Our laboratory is set to uncover the origins of malignant behaviour of mammary tumours – specifically, we are interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying metastasis and resistance to therapy.
We believe that the dormant cell, the metastatic cell and the residual cell are different facets of the same biological entity, the cancer stem cell. Elimination of cancer stem cells is considered to be key for eradication of cancer. Our focus on the mechanisms that permit untransformed cells to mimic metastatic behaviour of cancer cells, as well as the mechanisms that lead to the emergence and propagation of the residual cells is likely to result in discovery of important targets for management of the minimal residual disease in breast cancer patients, and possibly, cancer in general.