The University of North Carolina has announced a $25 million gift from a donor who prefers to remain anonymous to establish the UNC Lineberger Center for Triple Negative Breast Cancer at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Made in gratitude for the care a family member received while being treated for cancer at UNC, the largest donation in UNC Lineberger’s history will enable the cancer center to advance its research on diagnosing and treating a highly aggressive breast cancer that disproportionately affects Black, Latina, and young women and historically has received limited research funding. Specifically, the donor directed that the investment help women and men with all types of breast cancer, with a focus on triple negative breast cancer because of its poor prognosis.

In addition to establishing the research center, the funding will create multiple professorships and accelerate three strategic research initiatives that build on existing UNC Lineberger programs. The initiatives include developing new treatments, particularly those that harness a patient’s immune system, including chimeric receptor t-cell (CAR-T cell) immunotherapy; expanding the genetic understanding and classification of cancer types to improve diagnostics and uncover new targets and modes of therapy; and creating greater knowledge of nutrition and metabolism and their impact on disease prevention.

Accounting for between 10 percent and 20 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States, triple negative breast cancer is so named because it lacks the estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 protein receptors commonly associated with other breast cancers. An aggressive, fast-growing cancer that has a high risk of spreading beyond the breast and of recurring despite treatment, triple negative breast cancer responds to chemotherapy, which currently is the only standard of care.

“While research advances the past 30 years have led to new and more effective treatments for many types of breast cancer, this isn’t the case with triple negative breast cancer,” said Lisa A. Carey, inaugural director of the UNC Lineberger Center for Triple Negative Breast Cancer. “The good news is this gift will be a game changer. It provides the cancer center with the resources to expand and speed the pace of our research focused on generating insights that lead to better treatments and outcomes for women with triple negative breast cancer.”

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/Povozniuk)