BREAST-PREDICT was a country-wide collaboration between experts in the area of breast cancer research, funded by the Irish Cancer Society. This ‘Virtual Centre’ was launched in October 2013 and ran for a period of six years.

BREAST-PREDICT brought together a team of expert Irish researchers from six academic institutions across Ireland: UCD, TCD, RCSI, DCU, NUIG and UCC, as well as nationwide clinical trials group Cancer Trials Ireland. As a multi-disciplinary centre it united breast cancer experts with different skills to work towards a common goal.

The centre collected information and tumour samples from nearly every breast cancer patient in the country, with their consent. Using these valuable resources, researchers improved understanding of how this disease can spread and become resistant to treatment, and tested ways to combat this with new and better therapies.

More information can be found here

Title of Project:

From population to patient: Leveraging systems medicine to personalise breast cancer treatment: Systems modelling of apoptosis signalling in breast cancer

The   ICS (Irish Cancer Society) BREAST-PREDICT  Cancer Research Centre aims to develop systems-level clinical, pathophysiological and pharmacoepidemiological data-driven approach that will facilitate evidence-based predictive breast cancer medicine. Founded upon the rationalisation of national data and bioresources, together with advanced mining of publically available datasets, The  BREAST-PREDICT Centre will utilise systems medicine-based approaches to (a) model effects of pharmaco-epidemiological, comorbidity and lifestyle factors on breast cancer outcome; (b) examine adaptive responses of breast tumours to targeted therapy; (c) identify rational combinatorial therapeutic regimes; (d) provide mechanistic anchoring of key breast cancer-driving pathways; and, (e) facilitate validation of signature-based diagnostics that can predict outcome and response to therapeutic intervention. To achieve this, a comprehensive analysis of breast tumours and associated bioresources from retrospective cohorts, ongoing prospective trials and novel prospective trials will be performed utilising next generation sequencing approaches and antibody-based proteomics, while functional genomic approaches will be employed to identify novel therapeutic targets and rational combinations of existing drugs. Findings will be mechanistically evaluated in vitro and in vivo using animal models and non-invasive imaging techniques. In summary, the BREAST-PREDICT Centre will facilitate the rationalisation of drug utilisation prior to and during breast cancer therapy and inform the next generation of hypothesis-driven research and clinical trials.

PI of the above project:  Prof. Jochen Prehn

Co-ordinator of the consortium: Prof William Gallagher,

Other PI ‘s : Prof. John Crown, Prof. Walter Kolch, Prof. Leonie Young, Prof Kathleen Bennett, Prof Des Higgings. Prof Rosmary O’ Connor

Publication on the above project

Low cleaved caspase-7 levels indicate unfavourable outcome across all breast cancers.Lindner AU, Lucantoni F, Varešlija D, Resler A, Murphy BM, Gallagher WM, Hill ADK, Young LS, Prehn JHM. J Mol Med (Berl). 2018 Oct;96(10):1025-1037. doi: 10.1007/s00109-018-1675-0. Epub 2018 Aug 1.PMID:30069746