A University of Wisconsin-Madison biomedical engineer and colleagues have developed a method that, applied in MRI scans of the breast, could spare some women with increased breast cancer risk the pain and stress of having to endure a biopsy of a questionable lump or lesion. The universal technology will give radiologists greater confidence in visually classifying a lesion as malignant or benign. The American Cancer Society recommends that women with certain breast cancer risk factors — including inherited genetic mutations, family or personal history of breast cancer, or previous radiation therapy to the chest — receive an annual MRI screening in addition to their yearly mammogram. During a breast MRI, which lasts about a half hour, the technician injects a contrast agent into a vein in the patient's arm. Over time, the contrast agent flows throughout the body, including the breasts. Because they are growing quickly, cancerous lesions often have immature vasculature, and the contrast agent flows in and "leaks" out quickly. Conversely, benign lesions show more gradual in and out flow. "The tricky ones are the ones that enhance quickly and then fall off more slowly," says <a href="http://www.engr.wisc.edu/bme/faculty/block_walter.html">Wally Block</a>, a UW-Madison associate professor of biomedical engineering and medical physics. "Many of these lesions turn out to be difficult to classify and lead to biopsy." Yet, it turns out that with the right kind of MRI scan, radiologists can visually identify a cancerous lesion based on characteristics about its shape. For example, breaks or interruptions in a lesion can indicate a benign fibroadenoma. Lumps with smooth edges often are benign, while those with jagged edges can signal cancer. To generate the kind of crisp, three-dimensional images necessary for such a diagnosis, Block, UW-Madison radiology associate professor Fred Kelcz and graduate student Catherine Moran are capitalizing on their unique MRI data-acquisition method. An MR image is made up of thousands of smaller pieces of information. The conventional data-acquisition method gathers that information slowly, and it's designed to be viewed from a single imaging plane. "What people do now is they compromise," says Block. "They don't get resolution in the other planes to make it a reasonable scan time. We found a way around that." With the team's powerful technique, an MRI machine acquires data radially and generates a high-resolution, three-dimensional image that radiologists can turn, slice and view from many perspectives — enabling them to study a lesion's physical characteristics more carefully. Machines equipped with the technique also acquire more data in less time. In addition, the method also makes it possible for radiologists to view fat images and water images separately, which is particularly useful because fat composes a large portion of the breast. "Rarely is disease associated with fat," says Block. "Most of the time radiologists are concentrating on water images, but sometimes our fat images of the breast are also useful. The boundaries of a lesion often stand out very clearly when embedded in fat." Block and his colleagues currently are gathering data on the efficacy of the technique. They have tested the method on 20 patients at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and have shared it with colleagues at the University of Toronto for additional assessment. They also are working with Michigan State University researchers to test the technique. Collaborating with Scott Reeder, a UW-Madison assistant professor of biomedical engineering and radiology, Block and colleagues also are refining ways to image both breasts simultaneously — a development that could slash scan time and free valuable MRI space for additional patients. "If you have a screening procedure that you want people to participate in regularly, you want to make it convenient for them," says Block. Funding from the Walter H. Coulter Translational Research Partnership in biomedical engineering at UW-Madison supported the research, as well as grants and in-kind support from GE Healthcare. In addition to Block, Kelcz, Moran and Reeder, UW-Madison collaborators also include research scientist Alexey Samsonov and assistant researcher Ethan Brodsky. A University of Wisconsin-Madison biomedical engineer and colleagues have developed a method that, applied in MRI scans of the breast, could spare some women with increased breast cancer risk the pain and stress of having to endure a biopsy of a questionable lump or lesion. New MRI technique could mean fewer breast biopsies in high-risk women 16862 2009-06-29T09:46:00-05:00

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Patients with more concerns about their breast cancer are heavier users of online information, according to a new study conducted by the <a href="https://chess.wisc.edu/chess/home/home.aspx">Center for Excellence in Cancer Communications Research</a>, funded by the National Cancer Institute. Additionally, those in greater need were more likely to seek experiential information, such as stories about other patients or how to be a better health care consumer, as compared to more science-based content. This is the first study to take a comprehensive look at what psychological characteristics predict online information seeking among underserved breast cancer patients. The study sample included 144 recently diagnosed, low-income, rural breast cancer patients in Wisconsin who were referred by their health care providers to a study in which they were provided a free computer, Internet access and training on how to use an online health education and support system called the <a href="https://chess.wisc.edu/chess/home/home.aspx">Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System</a> (<acronym title="Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System">CHESS</acronym>) program, a computer-based health education and support system. Surveys were administered before group access, and use data about how women used different types of information within the system were also collected. "Many thought that cancer patients who were better off would be more likely to use resources such as the Internet to cope with their illness, yet our research indicates that underserved patients with greater psychological needs are more likely to take advantage of the Internet as a source of cancer information. Our findings support efforts to expand access to Web-based cancer information resources for vulnerable populations who could benefit from this support," says <a href="http://lsc.wisc.edu/index.php/faculty-staff/faculty/bret-shaw">Bret Shaw</a>, assistant professor of life sciences communication and lead author of the study. "It is also interesting to learn that experiential information such as personal stories from other patients may be among the content that patients want most." The results of the study are published in the June issue of the Journal of Health Communication. Patients with more concerns about their breast cancer are heavier users of online information, according to a new study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Excellence in Cancer Communications Research, funded by the National Cancer Institute. Study: Breast cancer patients with greater need seek more information online 15328 2008-06-18T00:00:00-05:00

