The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has received the largest grant ever to fund research into inflammatory breast cancer, the rare but aggressive and often fatal disease for which the institution two years ago launched the world's first center.
The $7.5 million grant comes from a partnership between Susan G. Komen for the Cure and American Airlines, which in honor of the cause is unveiling two planes Monday featuring a pink ribbon running from the nose to the tail.
"This grant should help us immeasurably toward our goal of translating research into improved survival in five years," said Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, director of M.D. Anderson's Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Program and Clinic.
"Specifically, we hope it'll lead to the development of a unique agent against the disease."
Inflammatory breast cancer represents just 2 percent to 5 percent of all breast cancer cases, but it kills about 60 percent of patients in five years or less. In comparison, the mortality rate for noninflammatory breast cancer is about 14 percent.
Because it usually doesn't come with a lump and isn't detected by mammograms, inflammatory breast cancer is often diagnosed only after it has metastasized. Symptoms include redness, swelling and warmth in the breast, reddish, purple or bruised skin, ridges or thickened areas, itchiness and inverted or flattened nipples.
Little progress has been made against inflammatory breast cancer because, historically, it received almost no funding for study, and patients went to local hospitals without special expertise. There was no unified effort to learn from patients' experience.
In 2006, M.D. Anderson launched its center to remedy that, bringing together specialists, drawing patients from around the world, conducting clinical trials and basic research into the disease's biology.
In the last year, the center, named for a 24-year-old Houston woman who died of the disease, treated roughly 100 patients, up from the 25 a year M.D. Anderson typically saw in a year. At a national breast cancer symposium, its researchers reported the first therapy to successfully treat the disease. It now has three clinical trials ongoing and an animal model to test new drugs.
But funding has been an uphill battle. In 2007, the center received a $4 million appropriation from the Texas Legislature. Until now, however, its biggest previous grant had been in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, Cristofanilli said.
The $7.5 million grant will be paid out over five years. American is funding it.
