NCI Specialized Program Of Research Excellence

Breast Cancer SPORE

Overview
The Bay Area Breast Cancer Translational Research Program is a SPORE project (Specialized Program Of Research Excellence) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, with the goal of improving diagnosis, prognostication, and therapy of breast cancer.

The SPORE includes basic researchers, physicians, population scientists, and patient advocates in the research process, concentrating in the areas of epidemiology, cancer genetics, cancer biology, and molecular therapeutics. Researchers are supported by four core resources, and overall directions are selected by a steering committee. A clinical advisory committee helps maintain a translational focus.

The SPORE focuses primarily on the development of new therapeutic approaches to breast cancer treatment and prevention using molecular insights gained from the wealth of basic cancer research ongoing at the University of California, San Francisco. The SPORE is organized into projects, developmental projects, career development projects, and cores.

Principal Investigators
    Joe W. Gray, PhD  |  John W. Park, MD

Core Areas
    Administrative  |  Tissue & Outcomes  |  Advocacy

Main Research Projects

• Targeted Drug Delivery via Immunoliposome Technology
• Molecular Determinants of Response to RTK Pathway Inhibitors
• Markers for Risk and Targets for Chemoprevention
• Therapeutic Agents that Force Telomerase Misfunction
• Predictors of Recurrence in Women with DCIS
• Breast Tumor Antigens for Antibody-based Therapy

Developmental Research Projects

• Novel Imaging Tools to Predict Radiation Response: An Exploratory Pilot Study (C. Klifa)
• Discovery and Functional Analysis of Fusion Transcripts in Breast Cancer (C. Collins)
• Assessing the Roles of microRNAs in Human Breast Cancer (P. Yaswen)

Career Development Projects

Molecular Markers Associated with the Development of Breast Cancer Brain Metastases (M. Melisko)
• Potential Therapy of Myc Over-Expressing Breast Cancers with CDK Inhibitors (A. Goga)
• Inhibition of Glycolytic ATP Production as a Novel Treatment for Human Breast Cancer (L. Timmerman)
• Prospective in-vitro Assessment of Clinical Response to Therapeutics (R. Neve)
• Transporter Targeted Platinum Based Therapies for Breast Cancer (K. Giacomini)

InterSPORE Supplements

• Phase III MRI and Correlative Science Companion Studies (Esserman)
• Building SPORE Patient Advocate/Research Teams (Collyar)

SPORE Newsletter

• Fall 2006 Newsletter (provided in PDF)