Description:

Cyrus Ghajar, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor
Translational Research Program
Public Health Sciences Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

"Defining and Exploiting Hallmarks of Disseminated Tumor Cells"

Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) that are not eradicated by current breast cancer treatment modalities are the root of lethal breast cancer recurrences. DTCs can lie dormant in tissues such as the bone for years to decades, and their activation can result in metastatic disease. Currently, we lack therapies that specifically target and kill DTCs, and we do not understand the factors that allow DTCs to survive for years, resist therapy, and evade the immune system. Significantly advancing our understanding of DTC biology has the potential to identify novel therapeutic targets that could be leveraged for DTC eradication. For the past several years, we developed models, tools, and resources to study the biology of disseminated breast tumor cells. This has resulted in the identification of four hallmarks of DTCs, which we believe can be targeted to either sustain disseminated breast tumor cells in a dormant state, deprive them of cues necessary for their survival, or reveal them to the immune system. I will describe these findings, and define how we plan to exploit them towards metastasis prevention trials in patients in the coming years. Beyond dormancy, I believe the development of translational resources to study basic biology has the potential to profoundly impact critical questions in breast cancer, ranging from how one can prevent primary tumor incidence, to how one can develop curative paradigms targeting metastasis. A holistic partnership between basic scientists, translationally minded clinicians/clinician-scientists, technologists and patient advocates is requisite to successfully addressing these key needs.