Human Blood and Tissues

Human blood and tissue specimens from healthy donors (HDs) or patients diagnosed with BC were purchased from the Simmons Cancer Institute Tissue Bank (Springfield, IL). All samples were deidentified and collected in accordance with a protocol approved by the Springfield Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects. Blood from HDs was also purchased from Research Blood Components (Boston, MA), whereas HD mammary tissues and BC specimens were purchased from ILSBio Company (Baltimore, MD) or the Cooperative Human Tissue Network (Nashville, TN). All commercial blood and tissue were also deidentified.