Breast Cancer Database to Support Personalized Medicine

To develop personalized treatment solutions for patients with breast cancer, UC San Diego Health received a $2.1-million gift to launch a comprehensive breast cancer database.

Philanthropists Richard and Carol Dean Hertzberg donated the gift to create and maintain the Dean-Hertzberg Breast Cancer Database System (BCDS) at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. The donation will support the work of Anne Wallace, MD, director of the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at UC San Diego Health, and her collaborators at Moores Cancer Center.

The interactive database will empower UC San Diego Health researchers to use clinical data to create new precision medicine approaches for breast cancer patients. The BCDS will use biological, biographical, and demographic data, allowing researchers to study breast cancers with similar clinical features and rare subtypes.

“I am excited about the BCDS’s potential to bring research collaborators together with practicing providers to use advanced technologies, data and knowledge to find better ways to improve each patient’s experience, based on their specific breast cancer,” Wallace said in a press release. “I am grateful to Carol and Dick for helping us launch this project.”

Wallace and her colleagues can begin collaboration with the laboratory of Thomas J. Kipps, MD, PhD, deputy director of research operations for UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Wallace and Kipps will use the new system to improve data analytics and accessibility.

Previously, the Hertzbergs contributed two gifts to create the BCDS. Their latest gift will bring the program fully to life and include the addition of a clinic data manager to support work.

“When we asked Dr. Wallace how we could help, she had a wish list of projects that could not be funded by traditional grant sources,” said Carol Hertzberg. “She described this project to us and we knew it was something we wanted to support. We are excited to see the impact that this collaboration will make for research and care.”

According to Breastcancer.org, about 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. Additionally, in 2021, an estimated 281,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the US, along with 49,290 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.

For women in the US, breast cancer death rates are higher than any other cancer, besides lung cancer, with 43,600 women expected to die in 2021 from the disease. By analyzing data and advancing personalized treatments, researchers could significantly improve patient outcomes.