The Independent Cancer Patients Voice a warm welcome to Leeds!

11.15Collection & use of tissue and its value to cell biology Val Speirs, Debbie Holliday, Laura Smith, Aidan Hindley 13.00Lunch with Dave Ardon, Chair NCRI Consumer Liaison Group 14.00Bone related issues in breast cancer treatment Rob Coleman 15.00Consultation on measures of emotional distress Lucy Ziegler 16.00Tea & ICPV discussion 16.30Different methods of breast reconstruction Raj Achuthan 17.30Lab tour Steven Pollock & Michele Cummings Programme

Collection and use of tissue and its value to cell biology Valerie Speirs Deborah Holliday Laura Smith Section of Pathology and Tumour Biology

Breast cancer: One disease or many?

If it looks different, it is different

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Grade I Grade II Frequency of chromosomal aberrations in breast cancer Roylance et al., Cancer Res 1999

Breast cancer is heterogeneous: One size does not fit all!

How can we model breast cancer in the lab? Cell lines Animal models Human clinical material

Cell lines Pros –ease of use –homogeneous –easily replaced Cons –origin –genetic drift –reproducibility

Burdall et al., Breast Cancer Res, 2003

Case study: MCF-7 Separate MCF-7 strains from different laboratories Morphology –similar in all cases Growth rate –variable Karyotype (CGH/SKY) –variable ER/PR content –variable

Animal models Breast cancer is a complex disease which is not easily modelled in animals Concerns over the validity of animal models –breast tumours taken from animal experiments do not accurately represent human breast cancers in their appearance Ethical pressure on scientists –3Rs

Primary cultures derived from human material Pros –established directly from tumours –more representative models Biologically Clinically Cons –difficult to establish –slow doubling times –contamination by fibroblasts/normal epithelial cells –Ethical issues (HTA) Tissue access

Breast Cancer Campaign Mission To beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure

Background to Breast Cancer Campaign Breast Cancer Campaign is the only charity that specialises in funding independent breast cancer research throughout the UK Supports high quality research (basic and clinical) in universities, medical schools/teaching hospitals and research institutes in the UK and ROI

Since 1988 BCC have supported: –183 grants –£18.5 million Currently funds >100 research projects throughout the UK/ROI worth > £13.5M In Yorkshire, Campaign has supported –11 grants –£1.25 million

Breast Cancer Campaign – campaign%E2%80%99s- research/id/ http:// campaign%E2%80%99s- research/id/

Breast Cancer Campaign Gap Analysis One-day meeting convened in London on 2 November of the UK’s most influential breast cancer experts identified the key research gaps and priorities for the greatest potential impact on patients

Format Before, during and after the meeting, groups in seven key research areas participated in cycles of presentation, literature review and discussion

Groups 1.Genetics 2.Initiation 3.Progression 4.Therapies and targets 5.Disease markers 6.Prevention 7.Psychosocial aspects

Questions posed What do we know? What are the gaps? Problems Translational implications Recommendations

Summary papers were prepared by each group and collated into a position paper highlighting the research gaps, with recommendations for action

Highly accessed

To provide, in partnership with BCC, highly specialised breast cancer related biomaterials to support cutting-edge translational research for the benefit of the patient Mission Statement

Why is the tissue bank so important? Access to standardised, well annotated human breast tissue will help identify the causes of breast cancer, develop new treatments, identify genes associated with breast cancer and, most importantly, accelerate research from the laboratory to the clinic

Questions?