Grant: Project Grant

The majority of breast cancer patients die from metastatic disease rather than the primary tumor. Metastasis, which is the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to other areas in the body, remains the main cause of patient related death, due to organ damage caused by the growing metastases. Awareness of the importance of metastasis and our basic scientific understanding of the metastatic process has improved substantially over the past few decades. However, many aspects of metastasis are still not well defined and our ability to prevent or treat metastasis is limited. In order to improve patient outcomes, a better understanding of metastasis is required. One way that cancer cells are thought to move around the body is by sprouting tiny 'feet-like' structures called invadopodia. We propose that these 'feet-like' structures respond to cues in their environment and this triggers cell movement and invasion at distant organs. Our work aims to study how these environmental cues promote the formation of invadopodia and how this changes the movements and actions of the cancer cells. Results from this work will identify proteins important for the formation and function of these 'feet'. This will help us understand the mechanisms by which cancer cells move throughout the body, seed and grow in distant organs. This could lead to the future development of therapies aimed at impairing the actions of these 'feet' to reduce metastatic spread and improve patient outcomes.