CAN FLAX SEED PREVENT CANCER? TEXAS, KANSAS RESEARCHERS TEAMING UP TO FIND OUT WITH $5 MILLION GRANT FROM SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR THE CURE®

World’s Largest Breast Cancer Organization Investing More than $15 Million into Texas for Research and Community Programs

University of Texas researchers at Austin will see whether the common grain flax seed can reduce or eliminate the risk of breast cancer in younger women, with a special multi-million dollar Promise Grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the global leader in the breast cancer movement.

UT-Austin and University of Kansas Medical Center researchers will share a $5 million Komen for the Cure Promise Grant to test flax seed on a group of women aged 25-49, who are at moderate to high risk for breast cancer. The researchers are trying to confirm earlier tests that showed a reduction in cell growth and precancerous cells observed from flax seed.

The $2.7 million in this year’s Komen grants to Texas are part of a $59 million portfolio of research grants that Komen will be investing with scientists worldwide in 2010 to find the cures for breast cancer.  All told, Komen has granted $68 million to Texas institutions since 1982.

“We want a world where no one ever has to face breast cancer in the first place, so while we are working toward cures, we are also focused on prevention strategies,” said Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  “We’ll be taking a very hard look at environmental and lifestyle issues, and funding research into breast cancer vaccines. This is a huge, and growing, area – very exciting, but with a lot more to do.”

Komen for the Cure Promise Grants are large-scale grants up to $5 million each during a five-year period, targeted to research that has the best chance of reducing breast cancer incidence and deaths within 10 years.

“Komen’s infusion of millions of dollars into research projects means that promising research that is designed to treat and ultimately eradicate breast cancer will continue,” said Eric Winer, M.D., Komen’s chief scientific advisor.

Komen by the Numbers in Texas:

• Since 1982, Komen has invested $68 million with Texas institutions for breast cancer research.
• Komen also has funded $450 million in research globally, starting with Komen’s first grant in 1982 for $28,000.  In the past four years alone, Komen has provided $300 million to research programs worldwide.
• Komen’s 13 Texas Affiliates invested more than $15.2 million in their local communities last year for early detection and treatment of breast cancer, breast health education and outreach.  Nationwide, Komen Affiliates invested a total of $130 million in their local communities last year.
• During the past 28 years, Komen has spent more than $900 million for community education and support programs worldwide.

Below are the local institutions, researchers and projects Komen is funding this year, pending agreements:

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure®, we have invested more than $1.5 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.

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