Breastmilk Epigenetics Cohort Study (BECS)

• Research type

  Research Tissue Bank

• IRAS ID

  194312

• Research summary

  Breastmilk Epigenetics Cohort Study (BECS)

• REC name

  Wales REC 3

• REC reference

  21/WA/0204

• Date of REC Opinion

  21 Jul 2021

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion

• Data collection arrangements

  Tissue samples will be stored at one of three locations:
  1) Hearts Milk Bank, 1st Floor Daniel Hall Building, Rothamsted Institute, Herts AL5 2JQ (primary recruiting milk bank for BECS)
  2) Epigenetics Unit, 4th Floor, IRDB building, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Imperial College London (main storage location for BECS)
  3) Imperial College NHS Trust Tissue Bank, 11th Floor, Charing Cross Hospital Campus (backup storage location for BECS)

  Data will be stored on an Imperial College Server dedicated to BECS within the Secure Enclave. This will be housed at the Department of Computing departmental machine room (Huxley Building 221), South Kensington Campus. This provides high level security, regular backup and constantly available generator backup.

  Paper copies of consent forms will be stored in a locked cabinet on the 4th Floor, IRDB, Hammersmith Campus.
  

• Research programme

  The aim of our primary research programme for this cohort is to address the hypothesis that epigenetic alterations resulting from exposure to cancer risk factors over a lifetime must be detected in normal breast epithelial cells if they contribute to breast carcinogenesis. Therefore, it is crucial to assess epigenetic interactions in normal breast epithelial cells. To this end, we have initiated the Breastmilk Epigenetics Cohort Study (BECS) in which we aim to collect and store expressed breast milk (EBM) and exfoliated breast epithelial cells along with questionnaire data on breast cancer risk factors. Planned methodologies include molecular profiling, cross-sectional molecular epidemiology studies and breast cancer case-control studies. In addition to our own objectives we propose additional hypotheses that are equally addressable within this cohort for which we will seek collaborators from the research community who have specific interests and expertise in these topics. These include assessing other breast cancer risk factors, early detection biomarkers such as genetic mutations, metabonomic or microbiome profiling, expression-QTL analyses and estrogen receptor biology. Numerous other interesting research studies can be conducted on samples collected as part of the BECS bioresource, including on basic breast and human milk biology, in addition to neonatal and nutritional research.

• Storage license

  12275

• RTBTitle

  Breastmilk Epigenetics Cohort Study (BECS)

• Establishment organisation

  Imperial College London

• Establishment organisation address

  Epigenetics Unit, Division of Cancer

  Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Rd

  London

  W12 0NN