Analyzing the Role of NFIL3 in Basal Breast Cancer

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

Basal breast cancer is one of the most challenging types of breast cancer to treat. This type of cancer lacks the expression of the estrogen receptor and the progesterone receptor, which makes it unlikely to respond to conventional hormone-based therapies. Representing 15% of breast cancers, the basal type tends to be aggressive and is found more commonly in African-American women and women under the age of 50. Gene expression profiling of breast tumor samples has led to the identification of genes that are specifically expressed in basal breast cancer. The role of many of these genes in cancer is completely unknown. The goal of our work is to investigate whether a dramatically overexpressed gene in basal breast cancer, NFIL3, contributes to cancer. Specifically, we will test whether the expression of the NFIL3 gene leads to resistance to cell death induced by chemotherapy and/or to an increase in cellular growth. If NFIL3 is found to be an important factor in basal breast cancer, a number of avenues could be taken to develop better treatments that are directed at eliminating its function in cancer.