The Department of Defense has awarded $1.15 million to a new research project at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) that could expand the treatment options for breast cancer metastasis. Tiffany Seagroves, PhD, professor of Pathology in the College of Medicine, is the lead investigator. The project expands upon previously published research from her lab on the potential to treat breast cancer brain and bone metastasis by inhibiting creatine kinase pathway activity through the creatine kinase brain isoform protein (CKB).
Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors among women and the second major cause of female cancer-related mortality worldwide. Metastatic (stage IV) breast cancer is deadly. Up to 15-20% of breast cancer patients will develop metastasis to the brain, particularly women diagnosed with HER2+ or triple negative subtypes of breast cancer. Successful treatment of breast cancer brain metastasis is limited by the development of drug resistance prior to spread to the brain and by the need for treatments to cross the blood-brain barrier.
Read more on our UTHSC News website.