It is our honour to unform you that the team of researchers from the Department of Biostatics ad Translational Medicine MUL, headed by Prof. Wojciech Fendler will be participating in the international project: ‘Circulating microRNAs for assessment of risk beyond the BRCA genes and early detection of breast cancer in high-risk families’ managed by Prof. Dipanjan Chowdhury from Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston .

The funds granted by the Gray Foundation will finance the research to develop a quick microRNA-based test which may facilitate the identification of females at risk of breast and ovarian cancer and early detection of these conditions. Samples collected from patients will undergo transcriptomic analysis to identify potential biomarkers for early detection of hereditary breast cancer, its prediction for the near future and identification of women who are likely to require regular oncological monitoring owing to high genetically-determined risk of cancer.

The research shall be carried out in four centres by the teams of Prof. Judy Garber (Dana Faber Cancer Institute, Boston), Prof. Susan Domchek (University of Pennsylvania , Filadelfia), Prof. Usha Menon (University College London) and Prof. Agnieszka Kołacińska-Wow (Medical University of Lodz / Nicolaus Copernicus Memorial Provincial Specialist Hospital in Lodz).

The results of previous research were published in June in a prestigious Nature Communications journal.

The project total budget is $ 3 million, with MUL share amounting to PLN 2.1 million.