A $1 million gift to ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute will be used to reduce disparities in breast and lung cancer.
Breast and lung cancer are some of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in Delaware.
Nationally, Delaware has the highest incidence of triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of breast cancer, among the state’s Black population.
The gift from the Bacchieri Family will fund two initiatives that aim to address these high rates, reduce disparities, and advance cancer research.
One initiative is a fellowship program seeking to advance population health cancer research, with fellows focusing on cancer control and prevention tactics that can reduce cancer disparities in breast and lung cancer.
There will be two fellows, one supported by the Graham Center through this grant, and one supported by the Wistar Cancer Institute.
“Both fellows will be located here at the Graham Center, specifically in Wilmington, as part of a program to increase screening in both lung cancer and breast cancer in several hot spots that we've identified in the Wilmington area,” said Dr. Nicholas Petrelli, Bank of America Endowed Medical Director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center.
The gift will also fund the purchase of a new radiology system for the Graham Center. It allows pathologists to examine breast surgery specimens to locate extremely small areas of potential cancer.
Petrelli says it will also speed up the process to get to more patients.
“We process approximately 2,000 breast cancer cases, and so this will speed up that process by an additional 500,” he explained. “So it allows the pathologist to look at specimens quicker, it allows specimens to get in quicker. and it allows our surgeons to move patients through the process quicker so they can see new patients.”
The shorter processing time will also allow more patients with varying degrees of cancer to receive diagnosis and treatment in a shorter timeline, lowering the chances of cancer progression.
Delaware has come a long way in cancer research and treatment.
“In the late 1990s and early 2000s Delaware was number one for cancer mortality in the United States,” said Petrelli. “And due to the efforts of programs at the Graham Centerm and working with the state government, and other centers in the state, we dropped out of the top 10 in less than a decade. And we sit an number 16 or number 17, but we feel that being at that level, one of the ways we can drop even further is by targeting underserved areas in lung cancer and breast cancer, and continuing our statewide colorectal screening program.”
More information on ChristianaCare’s treatment programs can be found online at christianacare.org/cancer.
