Women Invited to Participate in UAMS Breast Cancer Study
LITTLE ROCK – All women are invited to “Spit for the Cure” at the Texarkana Race for the Cure on Oct. 17 as part of a breast cancer research study by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
| Spit for the Cure is designed to establish one of the largest and most rapidly assembled groups of women to aid in the study of breast cancer occurrence. The study involves the collection of saliva samples from thousands of women age 18 and older and is being conducted with the support of the Arkansas Chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
A Spit for the Cure booth will be at opening ceremonies for the Texarkana race, which starts at 8 a.m., throughout the race and at the awards ceremony scheduled for 9:45 a.m. The start of the race is at West 20th Street and Olive Street in Texarkana, Texas (at the Ben and Jane Collins Home for Women). To participate, just drop by the booth and give a saliva sample.
Lead researchers for the UAMS study are Susan Kadlubar, Ph.D., and Suzanne Klimberg, M.D., and study director Kristy Bondurant, Ph.D. For more information, contact Bondurant at (501) 686-8326 or by e-mail at BondurantKristinaL@uams.edu.
The saliva samples will be used to create a DNA database for future studies related to breast cancer risk and treatment. Participants also will be asked to answer a short questionnaire and indicate if they would be willing to participate in follow-up studies. All information will be kept confidential.
“It has become clear that an individual’s inherited profile and environmental exposures will decide, to a large degree, that individual’s risk of developing breast cancer,” Klimberg said. “We are working to obtain DNA samples from a representative group of Arkansas women to use to advance breast cancer research in a variety of areas.”
“Because the study is noninvasive, it is easy to participate,” Kadlubar said. “By collecting samples at various sites, we hope to quickly assemble a large, representative
DNA database that will benefit numerous research studies.”
Participants may follow the progress of the study at www.uams.edu/breastteam.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a new 540,000-square-foot hospital, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employers with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.