Georgetown University, Department of Microbiology & Immunology Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Sachi Horibata
Assistant Professor, Precision Health Program, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Title: “Utilizing transcriptional signatures for precision medicine in cancer setting”
Abstract:
Despite successful initial treatment, approximately 40% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients develop drug resistance against combination chemotherapy (cytarabine plus anthracycline). Understanding the biology and the cause of chemoresistance to these drugs is important, as they have been considered the standard-of-care treatment for several decades. Thus, it is crucial to understand why AML develops resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs. In this study, through transcriptomic analysis of 154 cases of de novo AML, we found that AML is a highly heterogeneous disease. To better understand the biology of the disease, we mapped the transcriptomic landscape of the AML patients to characterize the chemo-refractory patients based on their transcriptional signatures. We identified three chemo-refractory patient subgroups with distinct expression patterns affecting their transcription, translation, metabolism, and/or stem cell properties. Furthermore, ex vivo drug sensitivity to 122 small-molecule inhibitors revealed effective group-specific targeting of pathways among these three refractory subgroups. Our results show that it may be possible to tailor specific treatment regimens for each individual patient in order to achieve improved response to chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy resistance is also highly prevalent in ovarian cancer with up to 80% of ovarian cancer patients developing resistance to chemotherapy. In this seminar, I will introduce our recent transcriptomic studies deciphering the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer setting.
Event will take place both in-person and via zoom. Zoom Login is https://georgetown.zoom.us/j/98725911416 and the Meeting ID is 987 2591 1416.