At the University of Kansas Medical Center, graduate Researcher Matt Konda is working to find an answer as to why many breast cancers stop responding to treatment. Most breast tumors, about 70 percent, depend on estrogen to grow. Drugs like tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors are designed to block that fuel source. But roughly a third of patients eventually see their cancer outsmart those therapies.
New research from KU shows that when tumors become resistant, another hormone pathway can take over. The androgen receptor can step in and keep the cancer growing even after estrogen is blocked. He is working on a new therapy that blocks the androgen receptor as well.
In Kansas about 2,400 women in the state are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. By uncovering how resistance develops, and how to stop it, KU researchers hope to bring new clinical trials and better options for those that need them most.
