Determine the mechanism of pregnancy-associated breast cancer

We found that a breast cancer diagnosis within 10 years of a childbirth carries a ~3 to 5-fold increased risk of developing metastatic cancer compared to breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy or in women who have never been pregnant. The cause of the poor prognosis of postpartum breast cancer is a major area of research. Importantly, postpartum breast cancer impacts ~50% of all young breast cancer patients. In collaboration with Dr. Virginia Borges (University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus), we established a multidisciplinary, translational research program to address the unmet clinical needs of women diagnosed with postpartum breast cancer. The summation of our preclinical and retrospective clinical outcomes studies have identified postpartum mammary gland involution, and its associated wound healing-like stromal milieu, as the principal driver of metastasis. Further, we have identified the efficacy of COX-2 targeted interventions in rodent models of postpartum breast cancer, leading to three phase 0 clinical trials aimed at translating our discoveries to young breast cancer patients. Ongoing preclinical studies in rodent models include investigating the roles of specific immune cell populations modulating postpartum disease progression, and determining the underlying mechanism of NSAID efficacy in the context of the post-weaning, involuting mammary gland.