Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Opportunity Fund

The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Opportunity Fund is enhancing an already outstanding program in breast cancer research by developing and supporting:

Pilot Project Fund for Innovative Breast Cancer Research

Since 2002, twelve pilot projects have been funded totaling $327,544. The fund's goal is to provide support for developmental projects that focus on improving breast cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and/or treatment. Funding priority is given to pilot projects that emphasize interdisciplinary research, attract scientists from other fields with innovative approaches to breast cancer, support young investigators, or improve services to vulnerable populations.

Projects funded in 2002
Projects funded in 2003

Avon Initiative in Breast Imaging

• Avon Fellowship in Breast Imaging Research
  
  
• Faculty Salary Support for Breast Imaging Research Activities
  The Avon Foundation gift supports the research of Dr. Constance Lehman, Associate Professor in Radiology at the University of Washington and director of breast imaging at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, through partial salary support. This provides Dr. Lehman time to build the research program in breast imaging and to conduct studies that will test strategies for the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer earlier and more accurately.
  
  The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) recently approved Dr. Lehman's proposal "MRI Screening of the Contralateral Breast in Women with a Recent Diagnosis of Breast Cancer". Preliminary studies indicate that as many as 1 in 15 women with a current breast cancer diagnosis will have a cancer in the opposite breast that is undetected by clinical exam and mammography. MRI screening may improve detection in this setting and this study will evaluate the feasibility of using MRI to screen the opposite breast of women with a recent breast cancer diagnosis.
  
  In addition, Dr. Lehman is the co-chair of a study of MRI and ultrasound in women at high risk for breast cancer. This study, scheduled to begin enrolling patients in August 2002, will use ultrasound and MRI as secondary examinations women who have a negative clinical breast exam and mammogram and who are also at high risk for breast cancer (those with an inherited mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 or who have a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer).
  
  Dr. Lehman recently received pilot funding to study the role of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and MRI in evaluating response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The pilot data collected from this study will be used to support a larger grant submission for a more definitive study. This pilot study is multidisciplinary, combining expertise from nuclear medicine, radiology, medical oncology, pathology and surgery. This area of research could have a significant effect on our understanding of the best method of assessing response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.
  
  

Avon Fellowship in Breast Cancer Immunotherapy

Dr. Wei Wang is the first Avon Fellow in Immunotherapy for breast cancer. He joined Dr. Stan Riddell's lab in July 2002. He immediately initiated studies (using breast cancer samples from the Avon-funded Breast Specimen Repository) to identify potential tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) in breast cancers recognized by T lymphocytes.

Shared Resource Development for Translational Breast Cancer Research

• Breast Cancer Clinical Research Database
  The establishment and maintenance of computing and information technology systems in any research organization is a difficult and complex task. The development of new research techniques and clinical research opportunities necessitates the continual expansion and integration of these burgeoning systems. Clinical databases for the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and research projects at the Hutchinson Center are currently separate and specific to the needs of individual departments or projects. Development of a clinical research database for breast cancer seeks to link the data in these disparate systems to facilitate research. Successful development of such a system will serve as a model for similar databases in other solid tumor programs at the Hutchinson Center such as prostate, lung and ovarian cancer.



• Breast Specimen Repository and Associated Database
  The goal of the Breast Specimen Repository is to impact basic and clinical research on the biology and treatment of breast cancer by providing researchers with tissue and blood samples from consented patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer. Funding from the Avon Foundation has allowed expansion of the repository by providing support for a full-time specimen collections coordinator and a database developer. Eight surgeons at four institutions (University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, The Polyclinic, Swedish Medical Center) are now participating in the program by consenting eligible patients. As a result of this expansion, we anticipate the number of specimens in the collection will grow by approximately 400 patients per year and specimen representation from ethnic and minority women will substantially increase.
  
  Following collection, a histological section is prepared from each tissue sample in the repository and reviewed by a pathologist. Malignant and benign diagnoses, as well as tumor size and grade, are entered into a research database. The availability of such data in conjunction with the specimens is essential for research and will contribute substantively to our understanding of human cancer.
  
  

Recruitment and Support for a New Junior Faculty Clinician Scientist

This directed recruitment will fill a specific need in the breast program and provide an important new bridge between laboratory science and clinical care.