Reducing the Burden of Breast Cancer Initiative Topics

CBCRP’s Program Directed Initiatives integrate expertise and experience from a range of stakeholders to pursue compelling research questions and fund research projects that help find solutions to reduce suffering from breast cancer and move science closer to eliminating the burden of the disease. In 2023 the Council decided to set aside 50% of annual grant funding to support the Reducing the Burden of Breast Cancer Initiatives (RBBCI), a fourth round of coordinated, directed and collaborative research strategies to address critical topics, particularly as they affect communities that bear a disproportionally high burden of breast cancer or have disproportionate exposures or conditions linked to breast cancer.

The Reducing the Burden of Breast Cancer Initiatives will fund three broad breast cancer research areas through seven initiatives:

Area I: Biology, Subtype, and Etiologic Drivers of Breast Cancer

1. Body Weight: Research to better understand the link between body weight and breast cancer risk across various life stages, for different breast cancer subtypes, by race or ethnic origin, as well as the most effective interventions to reduce risk.
2. Inflammation: Better understand the link between breast cancer and inflammation and identify effective options to control and reduce chronic inflammation.
3. Breast Density: Better understand the role of breast density in breast cancer risk and the factors that impact breast density.
4. Menarche & Menopause: Expand research into potential causes of early menarche and extended duration of menses, their impact on breast cancer risk, and interventions to mitigate those impacts.

Area II: Survivorship, Support Services, and Quality of Care

5. Survivorship, Support Services, and Quality of Care: Assess issues affecting breast cancer patients in California after active treatment ends, including support services and how their care can be improved.

Area III: Tools and Resources for Conducting Breast Cancer Research

6. Surveillance, Data Systems, and Measurement Innovation: Assess how California’s Breast Cancer surveillance systems can be improved to better capture the breast cancer burden across communities and provide timely data for researchers, clinicians, and policy makers.
7. Policy, Funding, and Infrastructure Sustainability: Assess the effects of federal funding cuts on breast cancer research, data collection and patient care in California, identify the gaps that have developed and the opportunities for state-level programs to fill the gaps.