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NEWS |
Breast Cancer Stamp Funds New NCI Program
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For the last 9 years, the U.S. Postal Service's breast cancer stamp has come to the rescue of breast cancer researchers in need of funding. Now a new program introduced by the National Cancer Institute narrows the focus of the research funded by the stamp but asks bigger questions.
The proceeds from the stamp are now funneled into the breast cancer premalignancy program, which funds research on premalignant lesions, cancer prevention techniques, and methods for detecting breast cancer or precancers earlier.
Since Congress first enacted the stamp program in 1997, NCI has received more than $35 million from stamp sales, which funded more than 50 grants and one clinical trial. These grants covered the breadth of breast cancer research, from high-risk investigations to more well-established research, but the program lacked cohesion, according to NCI Director John Niederhuber, M.D.
"I didn’t really feel