Eason Hildreth, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Molecular & Cellular Pathology, was recently awarded a two-year Early Career Investigator grant from METAvivor Research and Support for his resarch on breast cancer. The title of his proposal is, “Targeting the CSF1R/PU.1 axis and PU.1/BET super-enhancer regulome in breast cancer bone metastasis.” Dr. Hildreth is an Associate Scientist with the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.
METAvivor Research and Support Inc. is an Annapolis-based, volunteer-led, non-profit organization founded by metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients in 2009. The organization’s main focus is to fund critical research that will lead to advances in treatment options, quality of life and survival for patients diagnosed with MBC. Since 2009, METAvivor has awarded 129 research grants totaling $17,250,000. METAvivor is the only national organization with a peer-reviewed grant program aimed at exclusively funding MBC research, and 100% of all donations go to fund research.
Eason Hildreth, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UAB Pathology
From Dr. Hildreth:
"In this proposal we will be using two different classification of drugs, CSF1R inhibitors and BET inhibitors, that are currently in clinical trials. However, in our study, these drugs will be used for the first time 1) together; 2) to specifically treat bone metastasis; and 3) using a novel drug delivery method. We will evaluate these drugs alone and in combination to treat breast cancer bone metastasis in both triple negative and estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer mouse models. We will not only evaluate the tumors using advanced imaging and histologic analysis, but through molecular interrogation be able to determine downstream targets and genetic changes associated with their use in two different breast cancer subtypes."
Hildreth says the foundation of the proposal is an exciting collaboration with Dr. Eugenia Kharlampieva’s laboratory in the UAB Department of Chemistry, using drugs shown to inhibit the activity of macrophages and their descendants in bone and osteoclasts.
"However," he says, "we are now modifying the drugs such that they will only affect macrophages and osteoclasts and not other cells of the body. Therefore, this is a “targeted” therapy, limiting the potential of these drugs having off-target effects."
Hildreth says he "very proud" of this collaborative work between the departments of Pathology and Chemistry, and also UAB Pathology faculty members Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ph.D., Endowed Professor in Experimental Cancer Therapeutics, and Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Robert M. Mowry Endowed Professor and Executive Vice Chair. Dr. Anna Sorace from the Departments of Radiology/Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Sudu Sharma from the Medical University of South Carolina also collaborate on this work.
METAvivor Research and Support Inc. is an Annapolis-based, volunteer-led, non-profit organization founded by metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients in 2009. The organization’s main focus is to fund critical research that will lead to advances in treatment options, quality of life and survival for patients diagnosed with MBC. Since 2009, METAvivor has awarded 129 research grants totaling $17,250,000. METAvivor is the only national organization with a peer-reviewed grant program aimed at exclusively funding MBC research, and 100% of all donations go to fund research.