TGen researchers will zero in on the triple-negative (TN) form of IBC. Triple-negative breast cancers are those that do not express clinically significant levels of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PfR) or human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2).

"It is critical that we discover the molecular and biologic underpinnings driving the highly aggressive behavior of TN-IBC tumors," Dr. Cunliffe said.

A significant confounding problem in IBC research is that cells within an IBC tumor are mostly diffuse throughout the breast, mixed with normal cells and a significant number of immune system cells, Dr. Cunliffe said.

"This makes isolation of tumor-specific DNA samples for research exceedingly difficult," Dr. Cunliffe said. "TGen's study will leverage a technology developed in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Barrett at TGen that solves this problem, allowing us to purify and examine TN-IBC DNA accurately at high resolution without contamination of DNA from normal healthy cells."

Dr. Cunliffe said she hopes to quickly translate TGen's laboratory findings into new therapeutic approaches that will benefit TN-IBC patients.

Source: The Translational Genomics Research Institute