Ken Alltucker – May. 6, 2009
The Arizona Republic

John C. Lincoln Health Network this week opened a new breast-health and research center next to its Deer Valley hospital.

The new 9,000-square-foot center will offer clinical care as well as research under an agreement with Translational Genomics Research Institute.
Breast-cancer patients will have the option of confidentially donating their tumor tissue to aid TGen’s research of breast cancer.

TGen researchers are seeking to collect up to 500 tumor samples from John C. Lincoln as well as tissue donations from patients at other area hospitals.
Heather Cunliffe, who heads TGen’s Breast & Ovarian Cancer Research Unit, said the goal of the breast-cancer study is to develop a comprehensive molecular overview of the varying types of breast cancer to discover new ways to combat the disease. TGen researchers trained John C. Lincoln employees on the best ways to preserve tissue samples.