Purdue University Scientists Seek Test to Detect Breast Cancer Earlier and Lead to More Personalized Treatments, with Funding from Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

Research Grant Part of $66 Million Komen Grants Portfolio for 2011

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Purdue University researchers are developing a new approach to imaging that could help detect breast cancers earlier and allow doctors to tailor treatments to individuals, with funding announced today by Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

“The projects we’re investing in today are critical to the momentum we’ve built during the last 30 years in our quest to understand, and ultimately solve, the many questions surrounding breast cancer”

The $180,000 grant is part of Komen for the Cure’s $66 million investment in new research, patient support and scientific conferences in 2011. Komen has spent more than $685 million for breast cancer research in its 29 years, making it the largest non-profit funder of breast cancer research outside of the federal government.

“Our research investments are geared to bringing results to the table – and soon – for the most difficult questions remaining in breast cancer,” said Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, Komen founder and CEO.

In Indiana, the Purdue research team led by Shuang Liu, Ph.D., will try to develop an injectable imaging agent that could detect tumors by targeting a biomarker called telomerase, which is found in more than 90 percent of breast cancers. Doctors could then use information from the imaging process to determine the best course of treatment for the patient.

“This research is targeted to very early detection and personalized treatments, and ties squarely to our mission to fund cutting-edge science along the entire continuum – from prevention to early diagnostics, disparities in outcomes, more effective treatments, and answers for aggressive and metastatic disease,” said Komen President Elizabeth Thompson

The national grant augments local funding totaling more than $1.6 million from Komen’s Central Indiana Affiliate for community education, screening and treatment programs. Seventy-five percent of funds raised by Komen Affiliates stays in the community for screening, treatment, education and support programs; the rest helps fund national research programs. Komen and its Affiliates have funded more than $1.3 billion to community outreach programs since 1982.

“The projects we’re investing in today are critical to the momentum we’ve built during the last 30 years in our quest to understand, and ultimately solve, the many questions surrounding breast cancer,” said Eric Winer, M.D., Komen’s chief scientific advisor, chief of the Division of Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard University.

* All grants and awards are contingent upon receipt of a fully executed agreement.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is now the world’s largest breast cancer organization and the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer with more than $1.9 billion invested to date. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.