Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
My son has been in the Army for the past eight years. He’s a staff sergeant and after two overseas duties (one for 4 years, with his family; one for one year, alone), in conflict zones.
To tell you the truth, I was stunned. There’s some very, very serious money involved here. Its complete name: Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP): Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2022.
The CDMRP originated in 1992 via a Congressional appropriation to foster novel approaches to biomedical research in response to the expressed needs of its stakeholders-the American public, the military, and Congress.
Why? “The FY22 Defense Appropriations Act is anticipated to provide funding for the BCRP to support innovative, high-impact research with clinical relevance that will accelerate progress to end breast cancer for Service Members, Veterans, and the general public.”
DANG!
What’s the outline of the plan? “Applications submitted to the FY22 BCRP must address one or more of the following overarching challenges”:
1. Primary prevention of breast cancer
2. Identify determinants of breast cancer initiation, risk, or susceptibility
3. Distinguish deadly from non-deadly breast cancers
4. Conquer the problems of overdiagnosis and overtreatment
5. Identify what drives breast cancer growth; determine how to stop it
6. Identify why some breast cancers become metastatic
7. Determine why/how breast cancer cells lie dormant for years and then re-emerge; determine how to prevent lethal recurrence
8. Revolutionize treatment regimens by replacing them with ones that are more effective, less toxic, and impact survival
9. Eliminate the mortality associated with metastatic breast cancer
The Armed Forces’ biggest initiative appears to be the identification of BC’s beginning; the risk or susceptibility of each individual to BC; to identify what drives cancer/tumor growth; and to identify why some BCs become metastatic and some do not.
The military would intend that the research they fund be aimed at first and foremost PREVENTING BC. In addition, they would expect to be able to tell if the BC is deadly or not; conquer the problem of overdiagnosis and overtreatment (from the article listed below: “Advances in the surgical management of breast cancer have an increasingly conservative approach [to the removal of BC tissue (aka “mastectomy”, my wife had a radical mastectomy)].”
They also expect that researchers would be looking for a way to determine why/how breast cancer cells lie dormant for years and then re-emerge and I imagine, use that information to find a way to prevent lethal recurrence. The expectation of the researchers is no less than revolutionizing treatment regimens by replacing them with ones that are more effective, less toxic, and impact survival. I DO know that there has been a move to that even since my wife’s treatment. Finally, their ultimate goal is to eliminate mortality associated with metastatic breast cancer.
It sounds like nothing less than a miracle. The intent, if I’m reading this right, is to disburse $61.2 million over the course 3-4 years. All focused on the prevention, identifying, determining, the revolution directed at conquering and ELIMINATING breast cancer.
Truly amazing…
Resources: https://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/press/2022/22bcrppreann, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.622621/full
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