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Combing the genomes of the rat and the human, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found swaths of genetic code that can be used to assess the risk of human breast cancer. <div class="photoBlockRight370" style="width: 248px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/newsphotos/images/Gould_cancer_ratport07_7929sm.jpg" alt="Photo of Gould" width="248" height="370" /> Michael N. Gould, oncologist with the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, poses in his lab on March 19, 2007. Gould led a team of researchers that identified variations on regions of the human genome "that significantly associate with breast cancer research in women." The team used Gould's rat model for breast cancer to help identify the suspect areas of the human genetic code. Photo: <a href="mailto:photos@news.wisc.edu">Aaron Mayes</a> </div> The new work by a team of researchers at UW-Madison's <a href="http://mcardle.oncology.wisc.edu/">McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research</a> represents some of the early potential clinical payoffs of the massive efforts to gather and sequence the genomes of humans and other animals. Writing in today's (April 2) issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a team led by Wisconsin oncologist <a href="http://www.mcardle.wisc.edu/faculty/bio/gould_m.html">Michael N. Gould</a> reports the discovery of genetic variations on regions of the human genome "that significantly associate with breast cancer risk in women." One of the newly identified regions of the human genome, known as a "resistance locus," means that, on average, women who have it have a 15 percent decreased risk of breast cancer. Another region, which acts in a recessive manner, increases risk of disease by as much as 19 percent for the average woman. The discovery is important because it could underpin new genetic screening methodologies for the most common type of cancer in American women. Instead of focusing on individual genes that may protect or predispose an individual to cancer, the new work demonstrates that identifiable patches of genetic code that do not always contain protein-making genes play a role in the onset of disease. Unlike current genetic strategies for assessing breast cancer risk, which involve looking for mutations of two specific genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, the Wisconsin study identifies risk associated with areas of the genome that harbor so-called modifier genes, genes that do not make proteins, as many genes do, but instead act to influence other genes elsewhere on the genome and that help initiate the cascade of events that leads to breast cancer. "Scientifically, this is unique, and we can use this new knowledge to study risk in the average woman," says Gould. He adds that while mutations of the BRCA genes are good predictors of cancer risk in an individual, they are uncommon, occurring in less than 1 percent of women and are thus too rare to be used effectively for breast cancer screening. As many as 200,000 new cases of breast cancer are reported each year in the United States and upward of 50,000 people die annually as a result of the disease. "This could be used to screen the general population," says Gould of the work that utilized a rat model for breast cancer to find regions of the genome that seemed to influence the onset or prevent the disease. Knowing the regions of the rat genome important for breast cancer, Gould and his colleagues were able to identify similar regions on the human genome using data obtained from samples provided by nearly 12,000 women from Wisconsin and the United Kingdom. The genetic variations found by Gould and his team occur on a portion of the genome that has no obvious direct function, such as making proteins. The implication is that the swath of genetic code identified by the Wisconsin group contains modifier components of the genome, which act at a distance to influence what other genes do. Scientists believe that breast cancer and many other diseases result from a complex series of genetic events. They suspect that modifier loci play a big role in many types of diseases, but finding such genes has proved exceptionally difficult, Gould says. Thus, the new work adds an important new piece to the molecular puzzle of breast cancer and, according to Gould, is a strategy that is also now being employed to unravel the secrets of other diseases such as diabetes. The rat model for breast cancer, developed by Gould's lab during the past decade, provides a unique window to the molecular levers that influence disease. The rat is a good model for breast cancer because the disease manifests itself in the animal in much the same way it occurs in humans. Using the model, Gould's team was able to home in on eight areas of the rat genome that dispose or protect the animal from breast cancer. Then, scouring the human genome, it was possible to identify similar regions of genetic code that have been preserved throughout the course of evolutionary history. "We scanned the whole genome of the animal (rat) model for breast cancer," Gould explains. "We mapped several regions in the rat genome that were associated with susceptibility to mammary cancer." Using data from cancer patients, Gould's team was then able to identify parts of the human genome that had similar variations that either increase or decrease the risk of disease. An ability to screen women and assess breast cancer risk promises to help with prevention and early detection of the disease. Gould also believes that the knowledge may help spur new strategies for prevention and treatment. "At the end of the day, not only have we found these markers in humans, but we have the animal model to test prevention and treatment strategies," he says. The work in Gould's lab was spearheaded by David J. Samuelson, Stephanie E. Hesselson and Amy Trentham-Dietz. Bruce A. Ponder of the University of Cambridge is also a senior author of the new PNAS report. The work was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health. Combing the genomes of the rat and the human, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found swaths of genetic code that can be used to assess the risk of human breast cancer. With rat genome as guide, human breast cancer risk refined 13630 2007-05-02T00:00:00-05:00 2007-04-02T00:00:00-05:00

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