The Karmanos Cancer Institute honored a Wayne State University School of Medicine professor with its Scientific Distinction Award during the 15th annual Heroes of Breast Cancer Awards.

Angelika Burger, Ph.D., director of the Translational Research Laboratory at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor of the Department of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine, received the award at the Oct. 28 ceremony. The award recognizes demonstrated leadership in breast cancer research.

“I am honored and deeply touched by receiving the 2009 Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Heroes of Breast Cancer Scientific Distinction Award,” Dr. Burger said. “This honor motivates me and my team to work even harder on finding and developing new treatments for breast cancer patients.”

Researchers from the School of Medicine, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Cardiff University in Great Britain and the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto collaborated to design a series of compounds based on Disulfiram, typically used to treat alcoholism, and found that one of the compounds was more potent than DSF itself in inhibiting an enzyme that spurs the growth of breast cancers. More than 50 percent of invasive breast cancers have the presence of the enzyme that could be treated by the DSF-derived compound.

Dr. Burger was one of the scientists to present the findings at the 2009 American Association for Cancer Research’s 100th Annual Meeting, highlighting research advancements in the treatment of aggressive forms of breast cancer. Researchers gave an oral presentation about the compounds derived from Disulfiram that could provide viable treatment options for breast cancer patients. Dr. Burger served as principal investigator of the study and doctoral candidate Daniela Buac presented the research.

“DSF is a very safe drug,” said Dr. Burger. “It could be given to cancer patients alone or in combination with standard therapies used to treat breast cancers."