Dr. Wang on Genomic Analysis of Breast Cancer Risk in Pediatric Cancer Survivors

Zhaoming Wang, PhD, bioinformatics scientist, Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses a genomic analysis of breast cancer risk in pediatric cancer survivors.

Researchers did a genomic sequencing assessment on 3000 pediatric cancer survivors, analyzing the pathogenesis of the patients’ germline mutations. The goal was to determine the genomic contribution to the risk of subsequent breast cancer. Preclinical data suggested that the exposure of radiation to the breast tissue during the treatment of pediatric cancer is a major risk factor. Wang adds that literature had also been published indicating that certain chemotherapy agents contributed to increased risk. Genetic risk is currently unknown, Wang says.

Typical clinical demographics were used in the analysis, Wang says, and genomic expressions were factored in. He presented the findings at the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting.