CBCRP News

Join the CBCRP at AACR
For the past five years, the CBCRP has led an extensive, expert review of the current evidence and gaps in understanding in the role of the environment and disparities in breast cancer, including research into how breast cancer incidence and mortality is influenced by exposures in the physical environment, individual-level disparities, social inequities, and neighborhood characteristics. More than 50 experts collaborated on writing and editing the resulting document, “Identifying Gaps in Breast Cancer Research” (available in draft form on our website at www.cabreastcancer.org/sri/reports/identifyingGaps/).

At the American Association of Cancer Research conference in San Diego, CA on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, from 3–5pm, several authors of the paper will present the group’s findings and describe the CBCRP funding directions in these topics.

CBCRP Launches Volunteer Task Force
In January, we launched a recruiting campaign for our Volunteer Task Force. Our Volunteer Task Force, or VTF, will help us optimize our outreach efforts at scientific and community events. With their help, we can further our reach to untapped communities and underserved populations in California.

Do you have some time to spare to help advance the fight against breast cancer? Are you interested in donating your time, energy, and experience while you learn about the latest advances and information on breast cancer research and education in California? Learn more about the VTF on our website www.cabreastcancer.org/ support/ or email volunteer@cabreastcancer.org.

Choose to Help: Taxes Benefit Breast Cancer Research
We are seeking assistance in spreading the word of how California taxpayers can make a difference in the fight against breast cancer by simply contributing to the California Breast Cancer Research Fund on their State Income Tax form 540.

You can help by:

Mhel Kavanaugh-Lynch to be Honored by Zero Breast Cancer
On May 8, Zero Breast Cancer will be holding their annual “Honor Thy Healer” awards ceremony and dinner, and Dr. Mhel Kavanaugh-Lynch, director of the California Breast Cancer Research Program, is one of the honorees for her leadership in community breast cancer research. Mhel joins Dr. Bobbie Head, Dr. Marc Hurlbert, Ysabel Duron, and Leanne Greentree as honorees of the event. The annual event is a fundraiser for Zero Breast Cancer, and will be held on Tuesday, May 8, from 6–9pm at the Mill Valley Community Center.

The Honor Thy Healer celebration honors healthcare professionals and special individuals who have played pivotal roles in helping people through their experiences with breast cancer. Information about the event is available on the www.zerobreastcancer.org website.

Free Access to Journal Abstracts
Are you interested in reading the latest research around the world, but can’t afford to thumb through every research and medical journal? The BCN News delivers summaries of the latest breast cancer research articles and published abstracts to your email, for free, courtesy of a partnership between the CBCRP and BreastCancer.Net. To sign up for The BCN News, go to www.breastcancer. net/, click “Subscribe”, and fill out the form. Type “CBCRP” in the space for promo code, and they’ll extend their normal, two-week complimentary subscription for a year.

Cure Disease with Your Computer
Put your computer to work: the CBCRP has joined IBM and over 300 partners in World Community Grid’s efforts to harness the world’s computers to solve the world’s problems. World Community Grid™ runs projects submitted by public and nonprofit organizations that address health, poverty, and environmental issues. World Community Grid™ is powered by the computers of over 295,000 people in more than 200 countries. People donate their computer’s unused processing power through a grid technology network, reducing data analysis from years to months. As of January 2007, World Community Grid™ has analyzed an astounding 73,000 years of compute time. Please join World Community Grid™ and join the CBCRP Team. Visit www.cabreastcancer.org/wcg.php to read more.

Join the CBCRP Team in the Cause to Run™
Bay area runners, walkers, and joggers will be pounding the pavement in support of breast cancer research at the San Francisco Marathon™ on Sunday, August 3, 2008. We’re honored that the CBCRP has been selected as a participant in the event’s Cause to Run™. Donations received through Cause to Run™ will support CBCRP researchers throughout the state to improve breast cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. Please join us—join Team 4 or sponsor our runners, and help us fight breast cancer, one mile at a time. Visit www. causetorun.com for all the information.

New Featured Researchers
Brunhilde Felding-Habermann, Ph.D., is studying breast cancer brain metastases and pursuing answers to why cells metastasize and where they go. Her team is using innovative antibody delivery methods and stem cells as agents to deliver chemotherapy to specifically kill brain metastases, while leaving healthy brain cells intact.

Thea Tlsty, Ph.D., directs her laboratory’s use of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cytogenetic techniques to study the cell biology of tumor cell formation and progression in human tissue. She and her team have found molecular markers in a variant subpopulation of human mammary epithelial cells that express properties of pre-malignant lesions before they become cancerous.

More information on these innovative studies and other featured researchers can be found at www.cabreastcancer.org/research/feature/.

CBCRP Researchers in the News
Shiraz Mishra, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., formerly of University of California, Irvine, received funding from the CBCRP for his Community Research Collaboration project on improving breast cancer awareness and screening for Samoan women. His article, “Results of a Randomized Trial to Increase Mammogram Usage among Samoan Women,” published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, was a featured abstract in the Breast Cancer Network Newsletter in January.

Ling Jong, Ph.D., at SRI International, recently received recognition for her article, “Computer-aided Rational Drug Design: A Novel Agent (SR13668) Designed to Mimic the Unique Anticancer Mechanisms of Dietary Indole-3-Carbinol to Block Akt Singaling.” The article was one of the most-accessed articles published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry during the third quarter of 2007, and is featured on the journal’s Most-Accessed Articles website at http://pubs.acs.org/journals/jmcmar/ promo/most/most_accessed/. Dr. Jong received funding from the CBCRP for this study.