# SPORE in Breast Cancer

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $2,323,936

## Abstract

Abstract
This is the revision of the year 25-29 competitive renewal of the UNC Breast Cancer SPORE, one of the
original 1992 SPOREs, which has contributed key findings in breast cancer translational research in minority
disparities, genomic analysis, molecular subtyping and therapeutic resistance, while advancing new technology
and developing junior faculty into translational research leaders. The constant since 1992 is a population-
based, biospecimen-rich, epidemiological and clinical infrastructure, the Carolina Breast Cancer Study
(CBCS). CBCS Phase 3 has finished accrual of an additional 3,000 cases and embarked on a ten-year follow-
up with treatment, adherence, and outcome data. CBCS oversamples African Americans (AA) and patients
aged 50 or younger to provide one of the largest population-based studies of age and race disparities. CBCS
has made seminal contributions to our understanding of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and other breast
cancer subtypes in North Carolina’s AA population with over 150 papers published. For example, our SPORE
has published articles characterizing Basal-like TNBC that have been cited over 23,000 times.
With substantial institutional investment, the UNC SPORE: i) Incorporates new technology and novel methods;
ii) Develops infrastructure that provides new directions; and iii) Promotes career advancement for junior and
mid-level faculty from the population, basic and clinical sciences. In the last 5 years, the CEP and DRP
produced seven Komen Catalyst Awardees. The CEP brought 13 new faculty to the SPORE, 5 of them women
and 3 minorities. The DRP funded collaborative projects between: engineers and clinicians to produce unique
instruments and methods for early detection; immunologists and geneticists to study breast cancer immune
infiltrates and responses; and outcomes researchers, clinicians and programmers to create new databases to
study breast cancer care delivery in North Carolina. With EAB and Executive Committee input, the multi-PIs
Chuck Perou and Shelley Earp with clinician co-lead Lisa Carey selected 4 projects for this revised renewal,
focusing on minority disparities, developing a new understanding of resistance to immuno- and
chemotherapies, and developing novel, clinically practical, predictive biomarkers. Project #1 – The Carolina
Breast Cancer Study (Troester, PhD and Carey, MD, MSc) will explore biologic and genomic differences in
AA (1500) and white (1500) tumor specimens relating those to multiple patient-level parameters. The other
projects are: Project #2 Inflammatory Signaling and ER+ Breast Cancer Therapeutic Resistance (Franco,
PhD, Baldwin, PhD and Dees, MD, MSc); #3 Development of Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy
Biomarkers for TNBC (Perou, PhD and Carey, MD, MSc) and #4 Therapeutic Approaches to the Adaptive
Chromatin Remodeling that Underlies Resistance (Johnson, PhD and Earp, MD).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10244924
- **Project number:** 5P50CA058223-27
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** LISA A CAREY
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,323,936
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-08-05 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10244924

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10244924, SPORE in Breast Cancer (5P50CA058223-27). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10244924. Licensed CC0.

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