
Breast Cancer
Breast cancer: Advances a ‘triumph of biology’
- Breast Cancer
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‘We have all survived’: Cessna family copes with multiple diagnoses of breast cancer
When her daughter called last spring, it was bad news that Belva K. Mock hoped she would never receive again.
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‘It has a special place in my heart’: Physician assistant leaves military hospital and joins breast cancer fight
After working for 10 years at premier military hospitals in major metropolitan areas, Heather Johnston is embracing the different world she has found as a physician assistant at Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center in Windber.
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Breast cancer survivor discovers new lease and outlook on life
Now that she has survived breast cancer, Carrie Spinos of Richland Township wants to experience life more.
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Cancer patient grateful for ‘exceptional medical care’
As Christmas of 2010 approached, all seemed well in Annette Hines-McFadden’s world.
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Woman who faced breast cancer twice looks for silver lining
Three times, Rose (Murphy) Williams, 60, of Carrolltown had to give the love of her life bad news about cancer.
The first two times she had to tell her husband, Blaine, that she had breast cancer.
Then last year, she had to tell him he had esophageal cancer. -
‘I was lucky to find it early’: Mom discovers lump after losing daughter to cancer
Barely 18 months after her youngest daughter died from breast cancer, 76-year-old Patricia Barefoot discovered a lump on her own breast.
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Angling for a cure: Indiana County woman finds fly-fishing program therapeutic
Dorothy Klyap of Indiana County is fishing for women just like her.
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‘I have too much to live for’: Johnstown woman stresses importance of second opinions
Tammy Stuver is a person on the go who wasn’t about to let breast cancer keep her down for long.
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Family, friends help cancer patient cope
Jean E. Andrews of Old Conemaugh Borough has lived in the Johnstown area all of her 58 years.
Andrews, a breast cancer survivor, said it was the long-term relationships she formed in her life that got her through her ordeal with cancer. -
‘Nobody could have been more shocked’
Donald C. Shaffer knew there was something wrong.
The changes he was noticing around his nipple were becoming more painful.
His family doctor had examined the hard lumps a few weeks earlier, but the pain was not going away.
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