Biorepositories for the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) and the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR)

The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) has a serum and lymphocyte bank with specimens on more than 90% of the 33,000 women in the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) and Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR). They also have tumor blocks on the majority of the breast cancers that have occurred in women on these studies.

Being able to link this resource with the clinical data has allowed studies on the effect of hormones and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) on cognition and memory; the effect of tamoxifen on specific gene mutations that increase the risk of thromboembolic events; and the effect of SERMs on breast cancer risk of those women with BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations. The data is also being used in:

  • A genome-wide association study looking at nearly 600,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for each breast cancer and matched controls from postmenopausal women in the first breast cancer prevention trials (P-1 and P-2) to determine their relationship to invasive and non-invasive breast cancers;
  • An analysis of the SNP CYP2D6, which affects tamoxifen metabolism to change the drug to its active form, to determine if it has an effect on prevention;
  • An exploration of mammogram density as a risk factor for breast cancer, so that the measure may augment the Gail model risk score to better define breast cancer risk; and
  • A study of sera from BCPT to look at Vitamin D, insulin, and related markers as breast cancer risk factors.

References

Abramson N, Costantino JP, Garber JE, et al. Effect of factor V leiden and prothrombin G20210 A mutations on thromboembolic risk in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Breast Cancer Prevention Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jul 5;98(13):904-10.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Espeland MA, Shumaker SA, Limacher M, et al. Relative effects of tamoxifen, raloxifene, and conjugated equine estrogens on cognition. Womens Health. 2010 Feb 7. [Epub ahead of print].
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Gail MH, Costantino JP, Pee D, et al. Projecting individualized absolute invasive breast cancer risk in African American women. (Data from the Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences [CARE] Study.) J Natl Cancer Inst. 2007 Dec 5;99(23):1782-92. Epub 2007 Nov 27.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

King MC, Wieand S, Hale K, et al. Tamoxifen and breast cancer incidence among women with inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2: National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP-P1) Breast Cancer Prevention Trial. JAMA. 2001 November 14 286(18):2251-2256.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Legault C, Maki PM, Resnick SM, et al. Effects of tamoxifen and raloxifene on memory and other cognitive abilities: cognition in the study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene. J Clin Oncol. 2009 Nov 1;27(31):5144-52. Epub 2009 Sep 21.
[ PubMed Abstract ]

Shen Y, Costantino JP, Qin J. Tamoxifen chemoprevention treatment and time to first diagnosis of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008 Oct 15;100(20):1448-53. Epub 2008 Oct 7.
[ PubMed Abstract ]