DECEMBER 1, 2025 – The Breast Cancer Research Program plays a leading role in the fight against breast cancer by funding innovative research that will bring an end to the disease. Female breast cancer accounted for the highest cancer incidence rate for the ten leading cancers among active-duty members of the military between 2018 and 2022. Innovative research funded by the BCRP contributes to high-impact advances in clinical practice and treatment used within the Military Health System. Continued breast cancer research gives hope to current and future members of the military, and helps Warfighters stay mission-ready while knowing their Families receive the best care available.
According to data provided by the Defense Medical Surveillance System of the Defense Health Agency, on average, the Military Health System provided care for 67,739 women and 507 men for invasive breast cancer annually between 2015 and 2024, including an average of 420 active-duty military members each year. For females 40-59 years of age, the incidence rate of breast cancer is in Service Members compared to the general population.
Environmental Exposures and Breast Cancer Risk Among Military Women
Throughout their service, members of the military may experience environmental exposures to substances that can increase the risk of developing cancer. The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes female breast cancer as a presumptive cancer related to burn pit exposure.
In fiscal year 2019, the BCRP funded a Breakthrough Award – Funding Level 2 – Population Science and Prevention Studies – Partnering Principal Investigator Option, led by Celia Byrne, Ph.D., at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Mary Beth Terry, Ph.D., at Columbia University, to investigate the association between environmental exposures and breast cancer risk for women serving in the military.
“For our project, CDMRP funding has been critical in supporting research into the reasons why young, active-duty military women are experiencing an increase in early onset breast cancer,” Byrne and Terry said. “CDMRP’s emphasis on the need for innovative and novel approaches to studying breast cancer risk allowed us to design a study to evaluate the impact of environmental determinants of breast cancer and the potential for impact of exposures that, while common in the civilian population, may be more prevalent with military service.”
Byrne and Terry’s study builds on existing resources within the Department of Defense. The team identifies cases of breast cancer diagnoses in active-duty women using the DOD’s Cancer Registry, a registry documenting tumors and cancers across the Military Health System. Then, the researchers obtain pre-diagnostic serum samples from the same individuals through the DOD’s Serum Repository, which stores blood samples collected from active-duty military members. To date, the researchers identified over 850 breast cancer cases from the cancer repository.
By combining biospecimens and other data, including genetic information and blood-based biomarkers of environmental exposures, the researchers aim to answer longstanding questions regarding potential associations between environmental exposures and risk of breast cancer in specific populations.
“Rather than only looking at genetic factors alone, we must consider how women at higher genetic risk of developing breast cancer might be more susceptible to the influences of these environmental exposures,” Byrne and Terry said.
Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Vaccine Advances to Clinical Trials
Triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype associated with fast-growing tumors that often spread to other parts of the body, accounts for approximately of all breast cancers. This subtype represents a larger proportion of breast cancers among younger women, including the age range for active-duty military service, compared to other age groups. Triple-negative breast cancer lacks estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and large amounts of HER2/neu protein commonly used as targets for the treatment of other breast cancer subtypes, limiting treatment options.
In fiscal year 2016, the BCRP funded a Breakthrough Award – Funding Level 3 – Clinical Trial – Partnering Principal Investigator Option, led by the late Vincent Tuohy, Ph.D., George Budd, M.D., and Thaddeus Stappenbeck, M.D., Ph.D., at the Cleveland Clinic, to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial testing a vaccine for triple-negative breast cancer. The vaccine generates an immune response to alpha-lactalbumin, a milk protein expressed in the breast during late pregnancy and lactation. Most triple-negative breast cancers express high levels of alpha-lactalbumin, making this protein a potential target for treatment or prevention.
The investigators aim to determine the best dose and safety of the vaccine in females recently diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer who recovered from current standard of care therapy. The researchers also test the vaccine in healthy subjects who elected prophylactic mastectomy because of their familial risk for breast cancer.
“CDMRP’s BCRP has been a vital source of funding for studies of novel approaches to breast cancer treatment and prevention,” Budd said. “Thanks to the CDMRP, we have been able to perform a first-in-human trial of a vaccine designed to prevent or treat breast cancer.”
With an early phase clinical trial underway, the research team’s work will inform the next set of clinical trials, demonstrating potential to move new treatments and preventative approaches to patients.
Improving Care in the Military Health System
Since the program’s inception in 1992, BCRP-funded research contributed to the development of digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis, also known as 3D mammogram, now adopted as the standard of care for breast imaging and breast cancer detection across all health care sectors, including those where Service Members and their Families seek care.
According to data provided by the DHA Pharmacy Operations Division, Military Health Service providers filled more than 132,900 prescriptions between 2007 and 2024 for FDA-approved drugs developed in part by BCRP-funded research: abemaciclib, palbociclib, ribociclib and trastuzumab.
In 2023, the DHA expanded a genetic testing pilot program for Service Members and their Families to include the Breast Cancer Index®. Research funded by the BCRP contributed to the development of this prognostic test that evaluates the likelihood of recurrence and benefit from extended anti-estrogen therapy.
Kara Kenan, a disabled U.S. Air Force Veteran due to breast cancer diagnosis, received the Breast Cancer Index test after experiencing side effects from anti-estrogen therapy during the first five years after breast cancer treatment.
“I finally had the Breast Cancer Index test, which indicated I wasn’t really getting any additional benefit from continuing on hormonal treatments. I was able to come off of [the treatment], and my body was really grateful because that treatment was really difficult.” Kenan said.
Kenan served as a fiscal year 2024 BCRP peer reviewer, sharing her experiences to help ensure funded research addresses the concerns and need of patients, including Service Members and Veterans.
“I think we are in a renaissance of what is happening with cancer treatments and diagnostics,” Kenan said. “There’s so much going on right now, and it is all so very exciting.”
For more information about the BCRP, visit https://cdmrp.health.mil/bcrp/default.
Courtesy Story
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs