Rory L. Cochran

TL;DR: This prospective study demonstrates accurate mutation detection in tumor tissues using ddPCR, and that ptDNA can be detected in blood before and after surgery in patients with early-stage breast cancer.

TL;DR: A high frequency of ESR1 mutations is shown using circulating plasma tumor DNA (ptDNA) from patients with metastatic breast cancer and it is suggested that blood can be used to identify additional mutations not found by sequencing of a single metastatic lesion.

TL;DR: It is shown that heterozygous BRCA1 inactivation results in genomic instability in nontumorigenic human breast epithelial cells in vitro and in vivo, and B RCA1 haploinsufficiency may accelerate hereditary breast carcinogenesis by facilitating additional genetic alterations.

TL;DR: It is concluded that BCT tubes can prevent lysis and cellular release of genomic DNA of blood samples from cancer patients when stored at room temperature, and could therefore be of benefit for blood specimen collections in clinical trials.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that genetic disruption of Ki-67 in human epithelial breast and colon cancer cells depletes the cancer stem cell niche, and Immunohistochemical analyses of human breast cancers revealed that Ki- 67 expression is maintained at equivalent or greater levels in metastatic sites of disease compared to matched primary tumors, suggesting that maintenance of Ki -67 expression is associated with metastatic/clonogenic potential.