UCI's Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of five leading academic health centers nationwide - and the only one in the Western United States - selected by the Avon Crusade to receive a gift to pursue a broad spectrum of breast cancer medical research. UCI will receive $2.2 million, part of a $14 million total gift the Avon Crusade is awarding to the breast cancer cause. The research institutions were chosen on the basis of strong existing breast cancer research programs and success in providing care for low-income women.

The four other research institutions receiving gifts from Avon are the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York; the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta; the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University, Chicago. The remainder of the funding will be awarded to Cancer Care, Inc., New York, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, Washington, D.C.

"We are excited that Avon selected us to expand our role in breast cancer research and provide treatment to those who can least afford it," said Dr. Thomas C. Cesario, dean of the College of Medicine. "UCI is known nationally for its achievements in cancer treatment and research. This gift will help our researchers as they continue to search for causes of breast cancer and work to develop better treatments."

"This major gift to the breast cancer cause exemplifies Avon's mission to be the company for women," said Patricia Sterling, senior manager, Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. "We are proud to partner with UC Irvine and the other beneficiaries to seek the possible causes, prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer, and to reach out to women who might otherwise not receive proper medical care for this disease."

The gift will allow UCI to establish low-cost or free cancer treatment and monitoring services for women who otherwise could not afford such care. These services include counseling, transportation, home health care, wound care, breast prostheses, genetic testing and counseling, diagnostic and evaluation services and various cancer treatments, and are available to women who meet certain income qualifications.

"This gift will help us expand our work in understanding how cells become cancerous and looking for better ways to prevent, screen and treat breast cancer," said Dr. Frank L. Meyskens, director of UCI's Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UCI Medical Center in Orange. "Today, about 25 percent of the patients we're treating for breast cancer have low incomes; we're confident that this gift will help make our cancer care accessible to even more women who need screening and treatment."

In addition to medical services, the gift will expand UCI's research examining the cellular and molecular bases of breast cancer and help sponsor clinical trials to look for better approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating breast cancer. Specifically, the Avon gift will:

Help researchers find ways to encourage Latino, Asian and other minority women to participate in clinical trials and receive cancer screenings and treatments. The researchers, led by Dr. Allan Hubbell, professor of medicine, hope to find culturally sensitive ways to reach low-income minorities and determine their risk of getting breast cancer.

Expand work on the genetics of breast cancer conducted by Hoda Anton-Culver, professor of epidemiology at UCI. Researchers will look for genes that appear in women at high risk for breast cancer and see if prevention and early detection programs can reduce the rates of cancer among these women.

Test a laser-based device designed to detect early, pre-cancerous growths in the breast. The device, developed by Dr. John Butler, professor of surgical oncology, and Bruce Tromberg, associate director of the Beckman Laser Institute, measures the absorption and scattering of laser light as it shines through breast tissue and may be able to find hidden pre-cancerous growths.

The gift also will help support a number of other studies on breast cancer, including those exploring the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to see how blood vessels help tumor cells grow and studies on how nitric oxide, a molecule associated with cardiovascular disease, estrogen and other chemicals in the body may play a role in the development of breast cancer.

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only 37 centers in the country - and the only one in Orange County - to receive the National Cancer Institute's highest designation as a comprehensive cancer center. The center is known for its research on the use of drugs and other chemicals to prevent cancer and on sophisticated imaging techniques that help detect cancers early. It also uses the latest technology for treating cancers.

The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade is a U.S. initiative launched in 1993 by Avon Products, Inc. Its mission is to provide more women, particularly those who are medically underserved, with direct access to breast cancer education and early detection services, at little or no cost. Due to fund-raising success, in 2000 the Avon Crusade has expanded its mission to include new funding for breast cancer research, support services and educational seminars, as well as increased funding for community-based, non-profit early detection programs.