Targeting Prolyl Peptidases in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. The most life-threatening aspects of breast cancer are metastasis (the ability of tumor cells to grow in and destroy other organs) and therapy resistance (the ability of tumor cells to survive standard drug treatments). To improve survival and eliminate breast cancer, it will be necessary block metastasis and overcome resistance. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are aggressive cancers with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. In our studies, we identified a protein called PRCP that promotes survival and metastasis in TNBC. We found high expression of PRCP is significantly associated with earlier tumor recurrence (worse outcome) in patients. Most importantly, we identified a potent drug candidate that can block PRCP and inhibit TNBC growth and survival. The goals of our study are to determine how PRCP promotes metastasis and survival in TNBC cells and to test the ability of our drug candidate to reduce TNBC tumor growth and target metastatic TNBC tumors. The proposed study addresses the overarching challenge(s) from several aspects. It will reveal molecular mechanisms for breast cancer growth and metastasis. Further, it will evaluate a novel drug candidate for the treatment of metastatic TNBC tumors. We expect that this project will most likely lead to a clinical study for the validation of PRCP as a prognostic marker and the PRCP inhibitor as a candidate drug for the treatment of breast cancer in the next 3 to 5 years.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 29, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1610025
Entities
People
- Carl G. Maki
Organizations
- Rush University Medical Center
- United States Army