Current Research Projects
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive form of breast cancer with a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Immunotherapy, which uses the immune system to fight cancer, can be effective, but it doesn't work for everyone. This is because cancer cells can deceive the immune system and avoid being destroyed. Research has shown that immune cells around the tumor undergo changes during cancer growth, causing the environment around the tumor to become more favorable for the cancer cells instead of fighting against them. BET inhibitors and BET degraders (BETi/BETd) are a type of drug that can inhibit/degrade bromodomain extra terminal (BET) proteins that promote the growth of tumor cells. Previous studies have suggested that inhibiting these proteins can help enhance the immune response against cancer or work in combination with immunotherapies to improve treatment outcomes.
The BET protein degrader (ZBC260) is a potent and selective drug with greater antitumor effectiveness than other available BETi and BETd. Our recent experiments have demonstrated that ZBC260 can reduce the growth of tumors and decrease the presence of cancer stem cells. Our data suggests that specific immune cells play a crucial role in ZBC260's effectiveness. Our current goal is to identify the immune cells involved and determine how they interact with the BET proteins targeted by ZBC260. By understanding these interactions between tumor cells and the immune system, as well as how BET proteins control tumor cells in this environment, we hope to develop new and better therapies for breast cancer.
