New Gene Activated in 80 Pct. of Breast Cancer Patients, GWU Medical Center Team Led by Dr. Patricia Berg to Report April 22 4/18/2003
From: Bob Weiner of Robert Weiner Associates, 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700 News Advisory: -- New Gene Expressed in 80 percent of Breast Cancer Patients, GWU Medical Center Team Led by Dr. Patricia Berg to Report; Potential Early Target for Detection and Therapy; Berg Had Discovered and Cloned "Bp1" -- News Conference 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, 227 Ross Hall, GWU (23rd & I) -- Findings to be Published in "Breast Cancer Research" Journal -- While Overall Impact, Disproportionately More African American Breast Cancer Patients Express Gene and Could be Helped by Findings A George Washington University Medical Center team, led by Dr. Patricia Berg, will report at a news conference Tuesday that a new gene, BP1, discovered and cloned by Dr. Berg, is expressed in 80 percent of breast cancer patients. Dr. Berg, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, stated that, "Because of these high preliminary numbers and our molecular studies, we believe that this gene may offer a useful new early target for breast cancer detection and therapy, and we must now conduct expedited research." Dr. Berg has been studying the gene for 16 years, and began breast cancer testing in 1999 when she joined the faculty of GWU. The GWU/Berg team also stated that "While the research into BP1 may impact all groups with breast cancer in that there was an overall higher expression rate, the findings may prove especially helpful to African Americans, who disproportionately expressed the new gene." Team members will hold the news conference on Tuesday, April 22, at 11 a.m. EDT, in Room 227 Ross Hall, GWU Medical Center, 23rd and I Streets, N.W. The findings will be published in the journal "Breast Cancer Research" concurrent with the news conference at 11 a.m. EDT April 22 and will be available on-line at that time at: http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/5/4/R82 prior to printing of the June edition of the Journal. In addition to GWU, the authors of the paper included scientists from Children's National Medical Center, the University of Maryland Medical School, and Howard University College of Medicine. EDITOR'S NOTE: Room 227 will be available for set-up at 10 a.m. April 22. Also, video of lab in operation will be available at the press conference. (Source: Robert Weiner Associates and George Washington University Medical Center) |