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

Despite recent advances, some types of breast cancer remain difficult to treat. New effective therapies are urgently needed. Many breast cancer cells differ from healthy cells in their metabolism – their ability to make and use sugars, lipids and amino acids. Breast cancer cells also have metabolic versatility – the ability to sense and adapt to the scarce levels of nutrients found in tumors, which makes some breast tumors hard to treat. We will study a new cancer cell signaling system that we discovered, by which breast cancer cells sense their own metabolic state, allowing them to adapt, grow and survive. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of this new metabolism sensing system of cancer cells will allow identification of new drug targets that may be effective in developing new more effective breast cancer therapies.