Macrophages and Metastasis — Dr. Jeffrey Pollard has been awarded a $2.1 million grant over five years from the National Cancer Institute. The funding will support research to define the role of a particular type of cell of the immune system, macrophages, on the ability of tumor cells to spread from the initial site to other parts of the body. This process, known as metastasis, is the major cause of cancer death. The research will focus specifically on how macrophages promote the growth and survival of tumor cells in bone marrow and lungs, the main sites of breast cancer metastasis. Elucidating the mechanisms by which macrophages influence the establishment of tumors in bone and lung could result in the development of new therapeutic agents to fight metastatic breast cancer, the most common malignancy in women. Dr. Pollard is professor of developmental & molecular biology and of obstetrics & gynecology and women's health, director of the Center for Study of Reproductive Biology and Women's Health and the Louis Goldstein Swan Chair in Women's Cancer Research.
Posted on: Monday, January 28, 2013