News: estrogen receptor
DRMCRL Visiting Professor Iggo publishes on breast cancer organoid and intraductal models
Professor Richard Iggo, Professor of Cell Biology, University of Bordeaux / Visiting Professor, University of Adelaide has published the methodology, currently utilised at the DRMCRL, for creating breast cancer models by transducing tumor cells and normal mammary epithelial cells with lentiviral vectors in organoid culture and injecting them into the mammary ducts of mice. This article entitled "Modeling breast cancer in organoid and intraductal models" was published in Mammary Stem Cells, a Methods in Molecular Biology book series, and describes the protocols to create estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and androgen receptor positive (AR+) breast cancer models by combining organoid culture with mammary intraductal injection. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2193-6_13
Well done Ebtihal Mustafa - PhD awarded!
Congratulations to Ebtihal Mustafa for great work in completing her doctoral thesis on "Development of a novel therapeutic strategy for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer". And in further good news, Ebi will start a postdoctoral position in October with Assoc Prof Nicholas Clemons at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne whose research interests are in fundamental cancer biology and pre-clinical development of innovative therapeutic strategies and translational research, with a focus on upper gastrointestinal cancers. Best of luck Ebi!
Associate Professor Theresa Hickey publishes paper in Nature Medicine on a suppression role for AR in breast cancer
Androgen receptor (AR)-directed therapies are controversial in (ER)-α-positive breast cancer treatment. Associate Professor Hickey et al have published a paper entitled “The androgen receptor is a tumor suppressor in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer” that demonstrates AR activation, not suppression, exerts potent anti-tumor activity in multiple disease contexts, including resistance to standard-of-care ER and CDK4/6 inhibitors. Notably, AR agonists combined with standard-of-care agents enhanced therapeutic responses. These findings provide unambiguous evidence that AR has a tumor suppressor role in ER-positive breast cancer and support AR agonism as the optimal AR-directed treatment strategy, revealing a rational therapeutic opportunity.
PRESS RELEASE! New discovery in breast cancer treatment by researchers at the University of Adelaide and the Garvan Institute for Medical Research
Associate Professor Theresa Hickey, Professor Wayne Tilley (University of Adelaide) and Associate Professor Elgene Lim (Garvan Institute) have found new evidence about the positive role of androgens in breast cancer treatment with immediate implications for women with estrogen receptor-driven metastatic disease. Read the Press Release and watch a video on how androgen receptor activation can suppress tumour activity.
