Nadine M. Tung, MD

2009-2010 BCRF Project:
Co-Investigator: Stuart Schnitt, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston
(made possible with generous support from The Housewares Charity Foundation)

Drs. Tung and Schnitt have found that while women who have a BRCA1 mutation usually develop breast cancers that lack estrogen receptors (ER-), cancers that express estrogen receptors (ER+ cancers) become increasingly more likely to occur as mutation carriers get older, and possibly as they become post-menopausal. The ER+ cancers in these women have different microscopic features than the ER- cancers, and they are also different from ER+ breast cancers that develop in women without a BRCA1 mutation.

The researchers have found that while some ER+ breast cancers in these mutation carriers have lost both functioning BRCA1 genes, most have not, raising the question of whether many of these ER+ breast cancers are unrelated to the BRCA1 defect. They are exploring this question by continuing to analyze these cancers molecularly and broadening their analysis of these cancers through other special staining procedures. They are also beginning an analysis of the pathways that BRCA+ cancers use to repair their damaged genetic material which allows them to survive, in order to provide clues about how to prevent and treat these cancers.

Mid-Year Progress Report:
Drs. Tung and Schnitt continue to analyze these cancers molecularly and broaden their analysis of these cancers through other special staining procedures. They are also beginning to analyze the pathways that BRCA+ cancers use to repair their damaged genetic material which allows them to survive, in order to provide clues about how to prevent and treat these cancers.A manuscript on their work has been submitted.

Bio:
Dr. Tung is the Director of the Cancer Risk Evaluation Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She earned her undergraduate degree at Princeton University and attended Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tung is an active member of the Dana Farber/ Harvard Cancer Center, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). She is an attending physician in medical oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Her research focuses on genetic causes of cancer as well as effective strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. Much of her research has focused on women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, studying the factors which influence cancer development in these women and the optimal way to treat their cancers. She completed her internship, residency and fellowship in hematology-oncology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston before joining the staff in 1990 as an attending physician.