Dr Luis Lara Gonzalez’s research is funded by Cure Cancer and SC Johnson

He is based at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the University of Melbourne.

Dr Luis Lara Gonzalez is a Biomedical Engineer and Bioinformatician at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. He specialises in studying the genetics of breast cancer, using computational analyses to understand how cancer cells behave and how they might respond to different treatments.

With a PhD in Cancer Bioinformatics from the University of Melbourne, Luis’ work focuses on personalising treatments for patients, matching their tumour profiles with the best possible therapies, and exploring the potential of immunotherapy in clinical trials. He also has a strong background in developing techniques to better understand cancer at a molecular level and tracking how cancer evolves over time.

The challenges of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer

Metastatic breast cancer claims nine lives every day in Australia, highlighting the urgent need to better understand the biology of this aggressive disease. To tackle this, Dr Luis Lara Gonzalez is part of CASCADE, a crucial program at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre that collects tumour samples from diagnosis to death, enabling researchers to study how the cancer evolves and becomes more dangerous over time.

His previous research in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer revealed numerous genetic changes that let cancer cells adapt and withstand multiple treatments. This highlights the sophisticated ways these cells can become even more aggressive than the therapies designed to stop them. It underscores the importance of monitoring how the disease evolves over time, especially in subtypes like HER2-positive breast cancer, which depend on specific genetic changes to grow. 

While early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer can often be treated successfully with targeted therapies, metastatic HER2-positive cancer remains difficult to cure and frequently spreads to the brain, causing serious complications. The varied ways in which cancer spreads and resists treatment, combined with challenges in collecting samples from metastatic tumours, make it hard to fully understand and address the biology of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. However, by identifying the genetic mechanisms of resistance in this subtype, we can move toward treatments more precisely tailored to each patient’s needs.

Dr Luis Lara Gonzalez’s research

Dr Luis Lara Gonzalez's project aims to understand how primary breast tumours become metastatic, resist HER2-targeted treatments, and lead to patient death. Over the past decade, 58 breast cancer patients have been enrolled in the CASCADE program, with around 1,160 tumour samples collected for detailed molecular analysis. This is the first long-term study focusing on how HER2-positive breast cancer evolves, with the goal of understanding how a patient’s tumour spreads and how it becomes resistant to treatment.

Luis’ pilot study has the potential to provide insight into resistance to conventional and new anti-HER2 therapies. The study focuses on 10 HER2-positive breast cancer patients, split into two groups: Group A, with six patients treated with standard anti-HER2 therapy, and Group B, with four patients treated with newer drugs such as Trastuzumab Deruxtecan and Tucatinib. So far, sequencing and initial analysis have been completed for five patients, with the remaining five currently undergoing sequencing.

To tackle the complexities of analysing such large-scale genomic data, Luis and his team have developed a comprehensive bioinformatics pipeline in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute, a leader research group in cancer evolution. This pipeline combines methods from several leading cancer research projects, creating a reliable and reproducible framework for investigating the molecular intricacies underlying cancer development.

Creating personalised and effective treatments

Luis and his team aim to uncover how primary HER2-positive breast tumours evolve into metastatic disease, resist targeted treatments, and ultimately lead to patient death. By tracing changes in cancer genomes from the primary tumour to the terminal stages, they seek to identify the mechanisms behind treatment resistance and disease progression.

The project will also explore how the immune system interacts with cancer cells over time, shedding light on how cancer evades immune detection and spreads. Additionally, by examining tumour composition before and after death, the team hopes to pinpoint the factors driving drug resistance and the timing of its development.

Ultimately, this research aims to develop better strategies for managing advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, leading to more personalised treatments that could improve survival rates and patients' quality of life.

Making a tangible difference to patients

Luis’ passion for medical research is deeply personal. Raised by clinician parents who taught him the importance of using his skills to help others, he was inspired at a young age to volunteer and support cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

This experience exposed him to the complexity of cancer and the unique story of each patient. Coupled with his family’s own experience with cancer, Luis was driven to pursue a career in cancer research, motivated by the hope that his research will ultimately improve patient outcomes.

“I believe that my generation of onco-bioinformaticians will drive unprecedented change, establishing the technologies and tools needed to shift the paradigm towards personalised medicine in cancer,” he says.

Navigating challenges in early-career research

One of the biggest challenges faced by emerging researchers like Luis is the lack of time for actual research, due to the demands of applying for grants and building a professional profile. The growing number of PhD graduates combined with limited funding creates a competitive environment.

“We are stuck in a 'publish or perish' loop that, coupled with the high rejection rates in top journals, ends up leading to burnout and makes it difficult to balance professional and personal lives,” says Luis. “This difficult dynamic detracts from our ability to focus on meaningful research and can hinder progress in our respective fields.​”

Despite these challenges, Luis remains focused on his goal of driving meaningful research that will have a lasting impact on cancer treatment.

Why funding matters

The Cure Cancer grant will help Luis build on his work in cancer genomics, positioning him as a leader in his field and contributing to the development of real-time tools to track cancer progression. This will ultimately improve disease management and save lives. 

“The Cure Cancer grant will allow me to develop computational tools that will help uncover the mechanisms behind treatment resistance and cancer progression in advanced breast cancer. With new genomic technologies and the rise of artificial intelligence, the research possibilities are vast, bringing us closer to personalised cancer treatments.”

Together, we can cure cancer.

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