SEATTLE, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation has awarded a gift of $500,000 to Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center to support the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), a
program dedicated to medically underserved women around the world. The
funds will enable BHGI to further its international initiatives in
breast-cancer early detection, treatment and public-health-care policy.
Founded and led by the Hutchinson Center and the Komen Foundation, BHGI
is a global public health alliance comprised of world and regional health
organizations, governmental agencies and health ministries,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), nonprofit and for-profit
organizations, physicians, scientists, health-care providers and advocates
from around the world.
The alliance, which strives to define breast-health guidelines that are
evidence-based, culturally appropriate and economically stratified,
recently published an unprecedented set of international guidelines that
set the stage to reduce the burdens of breast cancer in developing nations,
"Guidelines for International Breast Health and Cancer Control."*
"The Komen Foundation is truly a global leader in the fight against
breast cancer, and we are honored to receive this generous gift to further
the work of BGHI," said Benjamin O. Anderson, M.D., chairman and director
of BHGI. "Historically there has been little attention paid -- and few
funds available -- toward the cause of women with chronic disease living in
countries with limited health-care resources. We are tremendously grateful
to the Komen Foundation for its vision in providing essential funding that
will support international pilot research and demonstration projects."
According to Anderson, breast-cancer incidence rates have been
increasing by up to 5 percent a year in some medium- and low-resource
regions, and women in those regions tend to be diagnosed with breast cancer
that is already locally advanced or metastatic. The Komen award will enable
the BHGI to conduct pilot-research projects, which typically involve new
research directions and are likely to provide preliminary data to seek
additional funding. Projects may involve testing diagnostic technologies
and assessment of breast-cancer systems and situations in medium- and
low-level resource countries to provide essential information and
recommendations to shape national strategies for early detection and cancer
treatment. These projects will result in much-needed data to set strategies
for those countries to improve health-care services.
"The scarcity of breast-cancer research and data in countries of
limited health-care resources is a significant obstacle to improving care,"
said Andrew Halpern, vice president and general counsel of the Susan G.
Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. "The work of BHGI will generate much-needed
data to address critical disparities in international breast-cancer
control."
Every year, more than 1 million women worldwide are diagnosed with
breast cancer; those cases represent more than 10 percent of all new cancer
cases. More than 410,000 women die from breast cancer each year, making
breast cancer the most common cause of cancer-related death among women
around the world, according to the International Agency for Research on
Cancer.
* "Guidelines for International Breast Health and Cancer Control" have
been published by the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), an
international coalition of doctors, scientists, policy makers and advocates
led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation. These recommendations for improving breast-health care
and cancer treatment in countries with limited resources can be viewed and
downloaded at http://www.fhcrc.org/science/phs/bhgi/guidelines/guidelines.html.
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, our interdisciplinary teams
of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent,
diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers,
including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for
health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world. For more
information, please visit http://www.fhcrc.org.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was established in 1982 by
Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died
from breast cancer at the age of 36. Today, the Foundation is an
international organization with a network of more than 75,000 volunteers
working through local Affiliates and events like the Komen Race for the
Cure(R) to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. A global
leader in the fight against breast cancer, the Foundation fulfills its
mission through support of innovative breast cancer research grants,
meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach
programs around the world. Through fiscal year 2005, the Komen Foundation,
together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous
donors, has invested $630 million in breast cancer research, education,
screening and treatment programs.
For questions about breast health or breast cancer, visit the Komen
Foundation's Web site at http://www.komen.org or call the Komen Foundation's
National Toll-Free Breast Care Helpline at 1.800.I'M AWARE(R)
(1-800-462-9273).
CONTACTS
Christi Ball Loso (Hutchinson Center) Jean Maza (Komen Foundation)
(206) 667-5215 (972) 701-2105
closo@fhcrc.org jmaza@komen.org
SOURCE Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
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Related links:
http://www.fhcrc.org
http://www.komen.org
CONTACT:
Christi Ball Loso of Hutchinson Center,
+1-206-667-5215, or closo@fhcrc.org; or Jean Maza of Komen
Foundation, +1-972-701-2105, or jmaza@komen.org
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