Members from the laboratory of Stephen Ethier, Ph.D., deputy center director and director of basic science for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, will present research findings on breast cancer-causing genes and how they operate at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting, April 13-18, in Los Angeles, CA.
"We know there are genetic drivers of this disease," said Dr. Ethier, principal investigator of a breast cancer research lab at Karmanos Cancer Institute. "My lab wants to prove what genes are causing (breast) cancer, and we're coming up with some novel research that we believe will prove which genes cause this disease."
Dr. Ethier's laboratory is also researching how these cancer-causing genes, often referred to as oncogenes, function so effective therapies can be targeted toward them.
Two members from his lab, Katie L. Streicher, Ph.D., and Nicole E. Willmarth, are studying a subset of breast cancers with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpression, which correlates with a poor prognosis. They recently discovered that to effectively target EGFR, the ligand amphiregulin (AR) and the cytokine IL-1 must be targeted, or "turned off."
"Members of my lab are conducting exciting, novel research," Dr. Ethier commented. "They are some of the best researchers in the field and perform vitally important work that could benefit generations to come. This smart and talented team remains focused on our ultimate goal of eradicating breast cancer."
Schedule of Presentations
1 - 5 p.m., Sunday, April 15, 2007 -- Zeng-Quan Yang, Stephen P. Ethier. Methylation-associated silencing of SFRP1 in breast cancers with 8p11-12 amplified region.
8 a.m. - 12 p.m., Monday, April 16, 2007 -- Katie L. Streicher, Nicole E. Willmarth, Stephen P. Ethier. Up-regulation of IL-1 by amphiregulin alters EGFR activation by modifying a tyrosine phosphatase.
8 a.m. - 12 p.m., Tuesday, April 17, 2007 -- Nicole E. Willmarth, Stephen P. Ethier. EGFR overexpression as a result of receptor stabilization in breast cancer cells with an amphiregulin/EGFR autocrine loop.