Oncology Abstracts

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that can be classified into a number of molecular subtypes that predict prognosis and influence clinical treatment. Cellular heterogeneity is also evident within breast cancers and plays a key role in their development, evolution and metastatic progression. How clinical heterogeneity relates to cellular heterogeneity is poorly understood. We have approached this question using single-cell RNA-Seq on 1000s of individual cells from well-e...

The cellular and molecular basis of stromal cell recruitment, activation and crosstalk in carcinomas is poorly understood, limiting the development of targeted anti-stromal therapies. In mouse models of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), Hedgehog ligand produced by neoplastic cells reprograms cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) to provide a supportive niche for the acquisition of a chemo-resistant, cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype via FGF5 expression and production ...

Introduction: Resistance to endocrine therapy is a major clinical problem in estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. The androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in ~90% of all primary ER+ breast cancers and high expression of AR is associated with a better patient outcome in this tumours. However, uncertainty surrounding the role of AR in endocrine resistance is reflected in current clinical trials in which both AR agonists and antagonists are being investigated. Here, we ...