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Nutrition & Obesity

Tier 3: Improving our Understanding of the Impact of Nutrition & Obesity on TNBC Development and Progression

Obesity has grown to become a primary national health concern and has also emerged as a profound instigator of cancer development and metastatic potential.

Pharmaceutical companies have recently produced and released injectable medications that combat both weight loss and diabetes, creating a profound shift in health management. What is unknown in this situation is how these drugs may impact cancer – from development, to growth, to proliferation, to treatment sensitivity.

Headshot of Stephen Hursting.
Stephen Hursting, PhD, MPH.

Pioneered by Stephen Hursting, PhD, MPH, investigations in the Center for TNBC revolve around the impact of these weight loss medications and obesity’s influence on cancer.

This is of particular relevance to TNBC as obesity is a uniquely powerful risk factor to this type of breast cancer. Further, it is not well understood how obesity may influence the efficacy of treatment interventions like CAR-T therapy both in the short- and long-term setting.

Through extensive collaborations with Gianpietro Dotti, MD, and Chuck Perou, PhD, Hursting is leading this effort to explore questions highly relevant to modern day America.