Breast Cancer Research Program

The mere thought of breast cancer strikes fear in every woman, regardless of race, culture or socioeconomic background. Even with ever-more promising treatment options, we can’t help but share the worry. Will it be me? Will her cancer come back? Can we ever truly stop worrying about breast cancer?

At ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, doctors, nurses, scientists and community educators are working together through the Breast Cancer Research Program on cutting-edge studies to discover new and better ways to prevent breast cancer, find it earlier, treat it more effectively and improve both survival rates and quality of life. They are also working to determine why certain populations of women have higher rates of some types of cancer and why outcomes vary among different groups; to identify novel biomarkers that may help us understand who is most likely to get certain cancers or to have a recurrence; and to increase the number of minority women who participate in promising translational research studies.

This multidisciplinary team of experts — including leading scientific researchers from the University of Delaware and The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia — translates discoveries newly made in the lab into tests and treatments that improve the lives of women facing breast cancer. From a revolutionary blood screening test with the potential to determine whether cancer is present and likely to spread, to targeted therapies to improve survival outcomes and decrease chemotherapy side effects for women with triple negative breast cancer, to developing new treatments for aggressive breast cancers, the Breast Cancer Research Program is harnessing new technologies and leading-edge advances to advance the science of breast cancer medicine.

The innovative partnerships made possible by ChristianaCare’s Breast Cancer Research Program ensure that cutting-edge diagnostic tools, treatments and services are accessible to every woman in Delaware. We are also building partnerships with community leaders and those with first-hand knowledge of breast cancer through the Community Research Advisory Board to help identify research opportunities that will directly impact the needs of our community and to promote the importance of breast health education and participation in clinical trials.

Research Areas

Radiation and chemotherapy resistance
Cancer stem cells
Inflammatory pathways
Molecular imaging

Research interests

Women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) have worse outcomes than women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. TNBC disproportionately affects younger women who are pre-menopausal, especially African American women. Treatment for TNBC is an unmet clinical need. Survival rates for women diagnosed with TNBC, who relapse within 5 years of treatment, are significantly lower than women with hormone receptor (ER/PR+) breast cancer. Understanding the mechanisms that drive growth of TNBC may lead to better treatment, and predictive biomarkers that may identify women at risk for early relapse.

Inflammation as a driver of triple negative breast cancer

Dr. Sims-Mourtada’s research seeks to provide insight as to what drives TNBC growth and resistance to current therapy. She proposes that the aggressive nature of TNBC is due to cells that are present in the microenvironment surrounding the tumor. Her team has found that TNBCs have high levels of inflammatory cells in and around the tumor. Inflammatory cells are present in TN breast lesions even before they become invasive, suggesting a role for these cells in tumor formation and progression. Data generated in the Sims-Mourtada lab indicate that inflammation is an early event in TNBC as opposed to other types of breast cancers. Her team is currently investigating the hypothesis that inflammatory cells found associated to pre-malignant breast lesions release factors that initiate a cascade of events that not only result in malignant transformation and growth of breast cancer, but may determine the type of breast cancer that develops. If that is the case, understanding how inflammation affects breast tissue can also aid prevention efforts and help to identify high risk populations. The lab is also investigating whether genetic variances in regions that increase chronic inflammation, or other chronic inflammatory conditions are associated to an increased risk of TNBC and if treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, many of which are already FDA approved for the treatment of certain autoimmune conditions, may improve treatment outcomes for women with TNBC.

Selected Publications

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1v9JyrWJc8T5h/bibliography/41240546/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending

Mourtada, F and Sims-Mourtada, J. Boosting Response: The Impact of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors on Radiation Treatment Schedules Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine, 2015. In press.

Sims-Mourtada, J., Opdenaker, L.M., Davis, J. and Wu, C. Long Term, Low Dose Genistein decreases Stem Cell Populations and Sensitizes Inflammatory Breast Cancer Cell Lines to Radiation, Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine, 2015, In press

Arnold, K.M., Opdenaker, L., Flynn, D.C. and Sims-Mourtada, J. Wound healing and breast cancer stem cells: inflammation as a driver of resistance in breast cancer, Cancer Metastasis, 2015, 2015 Jan 29;8:1-13. doi: 10.4137/CGM.S11286.

Opdenaker, L, Arnold, K.M., Flynn, D.C. and Sims-Mourtada, J. Immunohistochemical Analysis of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase isoforms in breast cancer, Breast Cancer Targets and Therapy, 2014 Dec 12;6:205-9. doi: 10.2147/BCTT.S73674. eCollection 2014. PMID: 25540596 [PubMed]

Sims-Mourtada, J. , Opdenaker, L., Davis, J., Arnold, K., Flynn, D. Taxane induced hedgehog signaling is linked to expansion of breast cancer stem-like populations after chemotherapy. Molecular Carcinogenesis, 2014 Sep 27. doi: 10.1002/mc.22225. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 25263583.

Smith, D.L., Kong, F., Yang, D, Larson, R., Sims-Mourtada, J., Woodward, W. Hedgehog targeting peptides for imaging and therapy of breast cancer., Biomed Research International, Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 525680. (corresponding author)

Sims-Mourtada, J, Niamat RA, Samuel S, Eskridge C, Kmiec EB. Enrichment of breast cancer stem-like cells by growth on electrospun polycaprolactone-chitosan nanofiber scaffolds., International Journal of Nanotechnology, February 2014 Volume 2014:9(1) Pages 995 – 1003.

Smith, D.L., Breeman, WAP, Sims-Mourtada, J. The untapped potential of 68-Gallium-PET: the next wave of 68-gallium agents. Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2012, 2012 Oct 29 (12)00537-4.

Sims-Mourtada,J. Yang,D., Tworowka, I, Larson, R, Smith, D, Tsao, N, Opdenaker, L., Mourtada, F. Woodward, W. Detection of canonical hedgehog signaling in breast cancer by 131-Iodine-labeled derivatives of the sonic hedgehog protein. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2012, Article ID 639562.

Delpassand,E., Samarghandi,,A., Sims Mourtada,J, Zamanian,S ., Espanan,G., Sharif,R., MacKenzie,S., Kosari,K., Barakat, B., Naqvi,S.,Seng,JE., Lowell Anthony,L. Long-term survival and toxicity profile of patients with progressive neuroendocrine tumors following Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy with high activity 111In pentetreotide Theranostics,2012, 2(5):472-80. doi: 10.7150/thno.3739. Epub 2012 May 11.