NEWLY recruited nanoparticle specialist Arpita Poddar has jumped straight into tackling the most aggressive breast cancer with research since arriving in Ballarat. A big factor boosting her research has been donations from Ballarat women.
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Dr Poddar with the breast cancer research team at Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute has helped to reinforce that a deeper biological knowledge grasp is vital to improving treatment for patients with triple negative breast cancer.
Access to tissue and blood samples from women facing a breast cancer diagnosis in Ballarat has allowed Dr Poddar, who has worked in nano-tech trials worldwide, the chance to immediately put her theories to the test.
FECRI breast cancer lead Aparna Jayachandran said what was unique about FECRI - Australia's only regional cancer research hub - was the close relationship between researchers and clinicians, "because it keeps it [the work] real".
Triple negative breast cancer accounts for about 15 per cent of breast cancer cases and has the worst mortality rate, which is less than 14 months once the cancer has spread because often the standard chemotherapy does not work.
About 30 per cent of women diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer do not survive five years.
FECRI has published a paper in international journal Current Oncology promoting the need for understanding how crosstalk between cellular features, such as metabolic reprogramming and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, cause immunotherapy treatment to fail. This highlights the need for combination treatments.
The publication follows the team's world-first work in describing the behaviour of a pregnancy associated plasma protein, also known as PAPPA, and its links to triple negative breast cancer developing during pregnancy.
FECRI honourary director George Kannourakis encouraged women and men to consider donating a sample of their breast tissue and blood at their biopsy stage, before any potential difficult diagnosis or treatment follows. Professor Kannourakis said human samples allowed for far more precise cancer research.
"Simple things can make a big difference. We're actively doing difficult research and this cannot be done from thin air or on mice," Professor Kannourakis said.
"The problem we have when women see their doctors and surgeons is that it's tough because they've already had the biopsy. It's easy at the beginning of the process - all you have to do is sign a form to consent to tissue banking."
FECRI boasts one of the biggest repositories of human tissue and cell banks in the world with about 36,000 samples.
Professor Kannourakis said this was a highly regulated field in ethics and confidentiality laws.
"Samples are the key to making advances on patient treatments," Professor Kannourakis said.
IN OTHER NEWS
FECRI's breast cancer program launched in 2020 based on seed funding and Ballarat Cycle Classic efforts. It continues with support from fundraisers such as Brunch for Breasts.
The Institute has three PhD candidates and 17 staff with key projects in: immunology, breast cancer, bowel cancer, ovarian cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, renal cancer, Langerhans cell histiocytosis and brain tumours.
You can also support FECRI this festive season by adding a bauble to the virtual Christmas tree, visit: fecri.org.au or directly at treeofhope.com.au.
