Damon Runyon scientists have been on the cutting-edge of breast cancer research for more than 30 years.  Our scientists:  

• co-discovered BRCA1, the first human gene to be identified as a cause of breast cancer.
• were the first to identify hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome.
• made instrumental contributions to the development of the breast cancer drug Herceptin, approved by the FDA in 1998.
• developed a new way to predict the risk of breast cancer recurrence using immune cell patterns.

Damon Runyon is currently funding many scientists that are researching ways to better diagnose, treat and cure breast cancer.  These researchers are:

• researching the transition from a single tumor to metastatic disease, ultimately leading to therapies to block the spread of particularly invasive cancers, including breast cancer. 
• defining DNA repair mechanisms that contribute to breast and ovarian cancers.
• developing a novel method to monitor the immune system in breast cancer patients with the goal of designing a targeted immunotherapy.
• examining the role of autophagy in tumor cell survival and responsiveness to chemotherapy. Autophagy is a process of “cellular self-digestion” that is used by both normal cells and tumor cells as a survival mechanism in times of metabolic stress.  Ongoing preclinical and clinical studies managing autophagy in breast cancer could lead to improved patient response to treatment.