Join us for a Biology Special Seminar

Bill Muller pioneered the development of new, genetically-engineered models for mammalian breast cancer and he will discuss the latest research results from his group.

Abstract:
With the rise of immunotherapies as a treatment for various cancers, the need to understand how cancers evade the immune system is at an all-time high. We have uncovered a critical Stat3 regulated cytokine, known as Chi3L1, which is highly expressed in the epithelial compartment of metastatic breast cancers and plays a pivotal role in sculpting the Tumor Immune Microenvironment (TIME).

In collaboration with Park laboratory, we have further shown that Chi3L1 is involved in promoting the spatial exclusion of antitumor immune cell population from tumor in human Triple Negative Breast Cancers (TNBCs). Taken together these observations argue that targeting Chi3L1 alone or in combination with conventional immune based therapies may be critical approach in treating both primary cancers and their derived metastatic lesions.