Title: Biology of Breast Pre-malignancies (R01)

Contact:

Cheryl Marks, Ph.D.
Division of Cancer Biology
National Cancer Institute
6130 Executive Boulevard, EPN
Room 5054, MSC 7388
Bethesda, MD 20892-7388
Telephone: 301/594-8778
E-mail: marksc@mail.nih.gov

Objective of Project:

The National Cancer Institute invites applications from multidisciplinary teams of extramural investigators to contribute to characterization of the genetic, molecular, cellular, or functional biology of pre-malignant states of human breast cancer. The information developed in this program will serve as a unique resource for future investigations by the cancer research community. The main objective is to foster cross-disciplinary collaborations to enumerate the differences among the earliest identifiable breast cancer lesions. Emphasis in this effort is cross-disciplinary and innovative. In designing their projects, applicant groups are encouraged to exploit resources and technologies that already exist, such as well characterized risk estimates from epidemiolgic studies, specimen collections, other related clinical and population data that could influence risk, genetics and tissue characteristics, analytical, biochemical, genomic, imaging, and nanotechnologies, cell culture and tissue transplantation techniques, relevant information from well-validated animal model systems, and quantitative modeling. This funding opportunity will use the Investigator-initiated Research Project Grant award mechanism R01.

Description of Project:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. An estimated 178,480 women in the US will have invasive breast cancer in 2007, and about 40,460 women will die from the disease this year. Since 1997, added support for breast cancer research has come from funding through the highly successful Stamp-Out Act, under which the U.S. Postal Service created and sells a special-issue stamp with a surcharge above the first-class postage rate to support breast cancer research. This RFA is one of a number of initiatives within the NCI Breast Pre-malignancy Program intended to focus research on the pre-malignant sate in human breast cancer. An expert panel at the November 2004 NCI Workshop on Pre-Cancers identified delineation of the biological, genetic, and functional characteristics of pre-cancers as major scientific needs. The distinctive early lesions that occur have characteristic properties that should permit them to be detected, diagnosed, and prevented from progressing to invasive cancer. Similarly, the AACR Task Force on Intraepithelial Neplasia recommended a research focus on pre-cancerous lesions as targets for new agent development, because of the close association between dysplasia and invasive cancer. This research initiative seeks to stimulate research in the biology of pre-malignancy in human breast cancer the discoveries from which will enable further basic and translational research with the goal of informing clinical practice of breast pre-malignancies.