associated with a hereditary condition have also been linked to increasing a person’s chance of getting cancer. Often, families with a high cancer incidence will opt to have genetic testing to identify the cause of the increased incidence. However, some families with a high cancer incidence do not carry changes in any known cancer predisposition genes. Through a collaboration with a Huntsville clinic, Clearview Cancer Institute, Cooper and her lab aim to find new genes predisposing individuals to cancer. During a pilot project, the team collects DNA samples from 10 in- dividuals with a strong family history of cancer at a young age. To qualify for the study, individuals must have under- gone genetic testing that did not return a positive result. By performing whole-genome sequencing on the samples, the team hopes to find new cancer predisposition genes. The pilot project will serve as a proof of concept that the team can collect, sequence, and analyze a patient’s ge- nomes. The pilot also generates data that will be used to optimize and improve our genome analysis. Enrollment for this pilot is still open. ■
* Dr. Arend is an assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Gynecologic Oncology and associate scientist in the Experimental Therapeutics Program at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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In 2022, Dr. Sara Cooper was named to the Medical Advisory Council of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama. She also serves as director for the Information is Power Initiative that offers genetic testing for cancer risk across Alabama.
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