Grant: CIHR - ICR / Cancer Research Society Partnership - Res. Grants - Breast Cancer

No successful treatments exist for women with breast cancer that have high levels of the growth factor receptor HER2 and have developed tumors that spread to the brain. This team has developed a mouse model to study breast cancer in the brain. They found a drug that eliminates the visible tumor in the mouse brain, but the tumor eventually grows back. The team will study the changes in the second tumor that show a marker protein that is not seen in the first breast cancer brain tumor. They will test if deleting this marker will restore sensitivity to treatment. They study how the brain tissue supports the breast tumor growth in brain and which signals of the breast cancer cells lead to a tumor friendly environment in the brain. These data will guide better treatment strategies in the future.