Summer 2025
By Casey Repasy
Like many of the 1 in 8 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. each year, Patricia Chubb recalls feeling fear and shock upon her diagnosis and throughout treatment. As she navigated doctor visits, surgeries, and chemotherapy, she relied on the love and support of her husband, Steve and a determination to help others facing the disease.
As the Chubbs became more familiar with managing breast cancer, they learned that one of the most difficult aspects of treatment is determining if patients need additional therapy or not—often resulting in both over- and under-treatment. This led them to the groundbreaking work at Dana-Farber’s Parsons lab, led by Heather Parsons, MD, MPH, whose research in liquid diagnostics and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) shows potential to address these issues.
Tumors release tiny fragments of themselves into the bloodstream. This free-floating genetic material, called ctDNA, carries information to help detect cancer early, guiding treatment decisions, and monitoring effectiveness. Parsons explains, “The presence of ctDNA in a patient’s bloodstream may allow doctors to detect certain cancers before symptoms arise or before other tests can identify them.” Unlike traditional tissue biopsies, which require inserting a needle into affected tissue, liquid biopsies rely on a simple blood draw. This also makes them a far less invasive option for tracking a patient’s response to treatment over time.
Despite the promise of ctDNA, challenges remain in detecting and quantifying small amounts of ctDNA amid normal DNA in the bloodstream. With a $750,000 gift, Patricia and Steve established The Alice Fund to support Parsons’ research into ctDNA and her lab’s efforts to develop technologies to overcome these limitations. The research aims to detect disease earlier, personalize therapies, and reduce the morbidity of recurrence through a non-invasive tool. The fund also honors Patricia’s primary caregivers—Judy Garber, MD, MPH, chief of the Division for Cancer Genetics and Prevention and the Susan F. Smith Chair at Dana-Farber; Thanh Barbie, MD; and Jessica Erdmann-Sager, MD—and their teams for their profound impact on her cancer journey.