69传媒faculty member receives grant for breast cancer research
Dr. Patrick Murphy, an assistant professor in the 69传媒Department of Biology, has received a $300,000 grant through the Canadian Cancer Society鈥檚 2021 competition for research into breast cancer.
Murphy鈥檚 grant was one of 10 awarded in the 2021 ACR Grants competition, which funds all areas of cancer research, including biomedical, clinical, health services, and (psycho)social, cultural, environmental and population health research.
鈥淏reast cancer kills approximately 5,000 women each year in Canada and 400 across the Atlantic region,鈥� said Murphy. 鈥淪ome breast cancer subtypes, such as the so-called triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs), have few treatment options. This is changing due to recent discoveries that some TNBCs grow by breaking down glucose into an amino acid called serine. However, the role of serine in the growth of tumour cells is not fully understood, and drugs that directly inhibit serine synthesis have not yet been successful. Studying how serine synthesis helps tumour growth may provide highly desired alternative treatments for TNBCs.鈥�
Evidence from Murphy鈥檚 laboratory indicates that serine is made into other molecules in cells that may help TNBCs grow. These same molecules also circulate in human plasma, potentially undermining the effectiveness of drugs that target serine biosynthesis. The goal is to find out what these metabolites do and if they decrease the ability to inhibit serine biosynthesis in TNBCs.
To find out how molecules like serine support tumour growth, Murphy鈥檚 laboratory specializes in the use of technology aimed at finding out what other molecules they interact with. Murphy and his team, which includes collaborators within 69传媒and at Dalhousie University, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Illinois Chicago, will first identify these interactions and further determine if they allow TNBCs to escape the effects of existing serine biosynthesis inhibitors. If they do, this will lead to new ways to block serine鈥檚 ability to help TNBCs grow.
鈥淭his project presents a unique opportunity to provide much-needed progress in targeting breast cancers that currently have the poorest outcomes,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s well, the findings of the project have the potential to influence treatment for other cancers such as lung cancers, leukemias, and Ewing sarcomas.鈥�
Dr. Katherine Gottschall-Pass, interim vice-president academic and research at UPEI, congratulated Murphy on his success in the Atlantic Cancer Research Grants competition.
鈥淲hile advances continue to be made in the treatment of breast and other cancers, the disease continues to be a significant human health challenge,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is through research like Dr. Murphy鈥檚 that we will meet this challenge head-on.鈥�
Of 51 applications submitted to the 2021 ACR Grants competition, the 10 accepted were funded for a total of just over $2.8 million. Funding for eight grants was provided by the J. Additional funding was provided by the and the .
