Description:
Reference #: 01238
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for using CCL24 as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for breast cancer.
Background:
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States. Of the many subtypes of breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most lethal. There are multiple optional treatments for breast cancer, but disease recurrence remains a significant clinical challenge. Therefore, an unmet critical need is to identify and characterize novel molecules to help better understand the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer so they can be used for targeted therapy.
Invention Description:
The subject is a molecule that can facilitate early diagnosis of aggressive breast cancer and the targeted therapy of metastatic breast cancer.
Potential Applications:
This newly identified molecule will help to better understand the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer at an early stage providing opportunities for targeted therapy, and may help to revolutionize treatment regimens by eliminating the mortality associated with breast cancer metastasis.
Advantages and Benefits:
The CCL24 molecule is unique in that:
(1) It is associated with the inflammation, which plays a significant role in cancer development and progression;
(2) CCL24 is chemoattractant, which attracts various immune cells types in the developing bed of neoplastic cells, supporting tumor promotion; and
(3) CCL24 is highly expressed in triple negative breast cancer cell lines, and therefore may promote the migration and metastasis of breast cancer.