Optimizing systemic therapies of metastatic and recurrent triple-negative breast cancer using next generation 3D models
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer and is characterized by a lack of estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. TNBC is more likely to recur than the other two subtypes and one of the primary challenges to treat TNBC is its intra-tumoral heterogeneity (ITH). Recent evidences have shown that these micro-environmental differences led ITH creates hurdles for effective therapy response. In this project, we discuss the evidence of intratumoral heterogeneity and its impact on the disease progression including sensitivity to different treatment options particularly chemotherapy and immunotherapies (PD1/PDL1 based). In this project, we aim to evaluate this Intra-tumoral heterogeneity of TNBC through next-generation patient-derived 3D tumour organoid and explant models, which can effectively expedite preclinical responses towards immune-antibody-directed therapies.