Distinct Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Subsets Mediate Anti-HER2 Drug Resistance in Breast Cancer.

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The research in our group is focused on the development and application of mechanism based approaches to identify novel therapeutics for use in the treatment and prevention of hormonally responsive cancers. Specifically we are interested in the pharmaceutical exploitation of the estrogen and androgen receptors as therapeutic targets in breast and prostate cancers and in defining how these receptors influence the pathogenesis of these diseases. These efforts have led to the discovery of several drugs that are currently being evaluated in the clinic as cancer therapeutics, and to the identification of potential biomarkers and predictors of response that can help to target the use of these new drugs. Most recently we have explored approaches to treat triple negative breast cancer and have identified an important pathway that links obesity/dyslipidemia and cancer risk.

The current research in the Wang laboratory mainly focuses on the elucidation of molecular nature and signaling mechanisms associated with the initiation of cellular senescence. In addition, we continue to study changes in tumor microenvironment that promotes tumor progression and metastasis, particularly how tumor cells interact with the immune system. Ultimately, we hope that our studies in these areas to lead to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of various types of human cancer.