Jared Wootten is a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Western University. He is conducting BCC-funded breast cancer research under the mentorship of Dr. Kelly Anderson and Dr. Phil Blanchette at Western University and the London Health Sciences Centre.
- What specific areas of breast cancer research are you currently focusing on, and why are they important?
My research focuses on the effect of anti-psychotic medications on breast cancer incidence. Previous studies have observed that there may be a relationship between taking anti-psychotic medications and developing breast cancer, potentially by increasing levels of a hormone called prolactin in the blood circulation. However, most of this previous research has not considered certain factors which may bias the findings. In particular, many people prescribed these drugs may frequently switch medications or stop them altogether, meaning that the exposure to these drugs varies over time. My research aims to better understand the true risk of exposure to these medications in order to determine their causal effect on breast cancer incidence. This will allow us to understand how these medications can affect breast cancer risk and inform how these medications are prescribed in the future.
- What recent breakthroughs or discoveries in Canadian breast cancer research are exciting to you?
There has been some recent interesting research in Canada using AI to predict whether a patient will benefit from certain chemotherapy treatments based on biomarkers in tumour cells and blood, which I think is pretty cool.
- How do you see the future of breast cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment evolving through research?
There has been lots of new research into breast cancer identifying early biomarkers, exploring the effects of genetics and epigenetics, and identifying at-risk populations. Following this trend, I think that screening will only become more and more refined and specialized, providing as much information as possible to inform treatment. I think this also goes hand-in-hand with the push towards personalized medicine, where treatments can be highly specialized and tailored to the individual, ultimately improving patient outcomes and quality of life.
- Can you discuss any challenges or obstacles you’ve encountered in your breast cancer research, and how you’ve overcome them?
I’ve encountered a few challenges with deciding how to quantify exposure to anti-psychotic medications using the data that’s available to us through Ontario Health. To overcome this, I’ve consulted with other researchers in my area that are working on methods for doing this, and we hope to apply those methods in our research.
- In your opinion, what role can public awareness and advocacy play in advancing breast cancer research and treatment?
Because breast cancer is so common, with a lifetime prevalence of 13%, the odds are that it will affect you or someone you know at some point, so it’s important to push for research which strives to improve our understanding of the disease and outcomes after diagnosis.
Public awareness and advocacy play huge roles in advancing any research, since ultimately research is mostly funded through tax dollars and charities. Therefore, I think that informing the public and providing access to findings can be useful in helping to increase funding and driving different initiatives. That’s why I think it’s crucial to push for universal access to research via better communication of that research in media.
