The Rockefeller University New York, New York
Leon Hess Professor Head, Elizabeth and Vincent Meyer Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology Director, Black Family Metastasis Center Senior Attending Physician The Rockefeller University Attending Physician
Understanding how nerves regulate and promote breast cancer metastasis.
Cancer cells create a complex environment around themselves, called the tumor microenvironment, that helps them grow and spread to other parts of the body. Recent research has shown that cells lining blood vessels (endothelial cells) and immune cells in this environment play a significant role in promoting the spread of breast cancer. It was previously believed that more blood vessels around tumors simply supplied them with more oxygen and nutrients, aiding their growth. Now, it has been discovered that these blood vessels also send signals that actively encourage cancer cells to spread to new locations. Nerves in tumors were previously thought to be passive, simply providing routes for cancer cells to move along. Recently, studies have shown that nerves can help initiate tumors in some cancers. More innervation in these tumors is linked to higher chances of recurrence and poorer survival rates. It is not fully understood, however, how neurons regulate metastasis and how innervation changes as tumors become metastatic. Drs. Tavazoie and Comen are working toward understanding this connection.
Drs. Tavazoie and Comen aim to better define the molecular interactions between neurons and cancer cells. They aim to reveal the specific factors that act to mediate the neuron-cancer crosstalk that drives metastatic progression. They will also map the innervation of breast tumors to gain a better sense of the cellular network underlying metastasis. Defining these signaling networks may reveal inhibitors of neuro-cancer crosstalk that could potentially become therapeutic agents to block metastasis and improve patient outcomes.
Sohail Tavazoie, MD, PhD graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and completed an MD-PhD program at Harvard-MIT, followed by residency training in Internal Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital at Harvard and medical oncology and postdoctoral fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In 2009, he was recruited to The Rockefeller University as Head of the Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology. In addition to his laboratory work, Dr. Tavazoie is an attending medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
His laboratory studies the roles that small-RNAs play in regulating cancer metastasis. Small-RNAs, also called microRNAs, have the ability to block the expression of genes. During his postdoctoral work in Joan Massague’s laboratory at MSKCC, Dr. Tavazoie discovered the first set of non-coding RNAs that act as suppressors of metastasis. These small RNAs were found to be shut off in breast tumors that metastasized. His lab at The Rockefeller University has shown that each of these small-RNAs block the expression of distinct sets of genes that enable breast cancer cells to metastasize. These genes were found to enhance the invasive capacity of breast cancer cells as well as their ability to recruit endothelial cells. His laboratory studies the mechanisms by which these small-RNAs and the genes they regulate control metastasis. By better understanding the molecular pathways that govern metastatic progression, he hopes to enable the development of novel therapeutics that prevent the formation and progression of breast cancer metastasis.
2013
The Lampert Foundation Award
NYU Langone Health New York, New York
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