Overview
Breast cancer treatment sometimes includes radiation to the breast or chest wall. There is a small gland, called the thymus, located in the upper chest that may receive a small amount of the radiation aimed at the breast. The goal of this study is to collect blood samples from young women with breast cancer to study the effect of radiation therapy on the thymus gland.
Description
This study includes participants whose plan of care may or may not include radiation therapy.
- Participants whose plan of care includes radiation therapy will have about three teaspoons of research blood collected at the following time points:
- Before the start of radiation therapy
- At the end of radiation therapy
- About six months after completing radiation therapy
- Participants whose plan of care does NOT include radiation therapy will have about three teaspoons of research blood collected at the following timepoints:
- After surgery (up to three months after surgery)
- About 8 months after the first research blood collection
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Women aged 18 to 50 undergoing mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer of any subtype at DUMC and associated satellite centers
- Histologic documentation of breast cancer based on pathology
- Systemic therapies including hormone therapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy as given for breast cancer treatment at the discretion of the treating medical oncologist are allowed and use of such therapies will be documented and included as a covariate
- Willing and able to provide written informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
- Prior history of therapeutic high-dose irradiation of the thorax (e.g. for treatment of lung cancer, head/neck cancer, Hodgkin disease, etc., not just radiological imaging alone)
- History of thymectomy or treatment with immunosuppressive drugs within the past six months
- Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune conditions
- Individuals with Down's syndrome
- Male patients
