Experiences of genetic counselors in referring young and metastatic breast cancer patients to support services: A needs assessment.

Objective: Conduct a needs assessment to explore the experiences, barriers, and needs of genetic counselors (GCs), who counsel and refer young and metastatic breast cancer (BC) patients to support services, in order to develop resources to address any noticeable gaps.

Methods: GCs providing care to BC patients were eligible to complete the survey. Support services were defined as resources to address patient-centered healthcare, emotional, and quality-of-life needs.

Utilization, Timing, and Outcomes of BRCA Genetic Testing Among Women With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer From a National Commercially Insured Population: The ABOARD Study.

Purpose: To evaluate timing and outcomes of BRCA testing and definitive surgical treatment among patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

Methods: Patient-reported (n = 1,381) and deidentified health-plan (n = 2,369) data were analyzed from a consecutive national series of 3,750 women whose healthcare providers ordered BRCA testing between March 2014 and June 2015, within 1 year following breast cancer diagnosis.

Results: Among 1,209 respondents, 54.

Automated liquid handling and high-throughput preparation of polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA for microarray fabrication.

Genome-wide studies of gene expression and transcription factor-binding sites using DNA microarrays are leading to new systems level insights. The massively parallel nature of microarrays presents technical challenges: fabricating high-quality microarrays at the front end and data analysis and interpretation downstream. A principal challenge in fabricating microarrays is preparation of the DNA samples.

Small, efficient hammerhead ribozymes.

The hammerhead ribozyme is able to cleave RNA in a sequence-specific manner. These ribozymes are usually designed with four basepairs in helix II, and with equal numbers of nucleotides in the 5' and 3' hybridizing arms that bind the RNA substrate on either side of the cleavage site. Here guidelines are given for redesigning the ribozyme so that it is small, but retains efficient cleavage activity.