Project 458843

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed and second deadliest cancer among women in Canada after lung cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer that lacks known breast cancer alterations such as the estrogen receptor and HER2. Hence, TNBC patients lack effective personalized therapies that target known alterations in TNBC and are mainly treated with chemotherapies. Yet, TNBC patients currently exhibit poor outcomes due to inherent or developed resistance to chemotherapies. Another challenge of treating TNBC is that this tumour contains heterogeneous cancer cells. These cancer cells within a tumour may respond differently to treatments. However, all cancer cells need nutrients to grow and survive. I hypothesize that the dependency of cancer cells on different nutrients can be used as a treatment for TNBC once we understand the nutrients needed by different cells in the tumour. So far, my research has identified two distinct cancer cell populations that depend on different nutrients within most human TNBC. I will characterize these populations and test how they contribute to TNBC cell survival under different nutrient availabilities and stresses. Since changes in nutrient usage alter the ways tumour cells behave and express genes necessary for tumour growth, I will also explore how these genes are regulated differently in these populations to support their survival and adaptation. Lastly, I will identify how to block the mechanism by which tumour cells adapt during treatment and enhance the growth of TNBC. The completion of this project will provide a better understanding of the distinct cancer cell populations within TNBC that can contribute towards developing better therapeutic strategies for poor outcome TNBC patients.