Breast cancer, a disease in which malignant cells form in the tissues of the breast, is the most common type of cancer (other than skin cancer) among women. Less than 1 percent of breast cancers occur in men. The risk of getting breast cancer increases with age, and inherited gene mutations or a family history of breast cancer may increase the risk.
At Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, our breast cancer experts deliver excellent patient care in a research context. Our multidisciplinary team of medical, surgical and radiation oncologists as well as breast reconstruction surgeons and rehabilitation therapists work together to design comprehensive treatment plans that are tailored to each patient's type of breast cancer.
In January 2011 the OSUCCC-James opened the Comprehensive Breast Center and in October 2011 renamed the facility in honor of an Ohio State University alumna, philanthropist, advocate, and for 10 remarkable years, breast cancer survivor . The Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center is the first of its kind in the Midwest to offer the full continuum of breast cancer care, from prevention and screening through detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship, in one world-class facility. In this unique environment, our breast cancer researchers and clinicians work directly together, bringing the latest innovations in prevention, detection and treatment to every patient.
Examples of OSUCCC-James' breast cancer research include:
- Charles Shapiro, MD: Answering questions regarding triple negative breast cancers and the use of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors.
- Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy, MD: Conducting a phase I clinical trial that tests the use of carboplatin and the PARP inhibitor ABT888 in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer.
- Ewa Mrozek, MD: Conducting a phase I clinical trial for women with newly diagnosed, locally advanced triple negative breast cancer. The trial is testing the use of a combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel with the experimental notch pathway inhibitor, RO4929097.
- William Carson, MD: Making standard therapies work better by enhancing the immune system IL-12, herceptin, paclitaxel
- Pravin Kaumaya, PhD: HER2 peptide vaccine
- Barbara Andersen, PhD: Stress and immunity project that evaluates the effect of stress on immune function in breast cancer survivors
- Electra Paskett, PhD, MsPH: Lymphedema and other survivorship issues in breast cancer survivors
- Richard Love, MD: Effects of ovarian ablation in breast cancer
Preclinical studies include:
- Lisa Yee, MD: Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on HER-2 overexpressing breast cancers
- Jessie Au, PharmD, PhD: Effects of low-dose suramin on improving taxane anti-tumor activity
- Ching-Shih Chen, PhD: Making tamoxifen work in estrogen-receptor-negative patients
- Carlo Croce, MD: The importance of microRNAs in breast cancer
In addition, our Clinical Cancer Genetics Program as it applies to evaluating high-risk breast cancer patients is unique to Ohio State. We are also actively developing the Spielman Breast Cancer Tissue Archive, representing more than 2,000 breast cancers. These will be used to develop a tissue microarray that will enable us to evaluate genetic and molecular changes of potential importance to breast cancer. The risk of getting cancer increases with age, and inherited gene mutations or a family history of cancer may increase the risk. Knowledge is Power: Visit Clinical Cancer Genetics to learn more.
This section of the web site will give you access to:
If you have questions about breast cancer, please call The James Line – a free cancer information resource and physician referral service – at 614-293-5066 or 1-800-293-5066 (outside Franklin County) or e-mail now. The James Line oncology nurses can be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (except weekends and holidays).View The James' breast cancer fact sheet.