List of Research Topics
Recent Research and Clinical Trials:
I SPY 2 TRIAL: Neoadjuvant and Personalized Adaptive Novel Agents to Treat Breast Cancer
Purpose:
The purposes of this study are: 1) to further advance the ability to practice personalized medicine by learning which new drug agents are most effective with which types of breast cancer tumors 2) identify tissue and blood biomarkers that correlate and predict response to each therapy and 3) learn more about which early indicators of response are predictors of treatment success.
Study of the Efficacy of Chloroquine in the Treatment of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (The PINC Trial)
Purpose:
The overall goal of this trial is to test a new therapy that has the potential to kill pre invasive early stage breast cancer before it can become invasive and life threatening. Our research (Espina et al) has identified a new therapeutic target, autophagy, that is used by the preinvasive cancer cells to survive inside the breast milk ducts. The autophagy pathway is inhibited by the oral medication chloroquine. The PINC trial will test the hypothesis that chloroquine will suppress or kill breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) cells, which are the precursor to invasive ductal breast carcinoma.
Latest Transitional Research:
Chemoprevention of Breast Cancer
Ex-vivo Treatment of Multiple Myeloma Bone Marrow Aspirates
Personalized Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer
Personalized Treatment of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Discovery of Serum Biomarkers for Cancer Detection and Monitoring
Emerging Technology:
Preservation Chemistry
A preservation solution which preserves cell morphology and stabilizes tissue biomolecules in one step has been developed by CAPMM scientists Dr. Virginia Espina and Dr. Claudius Mueller. The preservation technology obviates the requirement for freezing of tissue for shipping, biobanking and molecular analysis, and overcomes the drawbacks of formalin fixation. This technology has been exclusively licensed to Theranostics Health, Inc.