The project is one of three from the University of Melbourne that has received funding from the grants designed to foster research into cancer prevention, treatment and care. The grants were announced yesterday by the Victorian Minister for Health, Daniel Andrews.

Team leader, Dr Jennifer Stone from the Melbourne School of Population Health, says the research could lead to early diagnoses and thus better outcomes for breast cancer patients.

“We know that women with high mammographic density (MD) are more likely to develop breast cancer but we don’t know why and we don’t have practical ways to measure it,” Dr Stone says.

Dr Stone says the proposed research will not only increase our knowledge of MD and how it relates to breast cancer risk but will also support the development of a clinical tool that could change public health practice.

 “Investigating effective ways of measuring MD could lead to its use as a clinical tool to determine a woman’s susceptibility to breast cancer and therefore create better breast cancer outcomes.”

The 2010 Victorian Cancer Agency grants will fund 24 projects totaling $3.7million and will work to provide advances in prevention programs, assist in the discovery of the next generation of cancer treatments, and foster the development of the best support services to help patients during their time of need.

The grants recognise the University’s world-class medical research ability as scientists from the University received more than $270,000 in total funding.

Other scientists to receive funding include:

• Dr Kate Murphy from the Department of Physiology. Dr Murphy will lead a study to investigate new treatments for Cancer cachexia - a devastating disease characterised by skeletal muscle wasting and weakness.

• Associate Professor Linda Denehy from the Melbourne School of Health Sciences will investigate the level of physical activity and fitness in lung cancer survivors and compare that to the national Australian physical activity guidelines.

The Victorian Cancer Agency grants are part of an overall plan that aims to increase cancer survival rates for Victorians by a further 10 per cent by 2015.