The Microbiome of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) and Its Role in Disease Progression. (360G-Wellcome-211655_Z_18_Z)
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer to affect women in Ireland. Approximately 15% of breast cancers are described as triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), a subtype of breast cancer which lacks the receptors for oestrogen and progesterone and do not overexpress HER2. This renders hormone treatment and the monoclonal antibody Herceptin/Trastuzumab ineffective. TNBC is a particularly aggressive and invasive form of breast cancer which has recently been shown to have its own unique microbiome. These microbiome may contribute in driving the pathogenic process. It is also suggested that cancer microbiomes may play a significant role in chemoresistance. Our objective is to determine the association of the breast cancer tumour microbiome with tumour proliferation and chemotherapeutic drug efficacy. Importantly for this study, bacteria have been shown to be potentially involved in the degradation of chemotherapeutic drugs. In summary, tumour microbiome is beginning to gain recognition as one of the hallmarks of cancer. If our research were to show a link between the microbiome and the cancer cells’ proliferation and innate resistance to treatment, it could pave the way for further investigation into possibilities of treating cancer patients with antibiotics in addition to chemotherapeutics to improve clinical outcome.
Where is this data from?
This data was originally published by The Wellcome Trust. If you see something about your organisation or the funding it has received on this page that doesn't look right you can submit a grantee amendment request. You can hover over codes from standard codelists to see the user-friendly name provided by 360Giving.