By Jill Pease
A study with implications for breast cancer prevention led by Lusine Yaghjyan, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., has been recognized among the 2024 Research Highlights by the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program of the National Cancer Institute.
Each year, the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program showcases a selection of research publications authored by scientists who receive grants from the organization.
Yaghjyan, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, conducted the research with colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Weil Cornell Medicine. The study, which appeared in the British Journal of Cancer, focused on mammographic breast density.
Mammographic breast density refers to the composition of breast tissue as reflected on a woman’s mammogram. Women with dense breast tissue are at increased risk for developing breast cancer. Yaghjyan and her co-authors explored whether or not breast stem cells as captured by stem cell markers CD44, CD24 and ALDH1A1 may have an impact on breast tissue density.
“The breast tissue architecture throughout a woman’s life is supported by a population of stem cells,” said Yaghjyan, a member of the UF Health Cancer Center. “Yet, the size and activity of this stem cell pool may also increase women’s breast cancer risk. Whether stem cells influence mammographic breast density is poorly understood.”
To help shed light on stem cells’ role, the team examined data from more than 200 cancer-free women with benign breast biopsies who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-term investigation of chronic disease risk factors in women. The team’s analysis included multiple components, including participant questionnaires on risk factors and breast health history as well as mammograms and tissue samples.
The team found that expression of the breast cancer stem cell markers was associated with high breast density, suggesting a potential mechanism by which stem cells may impact breast cancer risk, and potentially opening up new pathways for breast cancer prevention strategies.
“If these findings are confirmed in future studies, they could offer novel approaches to reducing mammographic breast density and the risk of subsequent breast cancer by using stem-cell directed pharmaceutical interventions,” Yaghjyan said.