Heritable factors are an important determinant of cancer risk.  At present, a large portion of the genetic basis of cancer predisposition remains unexplained. 

Dr. Stadler is a clinical geneticist whose research goal is to determine the genetic basis of “sporadic” cancers in young adults.  She will be testing the hypothesis that de novo (spontaneous) chromosomal changes in the genome are associated with testicular germline cancer.  High-resolution sequencing technology will be used to compare the whole genomes of patients to those of their parents, with the goal of identifying rare genetic variants associated with cancer susceptibility.  This approach represents a new paradigm in cancer genetics, which could have broad applications in terms of cancer risk stratification and cancer prevention.

 

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Project Title: "Characterization of de novo germline genetic alterations in cancer susceptibility"

Institution: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Sponsor(s) / Mentor(s): Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, and Michael H. Wigler, PhD

Cancer Type: Breast, Colorectal, Testicular

Research Area: Cancer Genetics