Grant: Project Grant

It is now predicted that 90% of cancer-related deaths are due to the formation of metastases rather than from the primary tumour. It remains a mystery why different cancers tend to spread to different places in the body. For example, breast cancer has the tendency to metastasize to the bones, liver and lungs whereas sarcomas and colon cancer tend to almost exclusively spread to the lungs and liver respectively. This proposal builds from the discovery that there are specific endothelial receptors that act as 'zip codes' to mediate the recruitment of both innate immune cells and metastatic cancer cells into the liver and lungs. In this proposal we will address some very important questions related to cancer metastasis, a major unmet clinical need in cancer control. Using a series of biochemical, genetic, pharmacological, intravital imaging and in vivo pre-clinical approaches we will determine the molecular means that cancer cells are recruited to specific organs? Second, we will determine how the recruitment of innate immune cells into the tumor microenvironment impact metastatic growth in specific organs? Third, determine if there are specific ways to harness these steps in the metastatic process for therapeutic gain?