Annual Report 2017 | Page 8

A COMPONENT OF POPULATION SCIENCES IN THE PACIFIC PROGRAM
Left to right ( back row ): Lenora Loo , Gertraud Maskarinec , Loic Le Marchand , Yurii Shvetsov , Carol Boushey , Herbert Yu , Gordon Okimoto ( front row ): Brenda Hernandez , Unhee Lim , Lynne Wilkens , Lana Garmire , Song Yi Park

CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY

A COMPONENT OF POPULATION SCIENCES IN THE PACIFIC PROGRAM

Cancer Epidemiology conducts population research to understand the racial / ethnic differences in cancer incidence and mortality , and identify the causes of cancer in Hawai ‘ i and the Pacifc .
BREAST CANCER DISCOVERY COULD IMPROVE TREATMENTS
ZHANWEI WANG | YI SHEN | LENORA LOO PEIWEN FEI | WEIMIN CHU | WEI JIA | HERBERT YU
Herbert Yu , MD , PhD , co-leader of the Population Sciences in the Pacifc Program and his team , recently discovered a molecule called ‘ long coding RNA in breast cancer associated with disease outcome ’.
“ Many breast cancer patients are diagnosed with estrogen receptor positive tumors , and these patients are often treated with surgery followed by Tamoxifen , an anti-estrogen drug ,” said Yu . “ The drug is quite effective in stopping tumor growth in most patients , but some develop drug resistance that leads to relapse .”
“ THE DISCOVERED MOLECULE IN BREAST CANCER MAY HELP TO PREDICT TREATMENT EFFECTS AND DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME DRUG RESISTANCE .” - HERBERT YU
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