Komen giving $1.45 million to UNC for breast cancer research

According to Komen, more than an estimated 154,000 women in the United States are living with metastatic breast cancer, the most advanced stage of breast cancer that spreads beyond the breast, often to the brain, bones, liver and lungs.

There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, which claims almost all the 42,000 breast cancer deaths in the U.S. each year, experts say.

On Monday, Komen announced it is making a $26 million investment in breast cancer research projects. The goal? To reduce the number of breast cancer deaths by 50 percent by 2026.

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The investment comes in the form of 60 grants awarded to researchers across the country, and Komen said 38 of those focus on metastatic breast cancer.

"Breast cancer does not affect everyone equally and with the grants we’re funding this year, we’re moving closer to new therapies for aggressive forms of cancer, understanding why treatment doesn’t work in some patients and making sure everyone has access to the care they need,” said Paula Schneider, Komen CEO.

In North Carolina, $1.45 million will be granted to three researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The researchers will be given $400,000, $450,000 and $600,000 to study how tumors respond to therapies, to identify the genetic drivers of breast cancer and to study inflammation in breast cancer patients.

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"We are so thankful for the friends, family and neighbors that fight alongside us, helping to reduce the number of breast cancer deaths central and eastern North Carolina, both on the ground and through research,” said Pam Kohl, the executive director of Susan G. Komen's Triangle to the Coast chapter, who is living with metastatic breast cancer herself.