CCP announces eight new cancer research projects at BWH

Innovative social media initiative introduces 8 novel cancer prevention studies conducted by a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School

The Campaign for Cancer Prevention (CCP) began in 2007 with the single goal of uniting those across the globe who care about preventing cancer. It has now grown to a more than 6 million member movement, becoming a leading initiative on the social media platform, Causes.com. Nearly five years later, CCP is an official partner of Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), a Harvard Medical School flagship teaching hospital, with all campaign funds channeled straight to groundbreaking cancer prevention research.

Today, CCP announces eight new cancer research projects at BWH aimed at early detection and ultimately, prevention. Each will be funded through contributions from members of CCP's social media community through a unique direct-to-science, impact driven approach. Additionally, CCP and BWH are launching campaignprevent.com, a microsite dedicated to the campaign, allowing them to invest their attention to the direct pursuit of preventing a disease that in 2010 alone claimed more than 7 million lives worldwide.

"After facing a cancer scare at a young age and then earning two degrees in public health, I became invested in finding a direct channel to support those trying to stop this devastating disease," said Dr. Eric Ding, founder and director of Campaign for Cancer Prevention, researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and faculty member at Harvard Medical School. "When people choose to share their stories, follow our updates, or invest in a donation to CCP, they are supporting talented world-class researchers who have dedicated their practice to preventing cancer."

"As one of the first causes launched on our platform, it's been truly exciting to watch CCP accelerate and increase its impact," said Joe Green, co-founder and president of Causes. "At Causes, we're focused on empowering those who want to make the world a better place and the Campaign for Cancer Prevention is one of our most shining examples."

The focus of the research projects ranges from the connection between cholesterol levels and risk for ovarian cancer to identifying blood markers to assist in the early detection of breast cancer. The final eight initiatives were culled from an institutional-wide call for proposals and chosen based on researcher credentials and outstanding potential of cancer prevention projects. Moreover, all CCP projects are designed to deliver results in 11 months or less to yield immediate impact for cancer prevention. Projects include:

• Studying the relationship between black women and their vulnerability to lung cancer, led by Joanne M. Foody, MD
• Deciphering the inner workings of a web-based tool to identify a patient's risk for cancer, led by Heather J. Baer, ScD
• Researching whether blood tests can predict a woman's risk for developing breast cancer, led by Bruce S. Kristal, PhD
• Generating the best recommendations for physical activity in order to reduce cancer risk, led by Eric Rimm, ScD
• Identifying markers for early detection of ovarian cancer, led by Melina Shoni, MD
• Research initiative plans to better understand the epigenetic aspects of breast cancer, led by Aditi Hazara, PhD, MPH
• Investigating relationships between ovarian cancer, cholesterol levels and diets in order to establish dietary recommendations to decrease ovarian cancer risk, led by Shelley Tworoger, PhD
• Investigating whether a marker in one's blood holds the secret to determining a person's risk for breast cancer, led by Shumin Zhang, MD, ScD

"Prevention and early detection hold the key to making major inroads against this devastating disease," noted JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and a member of the CCP steering committee. "Brigham and Women's Hospital has been at the vanguard of cancer research, and with the support of CCP, will continue to make important contributions to advance our knowledge and save lives."