Baylor Breast Center Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) Grant
Faculty in the Breast Center were awarded one of the four original breast cancer SPORE grants when they were first created by the National Cancer Institute in 1992. This large multi-program grant funds translational research to bring new laboratory findings quickly to the clinic to improve prevention, treatment, quality of life, and survival for breast cancer patient. Dr. Osborne serves as Director of the Baylor Breast Cancer SPORE which includes five major translational research projects and four core facilities, including our national tissue resource. The SPORE program also includes funds for developmental research projects awarded each year and a career development program for new investigators interested in breast cancer translational research.
The SPORE grant was recently renewed for five years in December 2003. The SPORE team of investigators includes a stable group of clinicians and scientists who have worked together for as long as 20 years. This group has contributed important information on several clinically relevant areas including mechanisms of tamoxifen resistance and the development of new drugs to reverse this resistance, premalignant breast disease, estrogen receptor function, molecular genetics of breast cancer, breast cancer prevention, prognostic and predictive biomarkers, heat shock proteins in breast cancer pathogenesis and drug resistance, molecular profiling of ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive breast cancer, growth factor biology, targeted therapy, and clinical trials of new treatment strategies.
There are five major research projects funded in our current SPORE grant. These include:
Project 1
Growth Factor Pathways and Endocrine Therapy Resistance
in Breast Cancer
C. Kent Osborne, M.D., PI and Rachel Schiff, Ph.D., Co-PI
Project 2
Molecular Classification and Prognostic Profiling of
Ductal Carcinoma In Situ
D. Craig Allred, M.D, PI and Daniel Medina,
Ph.D., Co-PI
Project 3
Prevention of Breast Cancer Using Signal Transduction
Inhibitors
Powel Brown, M.D., Ph.D., PI and Richard Elledge,
M.D., Co-PI
Project 4
Role of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Mutation in Breast Cancer
Metastasis
Suzanne Fuqua, Ph.D., PI and C. Kent Osborne, M.D.,
Co-PI
Project 5
Genetic Expression Profile of Taxotere versus AC Sensitivity
Jenny
Chang, M.D., PI and Michael Lewis, Ph.D., Co-PI
The SPORE grant is supported by an Administrative Core and three research cores including our Tissue Resource, Biostatistics and Data Management, and Pathology Cores. The faculty in the breast cancer SPORE also collaborate extensively with investigators at institutions which have been awarded breast cancer SPORE grants as well as other renown investigators around the world. The SPORE program for the rapid translation of new basic research findings into clinical practice for the benefit of breast cancer patients is a natural outgrowth of our overall experience and direction in the Breast Center.