Uterine Cancer SPORE
Uterine (endometrial) cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy and the fourth most common cancer in women.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, 40,100 women, an average of 110 a day, will be diagnosed with uterine cancer in the United States – and 7,470 women, an average of 20 women each day, will die from this disease.
Despite being the fourth most common cancer in women, there is very little public awareness about uterine cancer, and research funding has traditionally lagged behind that for other cancers. Uterine cancer is highly curable if caught early.
What is a SPORE?
The goal of the Gynecological Cancer SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is to conduct innovative translational research for the prevention and treatment of uterine tumors. Tumors arising from the epithelial (endometrium) and smooth muscle (myometrium) compartments of the uterus are important, yet under-funded, causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Significantly, there has been no decrease in the incidence or mortality of this cancer over the last 15 years.
The Gynecological Cancer SPORE is a truly multidisciplinary program that includes clinicians and basic scientists with both oncologic and non-oncologic backgrounds. Such a multidisciplinary team is necessary to achieve a more thorough understanding of the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of these tumors.
Encompassed within this overall goal are the following goals of the program:
- Decipher the fundamental molecular differences between Type 1 and Type 2 endometrial cancers
- Provide a panel of molecular markers that will be useful in endometrial cancer prognosis and in identifying patients at risk for developing the malignancy
- Dissect the molecular pathways involved in estrogen and progesterone mediated growth regulation of the uterine endometrium
- Promote novel strategies in the chemoprevention of endometrial cancer
- Target intracellular signaling pathways known to be important for endometrial carcinoma growth for the novel therapy of advanced/recurrent disease