Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Targeting New Forms of Treatment with $2.42 Million in 2012 Triangle Research Grants

Raleigh--Susan G. Komen for the Cure®’s 2012 research program takes aim at early and late stage breast disease while seeking answers in early detection, cancer prevention, and socioeconomic issues that often make breast cancer outcomes worse in minority and medically under-served women.

Komen announced on May 17^th $2.42 million in new research funding for the Triangle in 2012, augmenting the $23.8 million that the organization has locally invested in breast cancer research since 1990. Komen is the largest non-profit funder of breast cancer research outside of the U.S. government.

“A special focus this year is on making sure that all women get the right treatments from the outset,” said Komen President Elizabeth Thompson. “This might mean no treatment, or very limited interventions, for lesions that might never develop into cancer. At the other end of the spectrum, we want new therapies that promise a full, high-quality life for women with advanced and metastatic disease.”

The Komen 2012 national research program includes 154 grants to researchers in 22 states and seven countries. Komen currently funds more than 500 active research grants around the world.

The 2012 grants cover the full “continuum of cancer care,” Thompson said, including research into prevention, environmental issues, more sensitive screening, personalized treatments and factors that lead to worse breast cancer outcomes in minorities and special populations.

A complete list of Komen’s new peer-reviewed grants is available on Komen’s website at: http://ww5.komen.org/2012grants.html.

Grants were awarded in the Triangle for research at Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, adding four more research grants to the 86 programs that have been locally funded by Komen since 1990. In 2011, there were 35 active grants in the Triangle, totaling over $15 Million of ongoing cancer research conducted in the area.

• Sung Hee Park, Ph.D. and Donald McDonnell, Ph.D. at Duke University Medical Center will receive $180,000 to continue research concerning the role of estrogen-related receptor (ERR) alpha, in the growth of both ER-postive and ER-negative cancers. Earlier work by the group suggests that ERRalpha may be a useful therapeutic target in cancer. With this study, the group hopes to better understand the cellular environment of breast tumor growth and metastasis. This information could aid development of new therapeutic approaches to breast cancer.
• A grant of $899,298 was awarded to Drs. Lisa Carey and Gary Johnson at UNC to profile the Kinome and its remodeling in HER2+ breast cancer. The study will focus on the signals sent by Kinome, proteins that regulate cellular growth, in cases of HER2+ breast cancer. HER2+ compromises 20% of all cases of breast cancer. The study will help identify the best combinations of therapies and to develop strategies for single drug use or multiple drug therapies.
• A $439,756 grant to Janet Horton, M.D, of Duke University Medical Center to investigate a tailored approached to chemotherapy for breast cancer patients. Rather than the traditional “one size fits all” strategy of radiation therapy, this study will focus on how different types of tumors respond to various forms of radiation. The long term of the goal is to prescribe radiation according to the type of breast cancer, ensuring effective treatment for aggressive tumors and less toxic treatments for sensitive tumors.
•  Scott Pruitt, M.D., Ph.D. and Jens Dannull, M.D., Ph.D of Duke University Medical Center received a grant of $900,000 to better understand triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). There will be 230,000 new cases of breast cancer in the US this year, 15-20% of these cases will be TNBC. Targeted therapies have not created the desired response in these cases, creating a growing need for information on this form of breast cancer. The goal of the study is to develop an effective targeted immune based treatment for patients with TNBC.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Komen NC Triangle Affiliate

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever, and in 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The NC Triangle Affiliate is part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stay in the Komen NC Triangle service area. The remaining 25 percent funds national breast cancer research. For more information, call 919-493-2873 or visitwww.komennctc.org.