Grant: Project Grant

Advances in technology have only recently allowed a systematic and comprehensive exploration of the genetic basis of cancer. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a global collaborative effort that has identified many of the key genomic changes in over 30 types of cancer. The publicly available TCGA datasets help the cancer research community improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. This wealth of information has allowed cancer researchers to subdivide tumors into two major classes: tumors primarily arising and progressing from mutations in specific genes, and those from the gain or loss of DNA referred to as somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs). Skin and kidney cancers are examples that typically arise from mutations in specific genes. Breast cancer is typically driven by SCNAs. We recently developed a multi-faceted genomic strategy to rank prognostic SCNAs in cancer and identify new targets of disease progression harbored within large arm-level SCNAs (loss or duplication of entire chromosome arms). This research will apply our innovative strategy to identify novel driver genes responsible for breast cancer mortality and validate focused candidates for therapeutic intervention using pre-clinical models.