US-Mexico sequence-analysis collaboration illuminates breast cancer's drivers

Breast cancer is not a single disease, but a collection of diseases with dozens of different mutations that crop up with varying frequency across different breast cancer subtypes. Deeper exploration of the genetic changes that drive breast cancer is revealing new complexity in the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. In one of the largest breast cancer sequencing efforts to date, scientists from the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Genomic Medicine in Mexico City, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have discovered surprising alterations in genes that were not previously associated with breast cancer. They report their results in the June 21 issue of Nature.

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Among the research institutions NCI funds across the United States, it currently designates 66 as Cancer Centers. Largely based in research universities, these facilities are home to many of the NCI-supported scientists who conduct a wide range of intense, laboratory research into cancer’s origins and development. The Cancer Centers Program also focuses on trans-disciplinary research, including population science and clinical research. The centers’ research results are often at the forefront of studies in the cancer field.