Basser Young Leadership Council co-founder Erika Stallings shares the story of her BRCA journey with Very Well Health.

A meta-analysis of nearly 200,000 men revealed 22 new genetic locations that could be susceptible to inherited testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) — a 40 percent increase in the number of regions known to be associated with the cancer. The multi-institutional meta-analysis was led by Basser Director of Genetics, Katherine L. Nathanson, MD.

Findings to be presented during a plenary session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting show that a PARP inhibitor significantly reduced the risk that breast cancer would return when given to patients with the BRCA mutation. Basser Executive Director Susan Domchek, MD, serves as lead investigator of the Penn trial. 

Susan Domchek, MD, Basser Executive Director, was featured in a story about Latinas and BRCA mutations. Despite the high prevalence of the mutations, awareness of hereditary cancer risks and genetic testing is low among this group, limiting their options for early treatment, she said.

Many pancreatic cancer patients with BRCA and PALB2 mutations saw their tumors stop growing or shrink substantially after being switched from chemotherapy to the PARP inhibitor rucaparib, according to results from a clinical trial led by Basser Center researchers.

Susan Domchek, MD, Basser Center Executive Director, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article that profiled a woman’s experience with genetic testing and a surprising family tree that led her to make decisions about her cancer care.

Philly Voice highlights our Black & BRCA initiative, which launched last fall to help raise  awareness about genetic testing in the Black community. 

In an op-ed, Basser Director of Genetics Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, joined other Penn physicians in offering strategies to “nudge” oncologists to overcome race as a heuristic in decision-making.

Basser researcher Kim Reiss Binder, MD, was featured in a series of videos on the latest in pancreatic cancer research and therapies, discussing immunotherapies, early detection, and metastatic disease.

Basser Executive Director Susan Domchek, MD, was quoted in a story on the ambiguity of certain genetic tests and how “variants of unknown significance” (VUS) can guide cancer treatments, despite a lack of evidence to support those decisions.

This helpful list of cancer survivors to follow on Instagram includes Alejandra Campoverdi, our partner on LATINX & BRCA.

Everviolet talked to Basser Young Leadership Council co-chair Erika Stallings about her experience with BRCA and hereditary cancer.