October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
As the 13th-century Italian poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri (“Dante”) once wrote, “From a little spark may burst a flame.”
We are here at a time when we have access to every piece of information ever compiled. We hold our electronic devices that beam transmissions into outer space where the signal bounces off satellites. That is big science. But there is also impressive science occurring close to home.
In 1999, U.S. Rep. John Murtha worked with us to put together the pieces of the complex puzzle of life by helping to fund the study of human genetics and proteomics. This effort would begin to definitively piece together the myriad nuances associated with the various cancers.
Were these cancers primarily genetic, or were they associated more readily with environmental challenges created by toxic chemicals, additives, and other toxins? To answer these questions, the scientists needed a pristine collection of donated human tissue. This tissue would come from the patients impacted by the assault on their bodies.
Not unlike the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Windber became the site to begin this work. This was the same site where hundreds of feet below, coal cars from the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company had crossed 24/7 to contribute to the Industrial Revolution. The coal mined by immigrant workers contributed significantly to help build the world.
This time, the hill would provide information to help women internationally. Then the Windber Research Institute followed shortly thereafter, built on that very same hill.
Some of the scientists working at the Research Institute, now the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Molecular Medicine, were, in many ways, like the immigrants who came to Windber from 20 or so different countries over 100 years ago. However, this time it was tissue and not coal that was the treasured property that would allow progress in another revolution, this time a scientific revolution that could eventually lead to cures for breast cancer.
This Center for Breast Health and its co-joined Research Institute were just the beginning. It was not enough to provide a world-class treatment center for breast health, it became much more.
The groundbreaking initiatives from this scientific research analyzed in Windber come from a vast collection of nearly 700,000 donated tissues. These samples are from patients with diverse demographics. Each sample holds a unique story of resilience and is a silent testament to the hope created from the fragile cells encased in aliquot tubes frozen in liquid nitrogen.
Unlike the coal produced in the Industrial Revolution, these samples represent a treasure trove of biological material that might help propel cancer research. It is all about the potential to unravel the mysteries and unlock the secrets for effective treatments that fuel this effort.
This tissue now functions as a biological bridge to the future of medicine. Every donated tissue is a testament to the giving nature of its donors who want to “play it forward,”and each frozen sample captures the genetic nuances of the various cancer types.
Dr. Stella Somiari organizes and ensures the continuity of the tissue collection. Dr. Hai Hu is Windber’s chief scientific officer, and Tom Kurtz, the CEO, collaborates with the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, and the National Cancer Institute. Their goal is to arm scientists with a comprehensive understanding of the genetic makeup of the tumors so that individualized treatments and precision targeting will become the future of cancer care. Specific individual genetic mutations unique to each patient will allow tailored treatment planning that may help defeat sometimes seemingly unbeatable odds.
Now that was a spark.
Nick Jacobs is a Windber resident.