ChristianaCare Scientists Show for the First Time That Tumor Cells Can Manipulate the Body’s Natural Antibody Response to Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Findings point to potential new therapeutic targets for this highly aggressive, drug-resistant breast cancer subtype

Excerpt from the Press Release:

In breakthrough research at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, scientists have discovered that a protein secreted by tumor cells can switch off the body’s natural defenses against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

The study, led by Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, Ph.D., lead research scientist at the Cawley Center for Translational Cancer Research (CTCR), at the Graham Cancer Center, is reported in The Journal of Translational Medicine, available online.

“What we found is that TNBC tumor cells can effectively shut down the body’s defense systems against the tumor by secreting a type of protein called IL-10,” Dr. Sims-Mourtada said.

“The presence of this immune system protein forces the antibodies that would normally be created to attack the tumor to become non-reactive and not do what they are supposed to do.”

The study was initiated in partnership with The Wistar Institute of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the late Raj “Shyam” Somasundaram, Ph.D., a cell biologist at the Melanoma Research Center.

“Dr. Sims-Mourtada and her team have brought us tantalizingly close to understanding what drives the aggressive nature of triple negative breast cancer, a treatment-starved disease that disproportionately affects Delaware women,” said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., Bank of America endowed medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute.

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