Saskatchewan has made history with a recent breakthrough discovered right here at the University of Saskatchewan. Triple-negative breast cancer has long been known as the most aggressive type of breast cancer, and this discovery could lead to an effective treatment that could save lives.

U of S researchers Andrew Freywald, of the College of Medicine, and Franco Vizeacoumar, of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, were excited to report their latest findings in breast cancer treatment. This key duo, along with Deborah Anderson, director of research at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, were able to apply individual expertise to benefit one another in order to produce a promising future in triple-negative breast cancer therapy.

Freywald eagerly speaks about the process that allowed them to make this discovery.

U of S researchers may have discovered a new treatment method for breast cancer.

“[Vizeacoumar] discovered that when he did the screening, it was based on an original observation of one of the molecules I work with, which is frequently missing in triple-negative breast cancer. So when [Vizeacoumar] did this screen we specifically looked for how we can kill cells that drop this molecule called EphB6,” Freywald said.

According to the researchers, the EphB6 molecule is a necessary component of a healthy, non-cancerous cell and targeting a gene called SRC might kill breast cancer cells lacking EphB6. Vizeacoumar and Freywald then found an inhibitor of SRC that had been used before to try and treat triple-negative breast cancer but had not been successful.

“Then we found already there is a super cool drug approved by the FDA, and we picked up right away that this drug molecule can target this gene X, that can be identified in our screen, which is called the SRC gene. We then tested this on animal models and cell models,” Vizeacoumar said.

With the SRC inhibitor, Freywald and Vizeacoumar found a way to target and kill the cancer cells that had lost the EphB6 molecule. This process normally would not go to clinical trials right away; however, with the SRC inhibitor already FDA approved, the researchers are eager to move into these trials.

“We can go straight forward to human clinical trials, and … apply this inhibitor to [breast cancer] tumors that do not have this EphB6 produced, and if we suddenly see much better effects, these inhibitors can be technically applied in a proper treatment partial to triple-negative breast cancer,” Freywald said. “This can then be an option that is missing right now that would allow us to target this specific molecule in triple-negative breast cancer, and then eliminate tumors.”

Freywald believes that this major breakthrough should be important to students.

“For students it should provide some point of excitement to believe that the university is leading in some area of new treatment developments and developing new therapies focused specifically on treating of breast cancer patients,” Freywald said.

He also explains that the investigation uses very advanced techniques that U of S students could receive training in.

“This advanced technology provides a big advantage for our students and for any university student who is interested in doing research in the future, because they can be trained in the most advanced techniques in the country used in cancer research,” Freywald said.

Students have gotten involved with research alongside Freywald and Vizeacoumar in the past. Currently, James Paul, their student and a co-first author of their recent publication, has produced a thesis specifically on their discovery and will be defending it in December.

Students who are interested in research are encouraged to get involved, as Freywald and Vizeacoumar predict that they will have openings in their labs for students in the coming future.

“We take students all the time,” Freywald said. “The best way for students to get involved would just simply be to contact [Vizeacoumar] and myself, or preferably both of us, using our email addresses.”

Freywald and Vizeacoumar are both very enthusiastic about this treatment, a type of discovery that researchers like them strive to achieve everyday.

“This is completely Saskatchewan-based research,” Vizeacoumar said. “The biggest dream for every cancer researcher is trying to actually initiate a clinical trial at the end of the day.”

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Natasha Hausermann

Photo: euthman / Flickr