Breast Cancer Research Foundation Awards Fourth Research Grant at Yale

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) has awarded a 1-year, $175,000 research grant to Yale Cancer Center (YCC) to study reducing re-excisions for breast conserving therapy for women following surgery for breast cancer. Principal investigator of the grant, Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA, joins three other YCC BCRF funded researchers: Melinda Irwin, PhD, MPH, Lajos Pusztai, MD and David Rimm, MD, PhD.

“This year worldwide, more than 2.4 million women will receive the difficult news that they have breast cancer,” said Golshan, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Services at Smilow Cancer Hospital and YCC and Interim Director of the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital. “Many of these women will need breast conserving surgery and this grant reflects the need to find ways to reduce unnecessary re-excisions during their treatment that leads to delay in initiation of adjuvant therapy, increase in costs, negative psychological impact, more women choosing mastectomy and higher infection rates.”

During breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy), the need for re-excision occurs between 15-25% of time. When removing a breast tumor, surgeons strive for clean margins. That means targeting not only the tumor, but also excising the surrounding border of tissue. Margins are clean if no cancer cells are found at the outer edge of that tissue.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to achieving prevention and a cure for breast cancer. They provide critical funding for cancer research worldwide to fuel advances in tumor biology, genetics, prevention, treatment, metastasis and survivorship. In the past year, the BCRF awarded $66 million in annual grants to nearly 275 scientists from top universities and medical institutions around the globe. Golshan was previously funded by the BCRF at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute since 2014.

About Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital

Yale Cancer Center (YCC) is one of only 51 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation and the only such center in Connecticut. Cancer treatment for patients is available at Smilow Cancer Hospital through 13 multidisciplinary teams and at 15 Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Centers in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Comprehensive cancer centers play a vital role in the advancement of the NCI’s goal of reducing morbidity and mortality from cancer through scientific research, cancer prevention, and innovative cancer treatment.