PEBC Report - Programa de Epigenética y Biología del Cáncer

In 2008 Dra Eva Gonzalez Suarez was awarded a Ramon y
Cajal research contract and joined the Cancer Epigenetics
and Biology Program (PEBC) integrated in the Biomedical
Research Institute of Bellvitge (IDIBELL) in Barcelona as a
Young Investigator and leader of the “Transformation and
Metastasis” group. Her current research lines are within the
mammary gland biology and breast cancer field, particularly
in understanding the events that drive transformation of the
mammary epithelial cells and metastasis and the stem cell
pathways that become deregulated during carcinogenesis.
Research at the “Transformation and Metastasis”
group Overview
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in
women with a mortality of 30-40% mainly due to metastasis.
Breast cancer is currently managed by surgery, hormone
therapy, chemotherapy and radiation. However, these
approaches are non-specific, have severe side effects, and
many are ineffective, specially in the treatment of metastatic
disease. Our work in the Transformation and Metastasis
group lead by Eva Gonzalez-Suarez is focused in the identification
of the main proteins and pathways that drive mammary
epithelial cell transformation and metastasis in order to
find targets for future therapeutics and elucidate mechanisms
of resistance to current breast cancer drugs.
Tools and methods
We are generating orthotopic mouse models of breast cancer.
Our aim is to generate models that resemble different
breast cancer subtypes and use them to identify new potential
targets for breast cancer treatment, to test novel therapies
and to characterize “in vivo” the mechanisms of resistance
to drugs currently used in the clinics. In addition we
use several transgenic mouse models prone to develop
mammary epithelial tumors to complement the xenograft
models. Our experimental models also include three-dimensional
(3D) and suspension cultures of primary mouse and
human breast cancer cells from fresh mouse and human
tumors. 3D models of epithelial cells are physiologically relevant
as they recapitulate the structural organization and
multi-cellular complexity of the mammary epithelia.
Suspension cultures are extensively used to expand and
characterize the population of tumor initiating cells in vitro.
Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Symposium
48 28, 29 May 2009, Barcelona