At the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute research is a component of everything they do. It is integrated with patient care and prevention. The Karmanos research staff is made up of over 300 employees who do laboratory, clinical. translational, behavioral, and epidemiological research. Their research focuses on 6 main areas: breast cancer, developmental therapeutics, molecular biology and genetics, population studies and prevention, prostate cancer, and protease. .
Breast Cancer .
The research being done on breast cancer has two goals. The first is to reduce the morbidity and the mortality from breast cancer and the second is to improve the quality of life for patients with this form of cancer. The institute's breast cancer program includes basic, translational, and clinical research. The basic research is being done in two areas: preneoplasia and early breast cancer development and mechanisms of biological signaling and response. The goal of this first area is to understand the relationship between a disease called proliferative breast disease and the development of breast cancer. The second area is looking at how hormones that are components in breast cancer growth interact with each other and the body so that researchers can find new targets for anticancer drugs and reduce side effects. The translational and clinical research has four main areas of focus: breast cancer prevention, prognostic factors in breast cancer progression and treatment response, molecular targets for cancer therapy, and biological therapy. .
Developmental Therapeutics Program.
According to the Karmanos website, "The aim of the Developmental Therapeutics Program is to facilitate basic and early clinical research directed at the discovery and development of new therapies to treat malignancies. The primary goals are:.
1. To identify significant and novel new molecular entities for preclinical and clinical.