Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide and is responsible for one third of all cancer deaths of women in Canada. Over 90% of breast cancer-related deaths are due to tumour metastasis from the breast to distant organs like bone, lung and liver. Metastasis is considered to be the most life-threatening stage of cancer progression, as no drugs have been developed to successfully treat metastatic breast cancer patients to date. Recently, the protein TAZ has been identified as a component of an emerging cellular pathway called the Hippo pathway and a cancer-promoting protein (oncogene). TAZ levels are increased in some types of breast, lung, colorectal and thyroid cancers. In breast cancer patients, high levels of TAZ are associated with cancer metastasis and poor survival. While it is quite clear that TAZ promotes breast cancer metastasis, the precise ways in which it does so remain unknown. In our study, we will use a TAZ-overexpressing breast cancer mouse model to compare gene expression between metastasized tumours (in the lung) and non-metastasized tumours (in the breast). This will help us identify and characterize the other genes that TAZ regulates to promote tumour metastasis. We will also create and test a drug targeting TAZ to see if it can reduce breast cancer metastasis in our mouse model. This series of experiments will help us identify and characterize the genes responsible for breast cancer metastasis. By doing so, we hope to find new therapeutic targets for the successful prevention and treatment of breast cancer metastasis.