Grant: Project Grant

Over 26 000 new cases and over 5000 fatalities of breast cancers were expected in 2017 making it the most common and the second deadliest cancer in Canadian women. Metastasis of breast cancer epitomizes the deadly aspect of the disease. The lack of effective anti-metastatic treatments is the major unmet clinical need in oncology since >90% of patients afflicted with solid tumours succumb to the manifestation of metastatic lesions. We will define the importance of AXL action in various compartments of the tumors including the tumor cells as well as cells in the surrounding environment. We also propose to define how AXL transmits it information in the various compartments of the cells. In particular, we will study how AXL is trafficking inside cells to transmit different signals that supports cell movement to form metastasis. Ultimately, our study uses this information to develop and test novel approaches to block action functions with the aim of decreasing the metastatic burden.