Grant: Project Grant

Metastatic cancer is a largely incurable disease and responsible for 90% of human cancer-related deaths. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are capable of driving not only tumor initiation, but also metastasis in various human cancer types. This distinct subpopulation of cancer cells utilize their self-renewal ability to generate and persistently propagate a heterogeneous tumor resulting in cancer relapse. Remarkably, this cell population also displays resistance to radiation and chemotherapy based treatments, resulting in tumor relapse, ultimately causing cancer patient death. Therefore, targeting CSCs is a priority for the development of novel therapies. The molecule CDK4 is the ultimate target of many oncogenic signals, suggesting a central role for this protein in cancer development and metastasis. This proposal will help characterize molecular mechanisms of CSCs generation/behavior and the development of novel effective CSC-directed therapies for incurable, invasive and chemotherapy-resistant breast cancers.