Areas of Focus

Areas of Focus

Breast cancer is a complex disease…

with no simple solution. That’s why our researchers are investigating it from every angle. Learn more about our areas of focus and why each one is critical to stopping cancer from the start, slowing its progress, and one day preventing it altogether.


If detected early, breast cancer can be controlled. It’s when the disease spreads, or metastasizes, that it often turns lethal. Metastatic cancer cells can lie dormant for yearseven decadesonly to “wake up” and find their way into different parts of the body, such as the lungs, liver, brain or bones. For those patients whose cancer metastasizes, there has been little hope for long-term survival. There’s nothing more important than stopping cancer in its tracks. We have to tackling metastasis through a multi-year, multi-institutional international collaboration. The first-of-its-kind Evelyn H. Lauder Founder’s Fund will enable researchers to understand why some breast cancers spread faster than others and why some respond to certain therapies while others don’t. At the program’s center are major studies of the molecules that go awry in cancer cells to help us understand what makes the disease tick and how we can develop more effective treatments for the men and women affected.

Metastasis Researchers

David B. Agus, MD

David Agus is professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California, where he is the founding CEO of USC’s Lawrence J. Ellison...

BCRF Investigator Since 2013

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Metastasis News

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Be the end of cancer


Be the end of cancer
Kimberly (right), Diagnosed in 2008