$3M Grant for Triple Negative Research!

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thenewme
thenewme Member Posts: 1,611
edited June 2014 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Woohooo - more funding for TNBC research! 

http://www.karmanos.org/view_news.asp?id=779

"Scientists at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit have received a nearly $3 million, five-year research project (RO1) grant from the National Institutes of Health to study a potentially ground-breaking immunotherapy treatment for women with one of the deadliest forms of breast cancer - triple-negative breast cancer. The research is exclusive to Karmanos.

This grant supplements the $2 million, four-year NIH RO1 grant to Karmanos that funds a treatment protocol for women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer using targeted T cell immunotherapy."

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Comments

  • mitymuffin
    mitymuffin Member Posts: 337
    edited October 2010

    Excellent!

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  • thenewme
    thenewme Member Posts: 1,611
    edited November 2010

    Edited to fix the link - oops!

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  • Awaywego
    Awaywego Member Posts: 16
    edited November 2010

    I haven't been on the boards for a while so this was great news to see.

    Do the TN stats seem high? 80% relapse with 25% or less responding favoarbly to chemo? I know TN is a tough nut to crack but last I read (its been a while since I have scoured the internet), the odds were a bit better. It's not clear where this data comes from, other than "the research".

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  • Luah
    Luah Member Posts: 1,541
    edited November 2010

    Actually I find this whole paragraph confusing:

    Cancer cells with low hormone receptor status, or none at all, are very difficult to treat since they have few or no receptors that are responsive to traditional chemotherapy antibodies. Less than 25 percent of all patients with triple-negative breast cancer respond well to chemotherapy and surgery, according to the research, and many suffer from a poor prognosis following treatment. The relapse rate is 80 percent.

    Maybe they are talking about hormonal therapy at the beginning? Maybe the 80% relapse rate refers to women who don't respond to chemo?  I've seen stats at 67-75% 5-year disease free for TN.  

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  • Awaywego
    Awaywego Member Posts: 16
    edited November 2010

    Luah,

    I think it's confusing too. Everything I have read indicates TN is very responsive to chemo with some exception. Also, I know as individuals we should read stats with a grain of salt but for those who are TN, especially those newly diagnosed, this info seems over the top. Geez, it's sounds practically hopeless. Blanket statements like the one found in this article, without context or clarification, seem irresponsible to me.

     I am happy to hear about a new approach to treating TN though - 

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  • thenewme
    thenewme Member Posts: 1,611
    edited November 2010

    Oh my!  How did I miss that??? That's way higher than any statistics I've read elsewhere for triple negative!  Surely it's a typo or error or misinterpretation - Yikes!

    The paragraph right after that says,

    "Only about 20 percent of the women are HER2 positive (3+). That leaves about 80 percent of the women who can't get antibody therapy, such as Herceptin." (from Dr. Lum - the researcher)

    I wonder if they somehow took that to mean "....Less than 25 percent of all patients with triple-negative breast cancer respond well to chemotherapy and surgery, according to the research, and many suffer from a poor prognosis following treatment. The relapse rate is 80 percent." 

    In any case, I did send an email to them asking for clarification/correction, and I'll share if/when I hear back.  I was so excited about the immunotherapy research grant that I missed it - thanks for pointing that out!  

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  • Meggy
    Meggy Member Posts: 530
    edited November 2010

    Those statistics are simply wrong or worded so poorly as to me nonsensical.

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  • helengj
    helengj Member Posts: 8
    edited November 2010

    I was just diagnosed and told I have a 20% chance of recurrence that is lowered by 4% with chemo.  If I make it 3 years cancer free I'm clear.  Diet and exercise improve odds of recurrence dramatically with this type of cancer.  

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  • TiffanyF4
    TiffanyF4 Member Posts: 171
    edited November 2010

    AWESOME NEWS! THANKS FOR POSTING MORE HOPE!

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