The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust awarded a $3.5 million grant to the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center to fund the northern Great Plains Personalized Breast Cancer Program.
A $5.9 million project, the program will be a collaborative effort between the Eppley Cancer Center, Avera Health’s Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls, S.D., and other rural health care centers across the Northern Great Plains.
Combined resources provide more benefits
The program will use Eppley’s statewide affiliate cancer center network in Nebraska and Avera’s network of more than 300 health care locations in five states along with Trinity Health Cancer Center in Minot, N.D., and Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Welch Cancer Center in Sheridan, Wyo., to provide breast cancer patients with state-of-the-art cancer genomic analysis and personalized cancer treatment options, as well as access to the Eppley Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry.
“The Eppley Cancer Center is very fortunate to be partnering with The Helmsley Charitable Trust, Avera Health’s Avera Cancer Institute, Trinity Cancer Center and Welch Cancer Center on this endeavor that will provide access to personalized care to many breast cancer patients in the rural Midwest,” said Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.
Covering the entire spectrum
Breast biopsies from 1,000 breast cancer patients will be profiled using genomic DNA analysis to identify the entire spectrum of each genetic mutation in breast cancer over the next three years.
Furthermore, patients will be enrolled on the Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry (BCCR), which collects information from breast cancer patients on:
- Demographics;
- Medical and family history;
- Exposure history;
- Diet;
- Exercise;
- Quality of life; and
- Course of treatment.