They tested a small molecule inhibitor of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling and show that the treatment with this inhibitor along with standard chemotherapy enhances the immune system and decreases tumor growth better than either agent alone. In recent studies, the team has demonstrated that inhibition of Wnt signaling represents a potential therapeutic target. The Cooper lab and the lab of longtime UAB collaborator Rebecca Arend, MD, study Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in ovarian cancer in hopes of leveraging the pathway to reduce chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer. It has been shown to promote T cell exclusion from tumors and resistance to checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapies commonly used to treat some cancers. The Wnt/ß-catenin pathway is linked to tumorigenesis in a variety of tumors. ![]() Understanding the role of immune response in cancer The goal is to develop tests that can be used to help direct patient therapy and to propose novel targets that might be relevant for improving response to existing therapies. The groups are particularly interested in using this method to predict response to immunotherapy and have applied methods for profiling RNA derived from the immune system to help assess this response in both animal models and human patients. The ongoing collaborations explores a variety of applications for gene expression profiling in ovarian cancer including diagnosis, prognosis, and response to common therapies. The lab also works in collaboration with several clinicians and scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In addition, some of the new targets that are identified using the CRISPR screen are being used to identify and produce new therapeutics for cancer treatment. ![]() The CRISPR screen provides a promising new tool to predict a patient’s likelihood of developing resistance to common treatments, and help make informed treatment decisions. One way in which the group is achieving this goal is using genome-wide CRISPR screening methods to identify genes associated with chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic and ovarian cancer. The development of multiple drug resistance (MDR) is one of the major challenges in cancer treatment and represents the leading cause of treatment failure.Ĭooper’s lab is focused on identifying genes and mechanisms critical to the development of chemoresistance and establishing reliable methods for detecting them in clinical samples. This resistance is what leads to the progression of the disease and is the ultimate cause of death for many cancer patients. Genomic approaches to identifying mechanisms of drug resistance in cancerĪlthough many cancers are initially susceptible to chemotherapy, over time they can develop resistance and stop responding to the treatment.
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