New Gene Active in 80 Percent of Breast Cancer Patients, GWU- Patricia Berg Team Reports; Target for Early Detection and Therapy 4/22/2003
From: Bob Weiner, 301-283-0821 for Dr. Patricia Berg Barbara Porter of the George Washington University Medical Center, 202-994-3121 WASHINGTON, April 18 -- The following was released today by George Washington University Medical Center: -- Gene Active in 80 Pct. of Breast Cancer Patients, GWU-Patricia Berg Team Reports; Target for Early Detection and Therapy --While Overall Impact, 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, has found that a new gene, BP1, discovered and cloned by Dr. Berg, is expressed in 80 percent of breast cancer patients in preliminary findings. Dr. Berg, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, stated, "Because of these high 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 reported 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." The rate of expression or "activation" for Caucasian women with breast cancer was 57 percent. Among African American women, it was 89 percent. Team members held a news conference today at GWUMC to report their findings, published in the journal "Breast Cancer Research", available 11:00 AM EDT today on-line at: http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/5/4/R82 prior to printing of the June edition. 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. Dr. Berg pointed to more than 1.2 million people diagnosed with breast cancer annually, including over 212,000 in the U.S., and stated, "We hope that this kind of research can make a real difference in addressing a major disease. 40,000 American women died from breast cancer last year alone." Dr. Berg asserted that the discovery, cloning, and findings of the effect of the new gene "could now expedite research to put us further on the trail of treating breast cancer and other cancers." Berg has previously published studies demonstrating that BP1 is also expressed in patients with leukemia. BP1 is a newly discovered form of a previously known gene, DLX4. Dr. Allan Goldstein, Chairman of the GWU Medical Center Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, stated, "Dr. Berg's research is cutting edge and is exactly the reason we brought her to GWU. These findings are the fruits of over fifteen years of research by Dr. Berg. The results are both important and exciting in terms of potential clinical application." Prior to GWU, Dr. Berg was on the faculty of the University of Maryland Medical School and was a Senior Staff Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Source: Robert Weiner Associates and George Washington University Medical Center --- EDITOR'S NOTE: A high-resolution, publication-ready photo supporting this story is available for free editorial use at http://www.wirepix.com/newsphotos/USN |