Unfortunately, we all know someone that has been affected by breast cancer. Although black women face a lower risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared to white women, they paradoxically face an increased breast cancer mortality hazard ratio. Dr. Joy McDaniel and her team are one step closer to creating a cure for one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer and ultimately close that mortality gap.

According to AL.com, when McDaniel was just starting her PhD program, her best friend died of breast cancer at age 24. That made her desire to make a difference in this deadly disease "personal." At the University of Alabama in Huntsville, McDaniel and her team found a key genetic insight into triple negative breast cancer. Triple negative is also one of the forms of breast cancer most likely to kill African American women. "One out of every three breast cancer diagnoses in African American women is triple negative," McDaniel said.

By using publicly available DNA data and UAH gene sequencing technology, the team found a suspect in the protein STAT3. "We were able to identify the same binding pattern in actual triple negative breast cancer patients," McDaniel said. "This was very important because, by identifying where the binding occurs, we have a framework for what genes are being turned on or off by STAT3. That was the first sign we may have identified something that may be important."

The genes regulated by STAT3 turned out to be the same genes active in spreading triple negative breast cancer. The tendency of cancer cells migrating to other parts of the body and starting other tumors is called metastasis and it's one of cancer's deadliest characteristics.

Her research on triple negative breast cancer has gone on to lead her to a postdoctoral fellowship at the respected University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her short term goals is to look for her own laboratory and faculty position where she can teach, mentor and do research after her fellowship.

Keep making a difference, Dr. McDaniel.

Photo: Giphy

Dr. Joy McDaniel

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