MBC RESEARCH PROJECT OVERVIEW and Q & A with JENNIFER FREEDMAN, PHD
(photo courtesy of Susan G. Komen)
Susan G. Komen and Blue Cross NC MBC Disparities Collaborative Research Grant
Co-Principal Investigators
Jennifer Freedman, PhD
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University School of Medicine
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Co-Director, Patierno/Freedman/George Lab for Cancer Research
Steven Patierno, PhD
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University School of Medicine
Deputy Director, Duke Cancer Institute
Co-Director, Patierno/Freedman/George Lab for Cancer Research
Professor, Department of Medicine
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy
Katherine Hoadley, PhD
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Director, Hoadley Lab (biology of cancer through gene expression analyses and integrative genomic approaches)
Assistant Professor, Genetics, Computational Medicine Program
UNC-Chapel Hill Cancer Genetics
PROJECT SUMMARY
This project will identify differences in RNA splicing and differences in immune system characteristics between metastatic breast cancer patients of African versus European ancestry. The team hopes to determine if and how these differences impact the growth and spread of breast cancer. Due to significant disparities in breast cancer outcomes for Black women,;a greater understanding of the role that these underlying biological mechanisms play in breast cancer metastasis is essential to the development of better treatments and improved outcomes.
Q & A with Jennifer Freedman, PhD
In what ways will this grant build on/advance your current research? Or is this brand-new research?
JF: Recently, we have identified in our lab, differences in RNA splicing by ancestry in a number of cancers exhibiting disparities among racial groups, including primary breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has not spread to other locations in the body.
Dr. Patierno and I will be partnering with Dr. Katherine Hoadley, who directs the Hoadley Lab at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The Hoadley Lab has recently identified differences in immune system characteristics (immune expression signatures and immune cell composition) in primary breast cancer and between Black patients and white patients.
This grant will build on/advance our lab research and the Hoadley Lab’s research beyond primary breast cancer — to metastatic breast cancer. The next step for our joint research will be to determine if these differences (in RNA splicing and in immune system characteristics in metastatic breast cancer patients of African versus European ancestry) are causing breast cancer cells to grow and spread more quickly in Black women with African ancestry.
What are the end goals of the grant?
JF: The end goals of the grant are to take a first step toward developing new personalized drugs for metastatic breast cancer by identifying new targets these drugs can be developed against. The work will also significantly increase the number of biologically characterized metastatic breast cancers from patients of African ancestry, which will be available to all scientists for study. Ultimately, the work will improve outcomes for Black women with metastatic breast cancer as well as for women of all races and ethnicities with breast cancer that grows and spreads more quickly.
Who are your other collaborators on the project research team?
JF: From Duke, our research collaborators include co-investigators Carey Anders, MD (breast medical oncologist; medical director, Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis at DCI; interim chief of the Department of Medicine’s Division of Medical Oncology) and Kouros Owzar, PhD (director, DCI Bioinformatics Shared Resource); as well as Tyler Allen, PhD, postdoctoral associate in our lab (Patierno/Freedman/George Lab for Cancer Research); bioinformaticians Alexander Sibley, and Jeremy Gresham; and Amanda Van Swearingen, PhD, senior research associate with the Duke Brain and Spine Metastasis Center at DCI.
From UNC, research collaborators include co-investigators Lisa Carey, MD, FASCO (breast medical oncologist and deputy director of Clinical Sciences, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center) and Naim Rashid, PhD (associate professor, Department of Biostatistics, and research associate professor, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center)
We will also be working closely with two individuals who bring their knowledge and skills and their unique and valuable perspectives as metastatic breast cancer patients and patient advocates —— to our project.
Katrina Cooke, BA, is a metastatic breast cancer patient advocate and mother of two boys who has been living with metastatic breast cancer since being diagnosed at DCI in 2011 at the age of 36. She’s a professional speaker, peer mentor, peer group facilitator and advocate. Building on her bachelor’s degree in psychology, she underwent training with the American Cancer Society to become a peer mentor and training with SHARE Cancer Support to become a peer group facilitator. Since 2017, she has been a patient advocate and metastatic breast cancer group facilitator with Komen North Carolina Triangle to the Coast as well as a member of the Duke Cancer Institute Oncology Patient and Family Advisory Council (OPAC). Since 2018, she has served as community co-chair of OPAC and she also sits on OPAC’s chemo-immunotherapy education committee. Since January of 2020, she has been a member of the Duke University Health System Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC).
“I have had the pleasure of being a part of many Quality Improvement projects and research studies as a patient advisor and team member. I am excited to partner with researchers at Duke and UNC as they come together to get us closer to making sure metastatic breast cancer is not the death sentence that it is now. I am confident that when patients and researchers come together as one that the needle will begin to move on metastatic breast cancer and make a life and death difference in the lives of those like me… By being a part of this groundbreaking research I will be able to provide input and insight as an actual metastatic breast cancer patient on the design, conduct, analysis, and dissemination of the findings.” — Katrina Cooke
Amelia Stanley is a metastatic breast cancer patient advocate who was diagnosed nearly two years ago at the age of 34 with breast cancermetastasis to the bone. Her family has a long history of breast and gynecological cancers. She has been treated at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Centerince January 2020 and has shown a remarkable response to treatment. This project will be her first foray into patient advocacy.
Katrina Cooke and Amelia Stanley provided their insight and input throughout the project design and grant application process and they will be involved in the project’s implementation and the analysis and dissemination of the project’s findings. During the grant application preparation process, they enjoyed discussing the design of the project and reviewing the lay abstract of the application to ensure that the language and the impact would be clear to metastatic breast cancer patients like them. They were in regular communication with the team, by email or phone and attended biweekly team meetings.
Throughout the duration of this project, they will be attending events that the team is involved in with that include additional scientists and/or community stakeholders, including biweekly internal seminars, an annual external scientific conference, and monthly community events, such as the Duke Cancer Institute’s Office of Health Equity Conversations with Our Community. For such events, they will be preparing project materials with the team and co-presenting. These opportunities will enhance their knowledge and skills related not only to our specific research project, but to metastatic breast cancer research in general. And they will help connect our project researchers with community stakeholders as well as other patients and advocates in our local Susan G. Komen affiliate.