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Spit for the Cure involves the collection of saliva samples from thousandsof women and is being conducted with the support of the Arkansas Chapter ofSusan G. Komen for the Cure. The saliva samples will be used to create a DNAdatabase for future studies related to breast cancer risk and treatment.Participants also will be asked to answer a short questionnaire and indicateif they would be willing to participate in follow-up studies. All informationwill be kept confidential.
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To participate, contact Susan Kadlubar, Ph.D., assistant professor ofenvironmental and occupational health in the UAMS College of Public Health, at(501) 526-7957. Additional researchers leading the study are V. SuzanneKlimberg, M.D., director of the breast cancer program at the UAMS Winthrop P.Rockefeller Cancer Institute (formerly the Arkansas Cancer Research Center),and Kristy Bondurant, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow.
"It has become clear that an individual's inherited profile andenvironmental exposures will decide, to a large degree, that individual's riskof developing breast cancer," Klimberg said. "We are working to obtain DNAsamples from a representative group of Arkansas women that will be used toadvance breast cancer research in a variety of areas."
Researchers will be allowed to access the samples and data linked byunique identification codes in order to address specific questions related tothe factors affecting breast cancer risk and treatment, without having accessto information that could identify participants.
"Because the study is noninvasive, it is easy to participate," Kadlubarsaid. "By collecting samples from women at Susan G. Komen for the Cure events,as well as in other locations, we hope to quickly assemble a large,representative DNA database that will benefit numerous research studies."Little Rock is home to one of the country's largest Komen Races for the Cure,with more than 40,000 women participants each year.
UAMS is the state's only comprehensive academic health center, with fivecolleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and astatewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,538 students and 733medical residents. It is one of the state's largest public employers withabout 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medicalcare to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children's Hospital, the VA Medical Centerand UAMS' Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and itsaffiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. For moreinformation, visit http://www.uams.edu.
SOURCE University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
