CBCRP Supports 4th International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach to Breast Cancer

Laurence Fitzgerald, Ph.D., CBCRP Manager–Core Funding
The CBCRP awarded a Joining Forces Conference award to Dr. Susan Love to support her foundation ’s continuing effort to advance a novel approach to diagnose breast cancer. The 4th International Symposium on the Intraductal Approach to Breast Cancer was held on March 10-13,2005, in Santa Barbara. More than 100 researchers, clinicians, and patient advocates from all over the globe, country, and many from California met to discuss the current status and future of the intraductal approach. This method involves obtaining breast duct fluid via the nipple, either as aspirate fluid (fluid and cells that are sucked from the ducts) or as a lavage (fluid and cells that are flushed from the ducts). The cells and fluid can then be analyzed for pre-cancerous and cancerous proteins, genes, and cytology.

The conference brought individuals together to: (1) describe their experiences and share research or clinical findings, (2) develop multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary collaborations, (3) award new pilot grants to further stimulate research using the intraductal approach, (4) develop a consensus statement of the current clinical utility of the intraductal approach, and (5) foster a partnership between the individual donors of research funds, advocates, and researchers. The researchers come from a variety of scientific backgrounds, including both basic and clinical sciences, including medical oncology, internal medicine, surgery, radiology, biochemistry, pathology, endocrinology, epidemiology, and biostatistics.

The conference consisted of 38 talks given by invited speakers and 11 presentations from individuals applying for support for pilot research projects. As a result, a total of $65,000 was given to 7 researchers across the country and in Italy for new research projects. The topics of the talks ranged from the normal and abnormal composition of breast ductal fluids to determining whether the collection of ductal fluids could be used to detect and diagnose breast cancer to exploring the use of the ducts as a mode of entry for preventing and treating breast cancer.

In a feature new to the conference, the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation hosted its first public panel discussion. The panel consisted of experts from medical oncology, surgery, pathology, and basic science. The aim was to provide community members the opportunity to learn about the intraductal approach to breast cancer, research currently going on in the field of breast cancer, and to ask questions about current breast cancer treatment options. After the formal panel presentation, the audience asked questions about ductal lavage and breast cancer care. Several topics were raised, including survival differences for African American women, the use of Herceptin, and breast cancer risk factors.

More information on the conference will be posted on the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation website (www.drsusanloveresearchfoundation.org) as well as Dr. Susan Love ’s website (www.susanlovemd.org). This provides a session-by-session review of the presentations and discussions. A summary of the scientific information has been accepted for publication in the journal Breast Cancer Research.