Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Institute of Genetics (Bridge Funding)

As a result of the large number of failures in breast cancer treatments, it has become necessary to re-evaluate the basic principles of breast cancer biology and therapy. Cancer cells are thought to be resistant to cancer therapies through a variety of mechanisms. One of these mechanisms may include the genetic differences between individual in the expression of proteins that we possess to metabolize drugs known as cytochrome P450s or CYP450s. If this is the case, then those who are identified to metabolize active drugs inefficiently are expected to be resistant to these therapies, as they will not benefit from the expected concentrations of the active agent of these drugs. We believe that we can predict which patients are likely to benefit from drugs that are metabolized by CYP450s. We will test for the presence and activity of CYP450s in the breast epithelial cells of normal subjects as well as those diagnosed with benign tumours and breast cancer to lend support to our hypothesis. These results will serve as the foundation for future studies where CYP450s will be targeted in breast cancer patients, in the future development of effective cancer therapies. The ultimate goals of our research include the individualization of breast cancer therapies and the development of new drugs that will lead to better health outcomes.