RESEARCH
Way back in 2011, I came across the now obsolete tool called Google timeline by pure serendipity while doing some literature research. It plots the quantity of Google results related to breast cancer added to the cyberspace over time, and the month of October stood out like a suburban skyscraper. It then dawned on me that this burst of frenzied byte traffic must be due to the Pink Ribbon Campaign.
Since the Breast Cancer Awareness Month was conceived in 1985, many women have for one reason or another - guilt-tripped, tempted, or otherwise - been amassing pink products for 30 days in a year. I paid premium for everything from my compact camera, printer, wetsuit, dive computer, to kitchen towel and toilet paper, which needless to say, came in different shades of pink, and blamed it all on my research project, which deals with the genetics of breast cancer. Surely, I must support the very cause I am working for?
Slowly people are starting to realize that much hype has been focused on looking for a cure, and too little attention being spent on preventing or early detection of the disease and understanding what causes cancer in the first place. In my projects, I look into the book of life itself, scrutinizing at the DNA that defines us, for genetic differences that spell who is likely to get breast cancer, and who is not. Same goes for who is going to die from breast cancer, and who will die with breast cancer. The aim is to discover novel susceptibility markers and mechanisms, which are bits and pieces of clues essential to solving the puzzle of the disease. Knowing what makes the cancer bomb ticks will ultimately be helpful in stratifying the population according to the likelihood of getting the disease, so that resources can be reallocated to individuals at high risk more often than those with below average risk of getting breast cancer.
October or not, the fight against breast cancer goes on.
* We are recruiting postdocs/ROs/students. Email and come chat!
Selected Publications
- Li J, Ivansson E, Klevebring D, Tobin NP, Lindström LS, Holm J, Prochazka G, Cristando C, Palmgren J, Törnberg S, Humphreys K, Hartman J, Frisell J, Rantalainen M, Lindberg J, Hall P, Bergh J, Grönberg H, Czene K "Molecular differences between screen-detected and interval breast cancers are largely explained by PAM50 subtypes." Clin Cancer Res 2016 Sep 01 (IF: 8.738) Abstract
- Holm J, Li J, Darabi H, Eklund M, Eriksson M, Humphreys K, Hall P, Czene K "Associations of Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Tools With Tumor Characteristics and Metastasis." J Clin Oncol 2016 Jan 20 ; 34(3) : 251-8 (IF: 18.428) Abstract
- Holm J, Humphreys K, Li J, Ploner A, Cheddad A, Eriksson M, Törnberg S, Hall P, Czene K "Risk factors and tumor characteristics of interval cancers by mammographic density." J Clin Oncol 2015 Mar 20 ; 33(9) : 1030-7 (IF: 18.038) Abstract
- Li J, Holm J, Bergh J, Eriksson M, Darabi H, Lindström LS, Törnberg S, Hall P, Czene K "Breast cancer genetic risk profile is differentially associated with interval and screen-detected breast cancers." Ann Oncol 2015 Mar ; 26(3) : 517-22 (IF: 9.269) Abstract
- Lindström LS*, Li J*, Lee M, Einbeigi Z, Hartman M, Hall P, Czene K "Prognostic information of a previously diagnosed sister is an independent prognosticator for a newly diagnosed sister with breast cancer." n Oncol 2014 Oct ; 25(10) : 1966-72 (IF: 9.269) Abstract
- Li J, Lindström LS, Foo JN, Rafiq S, Schmidt MK, Pharoah PD, Michailidou K, Dennis J, Bolla MK, Wang Q, Van 't Veer LJ, Cornelissen S, Rutgers E, Southey MC, Apicella C, Dite GS, Hopper JL, Fasching PA, Haeberle L, Ekici AB, Beckmann MW, Blomqvist C, Muranen TA, Aittomäki K, Lindblom A, Margolin S, Mannermaa A, Kosma VM, Hartikainen JM, Kataja V, Chenevix-Trench G, Phillips KA, McLachlan SA, Lambrechts D, Thienpont B, Smeets A, Wildiers H, Chang-Claude J, Flesch-Janys D, Seibold P, Rudolph A, Giles GG, Baglietto L, Severi G, Haiman CA, Henderson BE, Schumacher F, Le Marchand L, Kristensen V, Alnæs GI, Borresen-Dale AL, Nord S, Winqvist R, Pylkäs K, Jukkola-Vuorinen A, Grip M, Andrulis IL, Knight JA, Glendon G, Tchatchou S, Devilee P, Tollenaar R, Seynaeve C, Hooning M, Kriege M, Hollestelle A, van den Ouweland A, Li Y, Hamann U, Torres D, Ulmer HU, Rüdiger T, Shen CY, Hsiung CN, Wu PE, Chen ST, Teo SH, Taib NA, Har Yip C, Fuang Ho G, Matsuo K, Ito H, Iwata H, Tajima K, Kang D, Choi JY, Park SK, Yoo KY, Maishman T, Tapper WJ, Dunning A, Shah M, Luben R, Brown J, Khor CC, Eccles DM, Nevanlinna H, Easton D, Humphreys K, Liu J, Hall P, Czene K "2q36.3 is associated with prognosis for oestrogen receptor-negative breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy." Nat Commun 2014 Jun 17 ; 5 : 4051 (IF: 10.015) Abstract
- Li J, Humphreys K, Eriksson L, Edgren G, Czene K, Hall P "Mammographic density reduction is a prognostic marker of response to adjuvant tamoxifen therapy in postmenopausal patients with breast cancer." J Clin Oncol 2013 Jun 20 ; 31(18) : 2249-56 (IF: 18.372) Abstract
- Lindström S, Vachon CM, Li J, Varghese J, Thompson D, Warren R, Brown J, Leyland J, Audley T, Wareham NJ, Loos RJ, Paterson AD, Rommens J, Waggott D, Martin LJ, Scott CG, Pankratz VS, Hankinson SE, Hazra A, Hunter DJ, Hopper JL, Southey MC, Chanock SJ, Silva Idos S, Liu J, Eriksson L, Couch FJ, Stone J, Apicella C, Czene K, Kraft P, Hall P, Easton DF, Boyd NF, Tamimi RM "Common variants in ZNF365 are associated with both mammographic density and breast cancer risk." Nat Genet 2011 Mar ; 43(3) : 185-7 (IF: 35.532) Abstract