BCRP Funding Announcement – 1997
By encouraging and identifying innovative research on breast cancer, and attracting and training some of the most talented and gifted scientists into this area of research, California is making a research investment that can pay vital dividends for all Californians in years to come. In June of 1997, the California Breast Cancer Research Program distributed approximately $14 million to 66 breast cancer researchers throughout the state. Located in 24 California institutions, these researchers are among the leaders in California’s effort to reduce the economic and human cost of breast cancer. Because of this program, the research dollars devoted to the fight against breast cancer in California were significantly increased, sustaining and augmenting established laboratories and research groups with new projects, and bringing new researchers with cutting edge ideas into the field. The focus of these 66 projects range from finding new, better methods of detecting breast cancer while it is in its most curable stage, to identifying potential causes of breast cancer in the environment and bettering our understanding of how these agents bring on the disease, to developing new methods to treat breast cancer. Lastly, and most hopefully, some of these projects look at how we might best reduce the risk of breast cancer, and eventually prevent its occurrence. The funded projects include:
Determining the risks associated with various environmental factors can provide a sound basis for limiting exposures. For example, one study is exploring the interaction between genetic variation in how certain toxins are handled by the body and breast cancer risk. The results would make a significant contribution to the current knowledge about possible environmental causes of breast cancer. Other studies are examining the possible link between other environmental factors, including radiation, ozone, and viruses.
Several studies are exploring different ways to boost the body’s immune system to prevent any breast cancer cells that form from developing into an invasive cancer. Some of these studies are developing methods by which the immune system can be augmented or guided to kill tumor cells. Other studies are using new knowledge gained in recent years about the ways in which cancer cells grow and spread to develop new drugs to intervene in the process.
Until we learn to prevent breast cancer, it is best to detect it as early as possible, before it has spread and become very difficult to cure. While X-ray mammography is still the “gold standard” for finding small tumors, it has a number of disadvantages, for example its use of ionizing radiation and finding “suspicious” areas in the breast that 70% of the time are not cancer—but which require surgical procedures, or additional X rays to know for certain. BCRP funded one project to use computer modeling and databases of digitized mammograms to reduce the need for biopsies of non-cancerous tissue. Two projects focus on developing other, non-ionizing detection methods. Another project explores the potential of a biological marker to serve as a diagnostic tool.
Five studies were awarded to partnerships of community groups/members and experienced researchers to explore issues identified by the community. All of these include research involving underserved populations (Hmong women, lesbians, low-income women, rural women).
The awards made to the 24 different institutions in the state included independent research institutions (e.g., SRI, International), medical centers (e.g., Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center), for-profit biotechnology firms (e.g., Pangene Corporation.), federal laboratories (e.g., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), and universities, both private (Stanford University) and public (University of California campuses). This diversity reflects both the commitment of the BCRP to involve the best researchers that California has to offer, and one of the objectives of the breast cancer advocacy community to widen the sources of ideas for research into this disease.
An important goal of BCRP is to direct state funds towards significant topics in breast cancer that are less well supported by federal research dollars, and that are of particular importance to the people of this state. In this way, the BCRP promises to accelerate progress in reducing the human and economic costs of breast cancer in the state.
The funded projects include:
13 grants to investigate possible causes of breast cancer (including exploration of various pesticides, gene/environment interactions, detection of a virus that may be transmitted through cows’ milk, and exposures of flight attendants) and ways to prevent breast cancer (including nutritional factors and physical activity)
22 grants to further understanding of how breast cancer develops (including identifying and understanding the action of genes involved in cell growth control, determining actions of hormones and hormone-blocking drugs, exploring why breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, looking at effects of vitamins on breast cancer cells,)
5 grants to explore the basic biology of the human breast (including effects of pesticides, repair of genetic damage and roles of vitamins and hormones on normal breast cells)
7 grants to develop better methods to detect breast cancer (including testing ways to increase use of screening by underserved populations, testing possible markers for cancer in breast tissue; and developing new technologies to improve or replace mammograms)
19 grants to investigate innovative treatment modalities (including finding ways to boost the immune system to fight breast cancer, developing methods to deliver genes and/or drugs to cancer cells, and to overcome resistance to drugs; developing drugs to prevent the spread of breast cancer; exploring ways to tailor therapy to the individual characteristics of tumors and testing the effectiveness of new organization of medical care).
