Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation believes that the intraductal approach to breast cancer is the path that will bring us to the beginning of the end of this disease.
To date, we have received more than $2.5 Million dollars to pursue our own intraductal research. These projects include:
- The Development of a Breast Fluid Test to Identify Women at Risk for Breast Cancer
(Study now getting underway.)
The goal of this groundbreaking project is to develop an inexpensive and easy-to-use band-aid-like test strip that can assess whether a premenopausal woman is at risk for developing breast cancer.
It is well known that all breast cancer begins in the lining of 6-8 breast ducts that open on the nipple. (These are the openings that express milk when a woman is breastfeeding.) By massaging the breast and squeezing the nipple, or by using a simple aspirator, like a breast pump, fluid can be obtained from the nipples of 60-80 percent of premenopausal women. Several small studies have shown that there are markers of breast cancer risk that can be found in this fluid.
This grant will allow the Foundation to take this to the next step by combining several of these markers into a band-aid that will cover the nipple while a woman massages her breast to express fluid onto the test strip. If the markers of breast cancer risk are detected in the fluid, the band-aid will change color. If that occurs, a woman will know she is at risk of developing breast cancer and that she needs to be examined further. After the Foundation develops the breast fluid test, it will test it in conjunction with China's Million Women Screening Study.
This study is being conducted with two of the centers in China taking part in the China Million Women Screening Study, launched in October 2005.
This study was funded by the Avon Foundation.
- Effect of Intraductal Therapy of DCIS with Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin (PLD) on Pathology and Biomarkers: A Presurgery Study
(Currently Recruiting)
The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation is looking for 30 women recently diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to take part in a groundbreaking new research project. Study volunteers will need to have been diagnosed with a core needle biopsy or with ultrasound and not yet have had surgery. The study involves having a small amount of a chemotherapy drug injected through the nipple into the affected milk duct. The volunteer will be observed for a couple of hours, and then go home, with a surgery date set in the next four to six weeks. Prior to surgery, ductal fluid will be aspirated and an MRI will be performed. The tissue removed during the surgery will be examined to see what effect the drug had on the DCIS. It is hoped that the findings from study will provide the data necessary to support the launch of a nationwide clinical trial of intraductal therapy for the treatment of DCIS.
This research is being conducted in collaboration with Ellen Mahoney, MD, St. Joseph's Hospital in Eureka, Calif., and the Humboldt Community Breast Health Project. Research participants will need to travel to Eureka, Calif., for the treatment and the surgery. This study was funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP). Please call Tinh Nguyen at (310) 828-0060 Ext. 32 or send her an email for more information.
- Effect of Previous Pregnancy on the Physiology of the Breast Ducts
(This study is now closed.)
- The Normal Breast Study—Correlation of Human Anatomy and Physiology in the Non-Lactating, Non-Cancerous Breast
(This study is now closed.)
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