Fellowship to Identify New Mechanisms of Tamoxifen Resistance in Breast Cancer Patients
Abstract
The non-steroidal antiestrogen tamoxifen (TAM) has been used successfully% in the treatment of tens of thousands of women with breast cancer, and has been shown to increase both disease-free and overall survival in treated patients. Unfortunately, virtually all patients treated with TAM eventually develop resistant disease. The research funded by this fellowship was directed at increasing our understanding of the mechanisms leading to the development of tamoxifen resistance. The two Specific Aims of this proposal have been completed and three altered estrogen receptors (ERs) have been identified from clinical samples, one of which exhibits a hormone-independent phenotype in transient assays (Aim 1 and 2). This work represents the work of the first postdoctoral fellow to work on the project, Dr. Douglas Wolf. We have also worked out the technical aspects of microdissection of archival and frozen clinical tumor samples to improve the use of differential display technologies to examine these samples for altered gene expression coincident with the phenotype of tamoxifen resistance (Aims 3 and 4). Dr. Wolf left the laboratory after completion of Aim 3, and Aim 4 of the fellowship project was completed by Dr. Rhonda Hansen.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA383255
Entities
People
- Suzanne A. Fuqua
Organizations
- University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio