Better measure the heterogeneity of inflammatory breast cancer

Interview with Dr Peter VERMEULEN, Scientific Coordinator of the Translational Cancer Research Unit (TCRU) at GZA Hospitals campus Sint-Augustinus and KU Leuven

What are the stakeholders and main strategy of TCRU? The laboratory is located in Sint Augustinus hospital in Antwerp that finances it: this is quite unusual since universities are often the first and single funders of a structure like ours.

Besides it relies upon the biggest oncology department in Antwerp and the biggest radiotherapy unit in Belgium – again thanks to Sint Augustinus hospital.

Based on this outstanding level of expertise, TCRU devotes itself to translationnal research close to patient care. Therefore it is not carrying out basic research.

Could you tell us about the research topics of TCRU? Our main research topic is inflammatory breast cancer. We have been studying it for the last 20 years. This rare type of cancer affects 4-5% of patiens but it is very aggressive, metastatic, and touches younger women.

Our aim is to elucidate the biology of this type of cancer by looking at the interaction between cancer cells and other cells in the light of radiotherapy. This means that we study the action of radiotherapy on cancer cells. Thanks to these research works we have already learnt a lot about other types of breast cancer.

Could you give us a few examples of ongoing translational research projects at TCRU? First, we are studying how cancer cells move inside the breast. Indeed they use clumps within lymph vessels to progress. But why is it so? This remains to be elucidated.

In another research project we are studying two types of tumor growth with different clinical meanings: one induces metastases in the liver, while the other entails colorectal metastases.

Could you tell us about the global consortium of which TCRU is a cofounder? The laboratory founded three international networks: the Liver Metastasis Research Network and two networks on inflammatory breast cancer – a European one and another one involving institutions from the United States. Our main partners are the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the University of Oxford.

What other partnerships did you develop at the academic level? At the European level the laboratory has settled collaborations with Erasmus - University of Notre Dame. In Belgium KU Leuven and the Univertisty of Antwerp are our main partners. What are according to you the main challenges looming ahead for breast cancer research? In my view we underestimate the heterogeneity of cancer between patients and within patients themselves. Indeed there is a true intrapatient heterogeneity since tumors change over time. The question is: how to measure this heterogeneity in good detail? At the time being some clinical trials yield bad results because the relevant information from patients is lacking. It is therefore urgent to make progress in this area. © GZA

What is more we have to look more into the interactions between cancer cells and the macroenvironment of the tumor to get a bigger picture of the disease. Better understanding is essential if we want to improve diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.