Carlos L. Arteaga, MD
University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Titles and Affiliations
Professor of Medicine
Director Simmons Cancer Center
University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
Research area
Developing new approaches to combat drug resistance and improve clinical outcomes.
Impact
Estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer continues to be a major cause of mortality because some of these cancers become resistant to anti-estrogen (endocrine) therapies, such as tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, and fulvestrant. Dr. Arteaga is conducting studies to identify the mechanisms of resistance to these drugs, which he hopes will provide the basis for the development of new approaches to improve clinical outcomes in patients with ER-positive breast cancer.
Progress Thus Far
Dr. Arteaga has identified a molecule found on the surface of ER-positive breast cancer cells that can enter the cell nucleus and regulate the genes responsible for tumor progression and resistance to endocrine therapies. He has also identified three novel resistance mechanisms to CDK4/6 inhibitors palbociclib (IBRANCE®) and abemaciclib (Verzenio®). Dr. Arteaga is investigating the role of the gene FGFR1, which is amplified in 15 percent of ER-positive breast cancers. He continues to screen for other genes that contribute to CDK4/6 resistance, which will provide insights for the development of genome-guided targeted therapies.
What's next
Dr. Arteaga will continue to study novel mechanisms of drug resistance to endocrine and CDK4/6-directed therapies to identify therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance.
Biography
Dr. Arteaga is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Simmons Cancer Center at University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center. He was formally Associate Director for Clinical Research, Director of the Breast Cancer Program, and Director of the Center for Cancer Targeted Therapies at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, where he also held the Donna S. Hall Chair in Breast Cancer Research and Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology. Dr. Arteaga trained in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at Emory University and the UT Health Sciences Center San Antonio, respectively. He has over 250 publications in the areas of signaling by growth factor receptors and oncogenes, targeted therapies and biomarkers of drug resistance, and investigator-initiated clinical trials in breast cancer. Since 2002, he has directed the NCI-funded Vanderbilt Breast SPORE. He is a member of the ASCI and the Association of American Physicians. He received the AACR Richard & Hinda Rosenthal Award, a 2007-2017 ACS Clinical Research Professor Award, the 2009 Gianni Bonadonna Award from ASCO and the 2011 Brinker Award from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. He has served as AACR co-chair of the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium since 2009. He is Deputy Editor of Clinical Cancer Research and member of the Editorial Board of Cancer Cell and six other peer-reviewed journals. He is immediate past President of the AACR in 2015.
