Grant: Project Grant

Liver metastases are a major cause of death from cancers of the gastrointestinal tract such as colon and pancreatic carcinomas. Using animal models of these diseases, we discovered that the hormonal status of female mice affected the ability of colon and pancreatic cancer cells to metastasize to the liver by controlling how immune cells in the liver respond to the metastatic cells. Here we propose to undertake an in-depth study of how estrogen and other immune regulatory factors exert their control on the immune response to metastatic cancer cells in the liver and other organ sites. Our findings could have significant implications for personalizing the management of liver metastatic disease.