The AACR-Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance-Deborah Mueller Foundation Fund Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Innovation and Discovery Grant is a new grant mechanism intended to stimulate and develop creative, paradigm-shifting ideas in invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) to encourage translation into new treatment options that may not be funded through conventional channels.

2024 GRantees

Research 

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is characterized by a highly invasive growth pattern that complicates early detection and complete surgical removal. The tumor microenvironment (TME) of ILC is dominated by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a cell type known to influence tumor growth, metastasis and therapy response in other cancers. However, the role of CAFs in ILC remains poorly understood due to a lack of in vitro model systems that faithfully recapitulate CAF-tumor interactions. By leveraging tumor tissue from genetically engineered mouse models of ILC, Dr. Houthuijzen developed an ex vivo culture platform that maintains TME complexity and heterogeneity while accurately mimicking in vivo therapy responses. The proposed research aims to establish a similar platform using human ILC tumor specimens to study tumor-TME interactions and assess novel TME-targeted therapies. This initiative will significantly advance ILC research by providing a clinically relevant model for testing new therapies. 

Biography 

Dr. Houthuijzen obtained her doctorate at the University of Utrecht studying a fatty acid signaling network between mesenchymal stem cells, macrophages and tumor cells leading to chemotherapy resistance, before joining the Netherlands Cancer Institute as a postdoctoral fellow. She has established her own independent research program studying the origin, heterogeneity and molecular crosstalk of cancer-associated fibroblasts in breast cancer. She has a strong and long-standing interest in the complex interactions between tumor cells and their host. 

Acknowledgment of Support 

“It is a great honor to receive the AACR-Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance-Deborah Mueller Foundation Fund Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Innovation and Discovery Grant. This grant provides valuable support for me and my team to screen and identify better therapies for the treatment of ILC patients using our ex vivo culture platform.”

 Research 

Loss of E-cadherin (encoded by CDH1) is a hallmark of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Dr. Reduzzi’s group previously identified an association between CDH1 alterations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and the number of circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters (considered as major players in the metastatic spread of breast cancer). In this project, Dr. Reduzzi aims to use a comprehensive liquid biopsy approach to investigate the role of CDH1 mutations in ILC metastasis. 

Biography 

Dr. Reduzzi obtained her master’s degree from the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori of Milan (Italy), during which she began working on liquid biopsy in breast cancer. She then completed her doctorate in Milan, before moving to Northwestern University of Chicago for her postdoctoral training. She is currently an assistant professor and director of the Cristofanilli laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her research focuses on the analysis of CTCs and CTC clusters at the single-cell level in different tumor types to better understand their clinical and biological significance. 

Acknowledgment of Support 

“I am extremely honored to receive the 2024 AACR-Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance-Deborah Mueller Foundation Fund Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Innovation and Discovery Grant. This grant will allow my group to better characterize invasive lobular carcinoma, an understudied subtype of breast cancer, to potentially identify novel biomarkers for new treatment strategies.”