Doris Germain, Ph.D.
Institutional Affiliation:
Associate Professor
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
http://www.mountsinai.org/Find%20A%20Faculty/profile.do?id=0000072500001497229012&officeDrawer=biz
Education
McGill University, B.Sc.
Montreal University, Ph.D.
Research
Cyclin D1 has a Target for Therapy in Breast Cancer
Impact
Improved hormonal therapy of breast cancer.
Summary of Research
We have developed a novel approach to enhance the efficacy of hormonal (endocrine) therapy of breast cancers. Breast cancer affects 140,000 women each year. One of the most frequent treatment options is hormonal therapy using drugs such as Tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors. However, since these drugs repress growth of cancer cells rather than leading to their death, some cells acquired mutations that allow their growth in presence of these drugs, therefore leading to recurrences. We discovered that the unique mode of action of a third endocrine drug called fulvestrant can be exploited using the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. The fulvestrant-bortezomib leads to breast cancer cells death by promoting the toxic aggregation of the estrogen receptor in the cytoplasm. This novel mechanism raises the possibility to enhance the efficacy of hormonal therapy and reduce risk of recurrence. |
