These cancers may be more common among African-American women, but our discovery was really that there are genetic risk factors for breast cancer in all populations.

I have been studying inherited susceptibility of cancer through affected families. The goal is to identify genes that are involved in cancer development.

I was attracted to studies of cancer families because epidemiological studies show that virtually all cancers manifest a tendency to aggregate in families. Close relatives of a cancer patient are at increased risk of that neoplasm, and perhaps other forms of cancer. The excess site-specific cancer risk is exceptionally high for carriers of certain cancer genes, in whom the attack rate can approach 100 percent. In candidate cancer families, the possibility that clustering is on the basis of chance must be excluded through epidemiological studies that establish the presence of an excess cancer risk. Predisposed families are candidates for laboratory studies to identify the inherited susceptibility factors. These investigations have led to the identification and isolation of human cancer genes, the tumor suppressor genes. These cancer genes are among more than 200 single-gene traits associated with the development of cancer. Approximately a dozen inherited susceptibility genes have been definitively identified, and many more are being sought. From studies of retinoblastoma and other rare cancers, important new information was generated about the fundamental biology of cancers that arise in many patients. Isolation of an inherited cancer susceptibility gene provides opportunities for presymptomatic testing of at-risk relatives. However, testing of healthy individuals also raise important issues regarding informed consent, confidentiality and potential for adverse psychological, social and economic effects.

Triple-negative breast cancer is not the majority of breast cancer. But if we have drugs that can target the genetic abnormalities in these tumors, and we are able to rapidly conduct global clinical trials, not only can we get studies done quickly, but we can also make it possible for women all over the world to participate in the cures of tomorrow.

There have been very few studies of women across different populations, so that’s why everyone has focused on my work,. But there are women all over the world Indian women, Hispanic women who develop triple-negative breast cancer, and most of these women didn’t know they were at risk for it.

The first topic of focus for the initiative is women’s issues, namely working to educate women and spread awareness on health issues such as prevention and early detection of cancerous tumors — including breast cancer — in addition to treatment methods.

Women have a foundational role to play in building families, institutions and the nation.

Women are the backbone of any family. Therefore, we are the foundation of any society. When we get it right at the level of the family, things will be right with the society. When the society is troubled, then the problem actually started from the family. When we get it right in the family, everything finds its place in the society. My message to mothers is to be supportive of their husbands and every member of the family.

Women are key in holding a family together. Families are essential for the development and sustenance of society as a whole.

I saw mothers that had two or three children with a serious and incurable genetic pathology. Such encounters made a strong impression on me and underscored the need for better care for genetic disorders.

The woman is the teacher of the youth, and therefore the builder of the foundation of the future. If the family is the nation’s source of strength, the woman is its core and centre.
The best place for the woman to serve her people is in her marriage, in the family, in motherhood.

The black population is disproportionately affected by cancer globally. I worked with several experts and institutions

We already know which genes in one chromosome are responsible for Tay-Sachs disease, which afflicts Jews with a fatal disorder. That already permits us to do genetic counseling of young couples with the gene who may want to marry: ‘Since you both carry a defective chromosome, better not have children.

The social environment has a major influence on health behaviors that in turn are associated with risk for cancer.