For women living in Delaware, Dr. Sims-Mourtada's research is especially urgent: The rates of triple-negative breast cancer in the state are the highest nationwide.
"At ChristianaCare, we are advancing cancer research to help people in our community today, while we also advance the fight against cancer nationwide," said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America endowed medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute. "Dr. Sims-Mourtada's research is a dramatic step toward better treatments for triple-negative breast cancer."
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To advance her research on inflammation, last year Dr. Sims-Mourtada received a $659,538 grant from the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation. The three-year grant will enable her and her team at the Cawley Center for Translational Cancer Research to continue investigating the role of cells immediately around a tumor in spurring the growth of triple-negative breast cancer and a possible therapy for this particularly difficult cancer.
"Our next step is to understand the inflammatory response and how we might inhibit it to keep new cancer stem cells from developing," Dr. Sims-Mourtada said.
Dr. Sims-Mourtada's research team previously identified an anti-inflammatory drug, currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, that has the potential to target and inhibit the growth of cancer stem cells and triple-negative breast cancer tumors. That research could set the stage for clinical investigation of the drug, alone or in combination with chemotherapy, to improve outcomes for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
About the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute
The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, a National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program, is part of ChristianaCare, one of the country's most dynamic health systems, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. With more than 232,000 patient visits last year, the Graham Cancer Center is recognized as a national model for multidisciplinary cancer care and a top enroller in U.S. clinical research trials. In conjunction with its Gene Editing Institute, the Cawley Center for Translational Cancer Research, the Tissue Procurement Center, statewide High-Risk Family Cancer Registry and collaborations with world-renowned scientists at facilities such as The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia scientists are opening new avenues to more quickly translate cancer science into cancer medicine.
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