Detail

Keywords

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome; Molecular Epidemiology

Research group(s)

• BRCA and Hereditary Cancers Group
  Head: Yen Y. Tan
  Members:
  Yen Y. Tan

Research interests

• Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer
• Personalized cancer risk prediction and prevention
• Psychosocial, behavioral and long-term health outcomes
• Data-driven approaches to decision support in hereditary cancer care

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

• Epidemiological and statistical modelling: longitudinal and time-to-event analysis, risk prediction, and interaction modelling to identify genetic and lifestyle modifiers of cancer risk and outcomes.
• Psychosocial research tools: validation and application of standardized instruments to assess psychological impact, decision-making, and quality of life following genetic counseling and testing.
• Variant interpretation and evidence frameworks: harmonization of variant classification and reporting based on ACMG and ENIGMA criteria, with contributions to international reclassification efforts using real-world data.
• Collaborative and translational research infrastructure: coordination of institutional registry (ATHENA) and leadership within international consortia (e.g. IBCCS, CIMBA), including translational leadership of data-driven AI-enabled decision support projects in close collaboration with computational and AI experts.

Grants

• HER-CARE: Hereditary and early onset breast cancer (2024)
  Source of Funding: EU, MSCA-Doctoral Network
  Principal Investigator
• ATHENA: Austrian hereditary breast and ovarian cancer registry (2023)
  Source of Funding: Pfizer, Research Grant
  Principal Investigator
• IBCCS: The international BRCA1/2 carrier cohort study - prospective cohort analyses (2023)
  Source of Funding: Basser Center for BRCA, Basser External Grant Program
  Principal Investigator
• BRCA-Brain: Identification and molecular analyses of brain metastasis in breast cancer patients (2022)
  Source of Funding: Medical University of Vienna, CCC Initiative Krebsforschung Research Grant
  Principal Investigator
• PREDICTOME: Precision medicine for breast cancer - multi-omics towards predicting complete remission and avoiding surgery (2021)
  Source of Funding: WWTF (Vienna Science and Technology Fund), Life Sciences Call 2020 - Precision Medicine
  Principal Investigator
• BRCA-P: Prospectively randomized place-controlled phase 3 study to determine the effect of denosumab on breast cancer prevention in BRCA1 mutation carriers (2019)
  Source of Funding: U.S. Department of Defense, Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award - Funding Level 4
  Coordinator of the collaborative project

Selected publications

1. Reichl et al. Cancer Spectrum, Family History of Cancer and Overall Survival in Men with Germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2021; 11(9):917. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm11090917.
2. Silvestri et al. Characterization of the Cancer Spectrum in Men With Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 Pathogenic Variants: Results From the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA) [published correction appears in JAMA Oncol. 2020 Nov 1;6(11):1815]. JAMA Oncol. 2020;6(8):1218-1230. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.2134.
3. Kuchenbaecker et al. Risks of Breast, Ovarian, and Contralateral Breast Cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers. JAMA. 2017;317(23):2402–2416. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.7112.
4. Buchanan et al. Tumor Mismatch Repair Immunohistochemistry and DNA MLH1 Methylation Testing of Patients With Endometrial Cancer Diagnosed at Age Younger Than 60 Years Optimizes Triage for Population-Level Germline Mismatch Repair Gene Mutation Testing. J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(2):90-100. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2013.51.2129.
5. Tan et al. Improving identification of lynch syndrome patients: A comparison of research data with clinical records. International Journal of Cancer, 132(12), pp.2876–2883. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijc.27978.