BETHESDA, Md—Grants totaling $12.7 million have been awarded to five institutions for new research initiatives in breast and prostate cancer. The National Cancer Institute under its SPORE program (Specialized Program of Research Excellence) will fund the projects. The money will pay for the first year of the 5-year projects. Awards went to:

• University of California, San Francisco, where researchers led by Marc A. Shuman, MD, will undertake several projects aimed at improving treatment for advanced prostate cancer.

• A Boston-based collaborative effort of five institutions, led by James Dirk Iglehart, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, that will study genetic aspects of breast cancer.

• Northwestern University’s Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center for a study led by V. Craig Jordan, PhD, of the role of diet and hormones in the prevention and development of breast cancer.

• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for projects headed by Nancy Davidson, MD, which include developing molecular markers for the classification and progression of breast cancer.

• University of Alabama at Birmingham where Kirby I. Bland, MD, and a team of scientists will focus on a range of breast cancer projects to develop novel retinoids for chemoprevention, understand the mechanism of tamoxifen (Nolvadex) resistance, and develop new treatments using gene therapy, DNA vaccines, and radioimmunotherapy.