Titles and Affiliations
Leonard Schnitzer Chair in Breast Cancer
Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology
Knight Cancer Institute
Research area
Developing targeted therapies for postpartum breast cancer.
Impact
Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer within 10 years of giving birth face a higher risk of their cancer spreading compared to women diagnosed at other times. This type of cancer, known as postpartum breast cancer (PPBC), makes up 30 to 50 percent of breast cancers in younger women, yet its poor outcomes are not widely recognized. Scientists believe the increased risk is linked to natural changes in the breast after childbirth, when the tissue remodels in a way that resembles wound healing. These changes create an environment that may help cancer grow and spread. By identifying unique features of PPBC tumors, Dr. Schedin hopes to uncover new treatment targets that can improve survival for this vulnerable group.
Progress Thus Far
Dr. Schedin and her team have advanced two key research strategies. First, they tested new methods to capture higher-quality RNA from archived tumor samples, which would expand the number of samples available for genetic analysis. Second, they analyzed tumor samples using mass spectrometry, a powerful tool that measures proteins and their activity inside cells, to look at active protein signaling pathways. This revealed well-known cancer pathways, as well as biological signals linked to tumor spread and immune response, showing that this approach can successfully uncover new therapeutic targets in archived tumor tissue.
What’s next
The team will expand their analyses across a larger set of tumor samples from younger women. They plan to combine protein and RNA data to pinpoint pathways that may be especially important in postpartum breast cancer, particularly in estrogen receptor–positive tumors. In addition, they will apply spatial transcriptomics, a technology that shows where specific genes are active in tissue, to both primary breast tumors and liver metastases, the most common site of spread in PPBC. Finally, they will model postpartum-related liver metastasis in the laboratory to test new treatment strategies, moving closer to therapies tailored to this high-risk group.
Biography
Dr. Schedin is Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, and the Leonard Schnitzer Chair in Breast Cancer, at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Schedin is the former co-director for the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, having served during the transition that led to Comprehensive Cancer Center status for the Knight Cancer Institute. Dr. Schedin is founder and co-director of the Early Career Advancement Program for OHSU Research Faculty and founding member of the OHSU CIMER Mentoring Academy for Graduate Faculty, exemplifying her commitment to mentorship. Prior to joining OHSU in 2014, Dr. Schedin was Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz, where she co-founded and co-directed the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Translational Program with Dr. Virginia Borges. This is a first-of-its-kind program combining a clinic specifically for young onset patients with direct clinic to bench translational research. Originally trained as a molecular developmental biologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, followed by training in dietary breast cancer prevention at the AMC Cancer Research Institute in Denver, Colorado, Dr. Schedin’s successes are the result of transdisciplinary, collaborative research with epidemiologists, oncologists, endocrinologists, chemists, immunologists, and TME researchers.
