SEATTLE — The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has given a $5 million grant to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for its work on early detection of breast and prostate cancer.

The money will go toward a “proof-of-principle” project testing the theory that certain blood proteins can signal the early development of cancer with high accuracy.

Results of the research could shift the emphasis of cancer care from treatment of advanced disease to early detection of cancer in people known to be susceptible or just starting to develop the disease, said Lee Hartwell, president and director of the Seattle-based center.

Early cancer-detection research focuses on identifying specific biomarkers - tumor-derived or responsive proteins in the blood that can indicate the presence of cancer long before symptoms begin, when the likelihood of finding a cure is highest.

The five-year survival rate for breast-cancer patients whose disease is detected at an early stage is 85 percent to 95 percent, versus just 22 percent for patients whose cancer has spread to distant organs, said Peter Nelson, an associate member of the center’s human biology division, who will serve as the project’s scientific coordinator.

In addition to improving survival rates, Nelson said better cancer-screening tools could help avoid invasive procedures and false-positive test results that lead to psychological stress and unnecessary treatments.

The Allen Foundation was launched in 2004 through the consolidation of Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen’s six private foundations. It awards grants twice a year to organizations serving people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana.

Source: SeattlePi