Breast Cancer Resistant Phenotypes Dream Team - Stand Up To Cancer

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SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team:
An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotypes

Grant Term: October 2009−September 2014

The SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team addressed the most significant issues related to the three major subtypes of breast cancer—ER positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative. It used its findings to develop innovative and less toxic therapies with the potential to improve the treatment outcomes for women with this disease.

ABOUT THIS TEAM’S RESEARCH

Researchers have come to understand that breast cancer is not a single disease but rather a spectrum of conditions that vary in their biology and response to treatment. The SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team focused on three major subtypes of breast cancer—ER positive, HER2 positive, and triple negative (that is, simultaneously ER negative, PR negative, and HER2 negative)—with the hope of developing novel therapies for women with this disease.

Over time, cancer cells can develop ways of “outsmarting” the drugs and agents designed to kill them, a phenomenon known as drug resistance. This Dream Team studied the driving mechanisms that lead to drug resistance and the role that cancer stem cells play in resistance.

The team gathered the vast amount of information that exists about breast cancer into an integrated database to form a “discovery platform”—a basis for identifying and validating new drug combinations and targets that can be pursued in clinical trials.

SEE SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT

MEET THE TEAM

The top scientists and researchers on the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, which leads them to great insights upon collaboration. Learn more about the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team.

Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD
Leader
University of California,
Los Angeles
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Joe W. Gray, PhD
Co-leader
Oregon Health & Science University
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Dream Team Members

Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD
University of California, Los Angeles
Leader

Joe W. Gray, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University
Co-leader

Alan Ashworth, FRS, PhD
Institute of Cancer Research
Principal Investigator

Joan S. Brugge, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Principal Investigator

Arul M. Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD
University of Michigan
Principal Investigator

Gregory J. Hannon, PhD
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Principal Investigator

David Haussler, PhD
University of California at Santa Cruz
Principal Investigator

V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc
Vincent T. Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University
Principal Investigator

C. Kent Osborne, MD
Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine
Principal Investigator

Peter K. Sorger, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Principal Investigator

Terry P. Speed, PhD
University of California at Berkeley
Principal Investigator

Zena Werb, PhD
Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at San Francisco
Principal Investigator

Max S. Wicha, MD
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Principal Investigator

Janice Barlow
Advocate

Cindy Geoghegan
Advocate

Ellen L. Stovall
Advocate

Fran M. Visco
Advocate

“
”

“What keeps me going is that this is an illness that affects many, many, many people, and my goal in life, along with all of my colleagues, is to turn it from a disease of great concern to a disease that can be readily controlled or even cured so that individuals can go on to live out the rest of their lives.”

Joe W. Gray, PhD
Oregon Health & Science University

TEAM PROGRESS UPDATES

Stand Up To Cancer’s research projects are designed to foster collaborative, swift translational research. The hallmarks of these efforts include rigorous application and selection procedures, sufficient funding to allow scientists to focus on the objectives of the grant, and reviews by senior scientists every six months. These reviews help the investigators capitalize on the latest findings, address potential roadblocks, and collaboratively evolve as the science requires. Please click below to see summaries of research results so far for the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team.

TEAM PROGRESS UPDATES

PUBLICATIONS

Quantification of Sensitivity and Resistance of Breast Cancer Cell Lines to Anti-Cancer Drugs Using GR Metrics
Gray JW, Sorger PK, et al. (2017)
Scientific Data 4:170166.
Upregulation of ER Signaling as an Adaptive Mechanism of Cell Survival in HER2-Positive Breast Tumors Treated with Anti-HER2 Therapy
Giuliano M, Gray JW, Osborne CK, et al. (2015)
Clinical Cancer Research 21(17):3995-4003.
Single-Cell Analysis Reveals a Stem-Cell Program in Human Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells
Werb Z, Lawson DA, et al. (2015)
Nature 526(7571):131-5.
HER2 Drives Luminal Breast Cancer Stem Cells in the Absence of HER2 Amplification: Implications for Efficacy of Adjuvant Trastuzumab
Ithimakin S, Day KC, Wicha MS, et al. (2013)
Cancer Research 73(5):1635–1646.
The Transcription Factor ZNF217 Is a Prognostic Biomarker and Therapeutic Target during Breast Cancer Progression
Gray, JG, Werb Z, Chang HY, et al. (2012)
Cancer Discovery 2(7):638–651.
Identification of Common Predictive Markers of In vitro Response to the Mek Inhibitor Selumetinib (AZD6244; ARRY-142886) in Human Breast Cancer and Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines
Slamon DJ, Garon EG, Finn RS (2010)
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 9(7):1985–1994.
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CLINICAL TRIALS REFERRALS

Cancer clinical trials allow researchers to study innovative and potentially life-saving new treatments. The goal is to find treatments that are better than what’s currently available; in fact, the therapies offered to today’s cancer patients were almost all studied and made possible by people participating in clinical trials. But many cancer clinical trials aren’t completed because not enough people take part.

At StandUpToCancer.org/ClinicalTrials, you’ll find information and answers to common questions about clinical trials. Learn more and talk to your doctor to see if a clinical trial may be the best choice for you.

You can also connect with Carebox, a free and confidential clinical trial matching service that provides access to a vast database to help you identify the clinical trials that might be right for you or your loved one.

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