26 May 2008

Record funding helps Dundee scientist study role of harmful fats in breast cancer

Media contact: Claire Learner D: 020 7749 3705, E:clearner@breastcancercampaign.org

Breast Cancer Campaign, the charity that aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world class research, announces record research funding of almost £5 million, the most ever awarded by the Charity in a single year.

Dr Colin Palmer, based at the University of Dundee, will benefit from a three year research grant of over £194,000 to study the role of dietary fats in breast cancer.

It is believed that high levels of dietary fat may play a role in breast cancer development. This fat has been shown to allow cancer cells to grow quickly and escape destruction by the body’s immune system. However, not all dietary fat is bad as high levels of fish oils in the diet can protect against cancer.

It is important to find out whether dietary fat plays a role in breast cancer development and establish which fats offer protection and which are harmful. Dr Colin Palmer at the University of Dundee has discovered a receptor within the cells in the breast that bind fats called PPAR and appears to directly control tumour growth. He will spend the next three years studying the role of PPAR in breast cancer development.

Dr Palmer said "I hope my research will enable us to determine the role of dietary fats in breast cancer and ultimately lead to new drugs to protect against breast cancer."

Breast Cancer Campaign currently supports 105 research projects throughout the UK worth over £12.8 million, 14 of which are being carried out in Scotland, five in Dundee.

Arlene Wilkie, Director of Research and Policy, Breast Cancer Campaign said "Diet and lifestyle is an important factor in the prevention of breast cancer. If we are able to identify the ‘bad fats’ which could control tumour growth it would be an important step and play a significant part in reducing breast cancer risk."

Notes to editors

1. Breast Cancer Campaign aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.
2. Currently it supports 105 research projects, worth over £12.8 million, in 50 centres of excellence across the UK.
3. Breast Cancer Campaign currently funds five research projects in Dundee worth over £682,000.
4. Breast Cancer Campaign recently announced that it aims to fund research in the Republic of Ireland.
5. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and accounts for nearly one in three of all cancers in women.
6. In the UK, over 44,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women each year - that’s 120 a day.
7. Breast Cancer Campaign’s new publication: Evaluation of the current knowledge limitations in breast cancer research: A gap analysis - can be viewed at http://breast-cancer-research.com/home/
8. For more information about Breast Cancer Campaign visit: www.breastcancercampaign.org

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
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University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk