Basser Center News

Cancer Risks Associated With Germline PALB2 Pathogenic Variants: An International Study of 524 Families

Basser scientists were part of this Penn Medicine team effort studying PARP-1 expression and breast cancer.

Journal of Clinical Oncology

PARP inhibitor drugs can be ‘tuned’ for better killing of tumor cells

Basser Executive Director Susan Domchek, MD, and Basser Director of Genetics Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, were involved in this study to examine the risk of various cancers associated with the PALB2 genetic mutation.

Penn Today

Structural basis for allosteric PARP-1 retention on DNA breaks

Using innovative techniques, a new Penn Medicine study helps clear up mystery about why PARP-inhibiting compounds vary so much in their clinical effectiveness.

Science

PARP inhibitor drugs can be ‘tuned’ for better killing of tumor cells

Ben Black, PhD, a professor at Penn Medicine and Basser funded scientist, recently published a paper exploring the mechanisms of PARP binding, which looks to explain the difference in efficiency of the various PARP inhibitor cancer treatments.

Penn Today

Working on ‘the human side’ of heritable cancers

Using innovative techniques, a new Penn Medicine study helps clear up mystery about why PARP-inhibiting compounds vary so much in their clinical effectiveness.

Penn Today

Penn is fighting pancreatic cancer

March 2020

How do you make major life decisions knowing you are likely to develop cancer? Allison Werner-Lin looks at these questions, studying the intersection of genetics and family life.

Penn Today

Loss-of-function variants in CTNNA1 detected on multigene panel testing in individuals with gastric or breast cancer

March 2020

Researchers within the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center and beyond continue to seek innovative ways to treat and detect this deadly disease—and are making promising progress.

Nature

National BRCA Study Sees Lower Participation in Philly

February 2020

This paper in Genetics in Medicine is a collaborative effort between Penn Medicine, the Basser Center, and researchers across the country. It is the first large-scale report on the CTNNA1 gene, which may represent a risk factor for early-onset gastric cancer and possibly breast cancer.

Jewish Exponent

The Other Jewish Women’s Cancer

February 2020

The Jewish Exponent highlights the BFOR Study, which offers no-cost testing to men and women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent for BRCA gene mutations. Basser Executive Director Susan Domchek, MD, a principal investigator on the study, notes that the Philadelphia area is still open for enrollment.

Lilith Magazine

As Home Genetic Tests Flood Market, Are Physicians Being Left Behind?

February 2020

Lilith Magazine examined the genetic risk of ovarian cancer, especially in Jewish women, and interviewed Basser Executive Director Susan Domchek, MD, about prevention, screening, and treatment options.

Medscape

The Reinterpretation of Genetic Tests Is Rare

January 2020

Susan Domchek, MD, Executive Director of the Basser Center, discussed at-home genetic testing and whether or not patients who need these tests the most have access.

Wall Street Journal

BRCA: Who Should Be Tested?

January 2020

In a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal, Basser’s Kara Maxwell, MD, PhD, and Susan Domchek, MD, responded to an article the paper recently published about genetic testing, pointing out that reinterpretation of a patient’s genetic testing results is an incredibly rare case.

Cancer Today

Germline genetic testing for breast cancer: which patients? What genes?

December 2019

Cancer Today interviewed Susan Domchek, MD, Executive Director of the Basser Center, about BRCA screening, who should get tested, and who is being left out under current guidelines.

Nature

A Brighter Outlook for Metastatic Breast Cancer

December 2019

In this editorial for Nature, Basser Executive Director Susan Domchek, MD, discusses genetic testing and breast cancer - which patients should be tested and what genetic mutations they should be tested for.

Cure Magazine

Abramson Cancer Center Experts Take Part in NBC10/AACR Telethon

Payal D. Shah, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology at Penn Medicine and a member of the Basser Center, spoke about new treatments that are letting people live longer and improving quality of life for some patients with metastatic breast cancer.

NBC10

BRCA Rules Leave Patients Behind

Experts from Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center, including Basser Genetic Counselor Dana Farengo Clark, MS, LCGC, answered questions about cancer from NBC10 Philadelphia viewers as part of a telethon in partnership with the American Association for Cancer Research.

OncLive

Event in Manhattan raises over $8.5 million for research on BRCA-related cancers

New guidelines from USPSTF on BRCA genetic testing recommend risk assessment, counseling, and genetic testing for women who meet certain criteria but fall short of encompassing important groups of individuals who are at risk, according to critics of the update, including Basser’s Susan Domchek, MD.

ABC7