04 Apr QVC and Fashion Footwear Association of New York Invest in Personalized Breast Cancer Therapy Research
QVC and the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY), building on a 19 year philanthropic relationship supporting breast cancer research, have announced a $140,000 grant to fund research at The Wistar Institute on a specific and deadly form of breast cancer called triple negative.
“The mission of the QVC-FFANY relationship is to support the most promising research with the potential to end breast cancer,” said Mike George , president and CEO of QVC. “We are proud to support The Wistar Institute’s work as it holds great promise for developing new treatments for breast cancer and saving women’s lives.” QVC addresses critical health issues for women by working with organizations, like FFANY, to invest in life-saving research.
Close to 300, 000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Of these, nearly one in four breast cancer cases is classified as triple negative. Triple negative patients have a higher rate of relapse following treatment than other breast cancer patients, and therefore, have lower overall survival rates.
Triple negative patients have tumors that are missing three proteins found in normal cells. These proteins are critical to deciphering chemical signals, like those from hormones. The laboratory of Dario Altieri , M.D., Director of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center, set out to discover how triple negative breast cancers survive without these important proteins and, in doing so, they found a common factor. Since cells require these signals in order to grow and divide, triple negative breast cancer cells survive by using a gene that is normally “switched off” in adults: Notch-1. While the road to creating therapies is a long one, Altieri is committed to advancing research of Notch- 1 with the ultimate goal of developing new treatments for triple negative breast cancer.
“This funding will help us develop better, more targeted therapies against this highly aggressive form of breast cancer,” Altieri said. “We are grateful to QVC and FFANY for their vision in ensuring this promising line of research moves forward.”
This year, QVC and FFANY will celebrate 20 years of the QVC Presents “FFANY Shoes On Sale” broadcast, which has donated more than $40 million for breast cancer research and education.
About The Wistar Institute
The Wistar Institute is an international leader in biomedical research with special expertise in cancer research and vaccine development. Founded in 1892 as the first independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in the country, Wistar has long held the prestigious Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute. The Institute works actively to ensure that research advances move from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as possible. The Wistar Institute: Today’s Discoveries – Tomorrow’s Cures. On the Web at www.wistar.org.
About the Fashion Footwear Charitable Foundation
The Fashion Footwear Charitable Foundation was created to support ongoing research and education programs in the fight against breast cancer and is supported by members of the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY). Donated footwear is sold on live television through QVC during the Fashion Footwear Charitable Foundation’s annual charity benefit, QVC Presents “FFANY Shoes on Sale.” Net proceeds are distributed to leading breast cancer research and education institutions across the United States, including beneficiaries for the 2012 event: The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, The John Wayne Cancer Institute Breast Center at Saint John’s Health Center, The Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, The Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Breast Oncology Program, The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The Fashion Footwear Charitable Foundation makes its home at 274 Madison Avenue, Suite 1701, New York, NY 10016, www.FFANY.org.
About QVC
QVC, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LINTA), is the world’s leading video and ecommerce retailer. QVC is committed to providing its customers with thousands of the most innovative and contemporary beauty, fashion, jewelry and home products. Its programming is distributed to approximately 250 million homes worldwide through operations in the U.S., Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and a joint venture in China. West Chester, Pa.-based QVC has shipped more than a billion packages in its 26-year history and the company’s website, QVC.com, is ranked among the top general merchant Internet sites. QVC, Q, and the Q Ribbon Logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc.