Make sure to Save the Date, November 9th, for our next Gala

According to the American Cancer Society, the estimated number of new cases in 2024 will cross the two-million mark for the first time ever.  The main types of cancer affecting men and women, however, will remain largely the same as in previous years.  As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz shows in the chart below, the data published by the American Cancer Society shows the most frequently diagnosed types of cancer are breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men.

 

In 2024, almost one third of all new cancer diagnoses in women will be breast cancer.

That number is slightly lower at 29 percent for prostate cancer in men.  Men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer – the second most common cancer for both sexes – slightly less than women.  But men are diagnosed with colorectal cancers more often, which has become the number one cause of cancer-related deaths for men below 50.  While men more commonly suffer from bladder cancer, eight percent of cancer diagnoses in women are for cancer of the uterus.

 

Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment

One of the three grants announced at our Gala this past November was for a study which directly addresses the issue of improving breast cancer treatment.  Our research grant supports the project “Finding new treatments for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)”, led by PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR Shridar Ganesan, M.D., Ph.D. (the Omar Boraie Chair of Genomic Science & Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Rutgers University) and supported by CO-INVESTIGATORS Deborah Toppmeyer, M.D. and Subhajyoti De, Ph.D.  Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of invasive breast cancer that more often affects younger women and African American women. Unlike other breast cancers, TNBC doesn’t have specific markers that medicines can target, so the usual treatment is strong chemotherapy that can be harsh on the body. Other facts concerning TNBC are:

• Poor Prognosis for young women and African American women diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)
• It affects 15-20% of all invasive aggressive breast cancer cases
• There are no specific therapies for TNBC and the current therapies are toxic to patients
• While currently treated with standard chemotherapy, this project is investigating new approaches to treat TNBC with therapies that are specific to cancer cells.

Recently, scientists finished a study where they created models of TNBC that can resist chemotherapy, which means these cancers are harder to treat and can be more dangerous. But there’s good news! They discovered that some of these stubborn TNBCs have a change in their genes, known as gene rearrangements, which might be attacked by certain drugs.

This discovery is exciting because it means that if a TNBC has these gene changes, it might respond well to these new drugs. This could be a game-changer in treating this cancer. The research team is now working to understand these gene changes better and see if they can stop the cancer from growing. They’re also looking for specific drugs that can target these changes.

The ultimate goal of this research is to find new targets within these tough-to-treat TNBCs that drugs can hit, leading to better treatments that aren’t as toxic to the body. This could mean a brighter future for women facing this aggressive form of breast cancer.

The 5th District AHEPA Family Cancer Research Foundation has a long and proud history of supporting researchers like Dr. Shridar Ganesan and his team.  It is with your support that we make steady progress to cure this disease.  As our grandparents would say, “Φασόλι φασολάκι, γεμίζει το σακούλι” (“Bean by bean, the bag fills.”). 

We will periodically be updating you on the work of our grantees until we meet again on November 9th, our next Gala!