2X MATCH: BREAKING NEWS: BCRF-Supported COMET Trial Reports Promising Early Results on Active Monitoring for DCIS
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Elizabeth Comen, MD

NYU Langone Health
New York, New York

Titles and Affiliations

Associate Professor, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology
Department of Medicine

Research area

Developing a minimally invasive blood test that can detect and classify early-stage breast cancer and predict response to treatment.

Impact

Cancer cells create a complex environment around themselves, called the tumor microenvironment, that helps them grow and spread to other parts of the body. Recent research has shown that cells lining blood vessels (endothelial cells) and immune cells in this environment play a significant role in promoting the spread of breast cancer. It was previously believed that more blood vessels around tumors simply supplied them with more oxygen and nutrients, aiding their growth. Now, it has been discovered that these blood vessels also send signals that actively encourage cancer cells to spread to new locations. Nerves in tumors were previously thought to be passive, simply providing routes for cancer cells to move along. Recently, studies have shown that nerves can help initiate tumors in some cancers. More innervation in these tumors is linked to higher chances of recurrence and poorer survival rates. It is not fully understood, however, how neurons regulate metastasis and how innervation changes as tumors become metastatic. Drs. Comen and Tavazoie are working toward understanding this connection.

What’s next

Drs. Comen and Tavazoie aim to better define the molecular interactions between neurons and cancer cells. They aim to reveal the specific factors that act to mediate the neuron-cancer crosstalk that drives metastatic progression. They will also map the innervation of breast tumors to gain a better sense of the cellular network underlying metastasis. Defining these signaling networks may reveal inhibitors of neuro-cancer crosstalk that could potentially become therapeutic agents to block metastasis and improve patient outcomes.

Biography

Elizabeth Comen, MD is a medical oncologist at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center with a practice devoted to the study and treatment of patients with all stages of breast cancer. Dr. Comen earned her BA from Harvard College and her MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed residency at Mount Sinai Hospital and fellowships in medical oncology and advanced breast medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she then held a faculty position. She has presented her research many times at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. She has also been awarded several peer-reviewed grants, including the ASCO Young Investigator Award.

BCRF Investigator Since

2013

Donor Recognition

The Lampert Foundation Award

Areas of Focus

Metastasis

Co-Investigator

Sohail Tavazoie, MD

The Rockefeller University
New York, New York