Recipients of Breast Cancer Research Funding Announced

MEDIA RELEASE MAY 2017
BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FUNDING – RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

Breast Cancer Cure (BCC) in partnership with the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) and The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation (NZBCF), are proud to announce the latest recipients of funding through the Breast Cancer Research in New Zealand initiative for 2017.

General Manager for BCC, Phillipa Green, comments, “We’re delighted to announce the recipients of further funding for innovative research projects, to help us achieve our goal to improve and ultimately ensure survival of breast cancer.”

HRC Chief Executive Professor Kath McPherson says pooling together the resources of the HRC, BCC, and NZBCF will help to increase the impact and reach of the research.

“The latest scientific developments indicate that the most effective treatments for breast cancer in the future will focus on targeted treatments and immune therapies developed specifically for the individual types of breast cancer. This area of research was the focus of this particular call because we believe it offers the best chance for the biggest impact on breast cancer treatment and survival rates,” says Professor McPherson.

The recipients of funding through Breast Cancer Research in New Zealand for 2017 are as follows:

Associate Professor David Barker, University of Auckland, to receive $200,000 over a period of 24 months. Many patients with breast cancer do not respond to conventional chemotherapy and better strategies to treat these patients are urgently needed. This project seeks to prepare potent and selective drugs that target PC-PLC in breast cancer and determining their effectiveness against triplenegative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines. The development and synthesis of a viable drug candidate would be beneficial in the treatment of all patients with TNBCs.”

Dr Anita Dunbier, University of Otago, to receive $199,491 over a period of 24 months. Treatments that stimulate the immune system to attack tumours have On Friday, 13th October Breast Cancer Cure will be hosting a Breast Cancer Research Symposium in Auckland featuring a number of leading international speakers. Make sure to mark the date in your diary and more information will be supplied as it becomes available.

Dr Anita Dunbier, University of Otago, to receive $199,491 over a period of 24 months. Treatments that stimulate the immune system to attack tumours have revolutionised the treatment of certain types of cancer, however are yet to effectively treat breast cancer. This project will research the potential of immunotherapy as a treatment for breast cancer. More than three quarters of women with breast cancer present with the hormone-sensitive form of the disease and are subsequently treated with anti-oestrogen therapy. We have previously shown that treatment with anti-oestrogen therapies can stimulate an immune response directed against the tumour. This work will help assess weather they should be administered at the same time or separately.

Dr Jo Perry, Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, to receive $199,202 over a period of 24 months. One of the most successful strategies for treating breast cancer has been the use of humanised monoclonal antibodies to target growth factors for cell surface receptors whose function has been up-regulated in the tumour.

However, there is a need for new treatments. Evidence indicates that targeting human growth hormone could be an effective therapeutic strategy for treating breast cancer. Growth hormone expression in human breast tumours is associated with reduced survival in patients. Inhibiting growth hormone delays tumour regrowth following radiotherapy. This project aims to generate a therapeutic monoclonal antibody, which inhibits the cancer promoting actions of growth hormone, for clinical applications to treat breast cancer.

BCC is a not-for-profit charitable trust established solely to support research into finding a "cure" for breast cancer by making the disease one that women can endure and survive. BCC has funded over $10M of research in New Zealand over 15 years ranging from studies into the use of antibodies as a targeted treatment for controlling growth of breast cancer cells, to early detection of breast cancer, to research in the field of immunotherapy and the harnessing of our own immune systems to combat breast cancer.

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