Shahla Masood
University of Florida, USA
Title: Breast cancer prediction and early detection: The potential value of cytomorphology and hTERT gene DNA methylation
Biography
Biography: Shahla Masood
Abstract
Risk assessment has become an integral part of multi-disciplinary breast care, and breast cancer risk reduction interventions, and identification of high risk individuals have received a great deal of attention. Atypical proliferative changes in breast epithelial cells are ranked high among various known breast cancer risk factors and have been the subject of several investigations. Breast tissue and fluid in the ductal system provides a rich source of cells and biomarkers that has the potential to measure short-term risk of breast cancer development, and assess responses to interventional prevention efforts. Minimally invasive procedures such as fine needle aspiration biopsy, ductal lavage, and nipple fluid aspiration are commonly used in breast cancer detection and research. We have established the “Masood Cytology Index” as a morphologic risk predictor and believe that the development of a novel malignancy-associated biomarker amplified by PCR will enhance our ability to stratify high-risk patients. DNA hypermethylation has been documented to be prominent using qualitative methylation specific PCR on DNA isolated from the tumor cell line. Using quantitative pyrosequencing technology, we demonstrated that there is significant hypermethylation in tumor cells versus low DNA methylation in normal tissue. The results of this study highlight the value of DNA hypermethylation as a potential marker for early breast cancer detection. More importantly, we believe that integration of this novel malignancy associated testing with morphology is of significant value in the accurate interpretation of breast cancer precursors obtained from minimally invasive procedures and may be used as a breast cancer risk predictor.