Dr Kate Beecher Matthews
The need
Breast cancer patients often face the serious risk of cancer spreading to the brain, significantly affecting both survival rates and quality of life due to neurological problems. Unfortunately, predicting which patients are more likely to develop brain metastases is difficult, and current treatment options for brain metastases are limited. While it's not fully clear how breast cancer cells spread and thrive in the brain, there is growing evidence that neurotransmitters (the chemicals that allow brain cells to communicate) and their receptors may help cancer cells grow. Studies suggest breast cancer cells might use these brain signals to support their growth, but there is still a lot to learn about how cancer cells and brain tissue interact.
The research
Dr Kate's work focuses on understanding how breast cancer cells adapt to the brain. Early studies suggest that these cells take advantage of brain signals to grow and avoid death. By investigating the role of neurotransmitters in this process, she aims to uncover how breast cancer spreads to the brain and what makes it thrive there.
The impact
By exploring how brain chemicals influence cancer spread, Dr Kate hopes to discover new treatment strategies. This could lead to repurposing existing drugs that target neurotransmitters, offering new hope for patients with breast cancer that has spread to the brain.
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