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 25 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 are characterizing the biological differences between PPBC and other young-onset breast cancers and studying why PPBC so often spreads to the liver. They found that PPBC tumors appear to rely more on the local environment surrounding the tumor shaped by the postpartum breast tissue itself, rather than common cancer driving pathways associated with non-PPBC breast cancers. The team traced this back to a normal biological process called postpartum tissue involution, the tissue remodeling that occurs as the breast returns to its pre-pregnancy state after breastfeeding stops. They found this process appears to directly drive the tendency for PPBC to spread to the liver. This is a significant finding because it suggests that normal biology after childbirth, rather than a tumor’s specific genetic mutations or hormone receptor status, may be a key driver of metastasis. The findings suggest recent childbirth is an independent risk factor in both estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-negative disease.
What’s next
Dr. Schedin’s team will continue to characterize primary PPBC tumors and their liver metastases. They will study which signaling pathways these tumors depend on, search for new drug targets through gene activity analysis, and profile the immune system within these tumors to help identify patients who might benefit from immunotherapy. The team will also use new 3D laboratory models to study how PPBC cells begin to spread at early stages. This research is leading towards therapies that target both the tumor cells themselves and the surrounding postpartum tissue environment that helps drive their spread, with the goal of improving survival for 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.
