IU scientists receive $1.5 million to fund breast cancer research

Three IU scientists received about $1.5 million from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

The Foundation has donated about $100 million for breast cancer research to various scientists across the globe.

Private funding organizations, such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation, are becoming important funding sources for cancer researchers.

“The National Cancer Institute is really struggling these days to fund cancer research,” said David Gilley, Ph.D., an assistant professor for the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at the IU School of Medicine. “Funding levels for the National Cancer Institute have been cut dramatically, so these private foundations have stepped up to  fund important research.”

Gilley received $600,000 from the Susan G. Komen Foundation for his research on breast cancer.

“The bulk of the money is used to do genetic research,” Gilley said. “We are working on taking extremely small amounts of DNA to look for early signs of cancer.”

John Foley, Ph.D., an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology at IU, received a separate grant for $420,000 to continue his research on bone metastasis resulting from breast cancer.

“Metastasis is when you get a cancer, the cells spread to other parts of the body and grow,” Foley said. “The most common place metastasis occurs for women with breast cancer is in the bone.”

Foley used his grant money to purchase new equipment as well as hire a new employee to help with his continuing research.

“We used to think cancer cells were just destructive, but they actually find normal cells willing to help cancer cells grow,” Foley said. “If we can stop cancer cells from spreading, we can keep people alive. And the bottom line is breast cancer is extraordinarily prevalent. If you have a big enough family, someone in your family probably has breast cancer.”

Hiromi Tanaka, an assistant scientist who began at the IU School of Medicine just five years ago, received a grant for $450,000 for her work on breast cancer as well.

Tanaka is helping to develop a band-aid that can be placed over the nipple that changes color to help detect breast cancer in countries where mammograms are not readily available.

“We are focusing mostly on the reason for DNA changes or mutations that cause cancer,” Tanaka said.

Despite the high amount of money groups like the Susan G. Komen Foundation donate toward curing breast cancer, cancer is more prevalent than ever, Gilley said.

“Cancer affects a third of the American population,” Gilley said. “And breast cancer affects as many as one out of seven women in this country.”