Research

QBCF Strategic Grants Program

Research Factsheet

DR. MARK BASIK

LADY DAVIS INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH, JEWISH GENERAL HOSPITAL, MONTRÉAL

PROJECT TITLE The role of DARPP-32 in resistance to trastuzumab in breast cancer

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR Dr. Mark Basik, Assistant Professor Oncology & Surgery

INSTITUTE Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Montréal

CO-APPLIANT Wilson, Miller, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University

TOTAL RESEARCH BUDGET $381 456

NON-SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY:

Herceptin is a new and exciting drug against breast cancer. It works in both early and advanced breast cancers that have high expression of the HER2 protein.

Unfortunately, most patients with advanced breast cancer that respond to the drug at first eventually stop responding and become resistant to the drug. We have found that breast cancer cells that become resistant to Herceptin show high levels of a protein called DARPP-32. This protein is involved in regulating cellular survival and is found in about a half of breast cancers.

We will further study the function of this protein in breast cancer cells that have become resistant to herceptin. We will also study the expression of this protein in a large series of breast tumors from women who were treated with herceptin, to see if DARPP-32 can be used as a guide for the selection of women with breast cancer for herceptin treatment.