Scientists at Dalhousie Medical School have developed a new and effective way to test potential new treatments for aggressive, metabolically active HER2-positive breast cancers.

Dr. Paola Marignani is principal investigator of the team of scientists that has engineered a new mouse model of HER2-positive breast cancer—a model that is so reliable and predictable, it’s allowing them to test experimental drugs on cancers that have barely even begun.

Precise and efficient testing of breast cancer treatments

“We’ve found that our model reliably leads to HER2-positive, metabolically active breast cancer within a specific and predictable time frame,” notes Dr. Marignani, an associate professor in the departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Pathology. “As a result, we’re able to test potential treatments against tumours that are just beginning to develop, to see if we can actually circumvent the cancer. We can also precisely compare the impact of various treatments at different stages of cancer development, to test how to optimize the effectiveness of each strategy.”

Cancer researchers around the world are taking notice of the new model, since it was published in PLOS ONE, the peer-reviewed journal of the U.S.-based Public Library of Science. A number of European and American investigators have already contacted Dr. Marignani, in hopes of collaborating with her to test promising new breast cancer therapies.

Read the whole article at https://medicine.dal.ca/news/2013/05/02/breast_cancer_advances__dal_researchers_create_a_new_model_for_testing_potential_treatments_against_aggressive_breast_cancers.html