WEHI Postgraduate Seminar hosted by the Education Committee

Professor Jane Visvader

Division Head – ACRF Cancer Biology and Stem Cells division, WEHI

From the breast stem cell hierarchy towards therapeutics and prevention

Davis Auditorium

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Including Q&A session

Our team’s research centres on understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to normal mammary gland development and breast cancer. Toward this end, we have focused on unravelling the normal cell types that reside in breast tissue, cellular relationships and molecular regulators, and how these cells are perturbed in the early stages of neoplasia. The identification of stem and progenitor cells in breast tissue has led to the definition of an epithelial differentiation hierarchy, with implications for identifying new therapeutic targets for breast cancer treatment and prevention.

This presentation will discuss how a differentiation hierarchy has enabled the identification of ‘cells of origin’ in breast tissue from women who carry a pathogenic gene variant,   culminating in an international phase III prevention trial for BRCA1 carriers. The broader implications of the hierarchy in the context of determining cells of origin versus cancer stem cells versus tumour plasticity will be touched upon, as all of these continue to present conundrums for the breast and other solid tumour fields.

All welcome!