Focus Areas | Break Through Cancer

FOCUS AREAS

Break Through Cancer’s initial focus is on four intractable cancers. These cancers all share common features – a low five-year survival rates, little to no early detection, and a lack of recent progress or innovation in treatment.

Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive type of malignant tumor originating in the brain or spinal cord. A GBM makes its own blood supply, which helps it grow and spread rapidly. While GBM can occur at any age, it tends to occur more often in adults between the ages of 45 and 70. The five-year survival rate is 5.5%. GBM occurs in two to three per 100,000 adults per year, and accounts for 52% of all primary brain tumors.

OvarianCancer

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic malignancy. It is often not diagnosed until it has spread to other organs. Recent studies suggest that ovarian cancer may originate in pre-cancerous lesions of the fallopian tube, opening up possibilities for novel prevention strategies.

PancreaticCancer

The pancreas releases enzymes that help with digestion and manufactures hormones that manage blood sugar. Pancreatic cancer begins when abnormal cells in the pancreas grow and divide, forming a tumor. Pancreatic cancer is rarely detected early, as there are typically few symptoms until after the cancer has spread. Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most common diagnosed cancer in the US, and the third leading cause of cancer deaths each year.

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)

AML begins in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow and disrupts the body’s ability to form mature, functional blood cells. As a result, initial symptoms of AML include fatigue and anemia. AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults and has a five-year survival rate less than 30%. Very often, patients whose initial treatment appears successful will experience a relapse of the disease.

“We believe Break Through Cancer’s collaborative model has the potential to dramatically improve outcomes for cancer patients and their families.”

Giulio F. Draetta, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

“If we can identify a need, match it with an opportunity, and bring people together around it, we’ll be effective.”

William G. (Bill) Nelson, V, MD, PhD,
Chairman of the Board, Break Through Cancer, Marion I. Knott Director, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

“That aha moment only comes after a true convergence of ideas."

Brian Druker, MD, Director, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute

"To break through means to force your way through a barrier and achieve success. Break Through Cancer aims to do exactly that for seemingly intractable cancers, by using innovative funding to harness the power of scientific collaboration across disciplines and institutions."

Laurie H. Glimcher, MD,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Director, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center

“Every time we feel we have a remedy, the tumor outsmarts us. Can we understand the way it outsmarts us, and do we have a remedy for that?”

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, Former CEO,
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

“Break Through Cancer teams are not looking at any one cancer in isolation. Researchers are working on the relatedness between cancers as well. Break Through Cancer is really pushing teams to think along these lines. They want us to ask ourselves: How can we synergize research across the different cancer teams? How can we learn from each other? What are common tool boxes we can deploy across cancers?”

Anirban Maitra, MBBS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

"I am thrilled to contribute to a better understanding of treatment failure in women with advanced ovarian cancer. Tackling this critical problem with such a strong team and support from Break Through Cancer will allow us to study how cancer cells and their 'microenvironments' change with fundamentally new technology and computational modeling. Our hope is to translate our findings into immediate benefit for patients and increase cure rates for women with ovarian cancer"

Sohrab Shah, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Break Through Cancer was created in February 2021 with an extraordinary matching gift of $250,000,000. Every gift to the Foundation supports groundbreaking cancer research and helps us to meet our matching commitment.

For questions about giving please email Lisa Schwarz, Chief Philanthropy Officer at LMS@BreakThroughCancer.org

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