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RALEIGH, NC – UNC scientists have received a $215,000 grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to study genomics, genetics, and clinical breast cancer behavior. The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists will conduct research on how genetic variations in individual patients affect their ability to metabolize chemotherapy.

Lisa Carey, MD, associate professor of medicine and medical director of the UNC Breast Center and UNC Lineberger associate director of clinical science, is principal investigator.

Co-investigators are Howard McLeod, PharmD, Fred N. Eshelman Distinguished Professor and Director, UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy; Chuck Perou, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and genetics; and Claire Dees, MD, associate professor of medicine, and medical director of the UNC Lineberger Clinical Protocol Office and the Clinical Trials Unit in the N.C. Cancer Hospital.

Patients metabolize chemotherapeutic drugs in different ways, based on their individual genetic makeup. Such genetic variations may impact toxicity and the effectiveness of the treatments, and UNC scientists will analyze these variations to evaluate their effects.