University of Washington Seattle, Washington
Athena Distinguished Professor of Breast Cancer Research Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Developing vaccines to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Forty percent of adults in the United States have obesity. The inflammation found in the fatty tissue of individuals with obesity results in significant metabolic stress and imbalances of the immune cells which can lead to the development of breast cancer. Dr. Disis and her team have created an anti-inflammatory vaccine (ADVac) targeting proteins highly expressed in inflammatory fat, one of the first vaccines designed to lower the risk of developing breast cancer.
Dr. Disis and her team are testing ADVac in laboratory models to measure the extent that it reverses metabolic dysfunction and prevents tumor formation. So far, the team has found that the vaccine delays tumor development in laboratory models, directs immune cells to fatty tissue, and may restore normal metabolic function.
The team is now developing a new model to further evaluate the vaccine in a setting that closely mimics aggressive breast cancer promoted by obesity. In addition to rigorously testing the safety of ADVac, they will optimize the delivery of the vaccine and measure its efficacy in combination with metformin, a drug used to lower blood sugar levels in patients with type II diabetes.
Mary L. (Nora) Disis, MD, is the Athena Distinguished Professor of Breast Cancer Research, Associate Dean for Translational Health Sciences in the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at UW and a Member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Her research interest is in the discovery of new molecular immunologic targets in solid tumors for the development of vaccine and cellular therapy for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. In addition, her group evaluates the use of the immune system to aid in the diagnosis of cancer and develops novel assays and approaches to quantitate and characterize human immunity. Dr. Disis holds a leadership award from the Komen for the Cure Foundation and was recently named as an American Cancer Society Clinical Professor. She is the Editor-in-Chief of JAMA Oncology.
2016
The Delta Air Lines Award
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