Baylor co-sponsored tissue collection event a success
On Feb. 28, Baylor College of Medicine, with the Houston affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the local Pink Ribbons Project organization, made a big contribution to the fight against breast cancer and the mission to understand the differences in healthy and cancerous breast tissue.
In one day, the organizations helped collect 160 healthy breast tissues for the Komen Tissue Bank at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis – the only repository of healthy breast tissue that exists.
Breast cancer researchers from around the world have access to the repository samples to conduct studies that hopefully will translate into novel approaches to treat and prevent breast cancer.
With Houston’s diverse population, the samples collected will help researchers understand the differences in how breast cancer affects different minority groups.
Dr. Julie Nangia, assistant professor in the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor, served as medical director of the event and led a team of 230 volunteers, including many other Baylor faculty and staff. Dr. Emily Sedgwick, director of breast imaging in the Smith Breast Center, co-directed the event by recruiting and leading the team of physicians that conducted all the biopsies for tissue collection.
-By Glenna Vickers
