Novel Immunologic Discovery Platforms to Prevent Metastasis and Recurrence in Breast Cancer
Abstract
Metastasis is when cancer spreads from its original location to a different part of the body. Breast cancer deaths are not caused by the primary tumor in the breast but by metastasis, as it often occurs in vital organs such as the brain, liver, and lungs. For many patients, these metastatic tumors grow after a treatment that initially looked successful; and it can occur even years later. This is the result of breast cancer cells that escape the primary tumor mass in the breast and travel to other organs where they become the seeds of more breast cancer. Disseminated tumor cells that re-grow the breast cancer after initial treatment are inherently resistant to conventional systemic therapies, such as chemotherapy. Our vision is to identify strategies to eradicate these seeds before they bring the disease back and spread it throughout the body. Thus, the challenges we aim to address are to eliminate the mortality associated with metastatic breast cancer and determine how to prevent lethal recurrence. If we succeed in our goal, this will save the lives of many breast cancer patients, avoid unnecessary suffering from treatments once the disease re-appears, and alleviate the associated economic costs. Moreover, if physicians could guarantee that the disease has no means to come back, this would save patients from years of emotional stress wondering whether and when the disease will return. Approaches to eradicate therapy-resistant disseminated breast cancer cells is a critical unmet clinical need. Since these seeds of metastases and recurrence survive during conventional therapies, completely different therapies are necessary. Here we propose to leverage the patients own immune system to prevent metastatic disease rather than to treat it. During early stages of breast cancer, immune cells recognize and eliminate a significant fraction of breast cancer cells that escape the tumor and travel throughout the body. However, some of these disseminated breast cancer cells evolve means to hide from patrolling immune cells. If we discover how they trick immune cells and survive, this will allow us to develop approaches to ensure that the patients inherent immune surveillance can detect and target all breast cancer cells. Of note, immune cells can be thought of like live drugs with the property of specificity and memory, and hence they can patrol the patients bodies for many years. In summary, I believe that metastasis must be prevented, and so, when patients are treated for a tumor in their breast, approaches should be available to ensure their disease is never coming back. Immune cells harbor the power to recognize and attack cancer cells. My goal is to discover means to exploit immune cells to find breast cancer cells that spread during early stages of the disease before they can grow new tumors.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2024
- Source ID
- HT94252310815
Entities
People
- Judith Agudo
Organizations
- Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
- United States Army