Kathy D. Miller, MD
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Titles and Affiliations
Ballve Lantero Scholar in Oncology
Professor, Department of Medicine
Co-Director, Simon Cancer Center Breast Cancer Program
Research area
Determining the factors involved in the initiation of breast cancers in order to develop potential new drug targets and combination therapies.
Impact
Studying active cancers may not provide insights into prevention strategies if the crucial factors are only present early in the development of cancer. Therefore, Dr. Miller is interested in the role of several factors in breast cancer initiation. Specifically, she and her team are determining if the hormone progesterone is crucial to the early development of cancers that are ultimately not hormone sensitive. Progesterone has been shown to be crucial to the development of ovarian cancer in laboratory models, even though the cancers themselves were not sensitive to progesterone. Inspired by these observations, Dr. Miller and her colleagues are conducting a similar study to see if the same is true for hormone receptor-negative breast cancers. In other studies, Dr. Miller has identified a factor that plays a critical role in breast cancer development and is embarking on a new avenue of research to determine if this factor is a potential target for novel treatment strategies.
Progress Thus Far
Dr. Miller and her colleagues have developed sophisticated laboratory models to study the origins of triple-negative breast cancer and how progesterone and estrogen act to promote or inhibit establishment of these tumors. They have found that progesterone is crucial to the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells and expect to test these results in clinical trials in the next year. Other studies on a factor called TONSL showed that it is important in repairing DNA damage that may result when cells divide. About 1 in 5 women have breast cancer with extra gene copies of TONSL which give the cancer cells an inherent advantage by allowing them to become less sensitive to DNA damage. Dr. Miller’s studies found that TONSL-amplification alone is not sufficient to promote the decrease in sensitivity to DNA damage.
What’s Next
In the coming year, Dr. Miller will investigate other mutations that may work in concert with TONSL and contribute to its effects in breast cancers. She hopes to develop novel targeted therapies and translate her discoveries to clinical trials in the near future.
Biography
Kathy D. Miller, MD received her degree in 1991 from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Miller completed internal medicine training at Hopkins, then returned to her native Midwest for fellowship training at Indiana University, serving as Chief Fellow in 1997. She returned to Indiana University in 1999, attaining the rank of Professor and Ballvé-Lantero Scholar in 2014.
Dr. Miller’s career has combined both laboratory and clinical research in breast cancer. She became chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Breast Core Committee in January 2014. In this role she works with academic scientists and community oncologists to develop trials that combine clinical and biologic endpoints yet remain feasible in non-academic settings. Dr. Miller honed her ability to coordinate multi-center trials as principal investigator for three previous ECOG trials. In addition, she serves as principal investigator of the National Clinical Trials Network at Indiana University.
