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Research summary

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous and aggressive form of breast cancer with diverse clinicopathological and biological behavior. Classified as “triple-negative” due to the lack of expression of the estrogen-, progesterone-, and HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) receptors, no standard of care with targeted agents is currently available for these patients. Therefore, recurrence is relatively common within 3 years of diagnosis and 5-year survival rates lower than other types of breast cancer. TNBCs are associated with a subpopulation of cells called breast cancer stem cells, which have been linked to distant relapse and adverse clinical outcome. 

The overall aim of our research is to identify novel therapeutic targets for TNBC that will ultimately reduce recurrence. To achieve this, we utilize bioinformatics (in silico studies) and epidemiology to develop a better understanding of cancer, in particular breast cancer. These analyses help us to identify targets for our in vitro drug screening assays and drug repurposing.

Together with our clinical and preclinical collaborators, our group has multidisciplinary expertise in breast cancer biology, medical oncology, surgical oncology, pathology, medical radiation sciences, and pharmaceutical chemistry.
 

Research tools and resources

• In vitro studies: Cell lines, spheroids, patient-derived organoids, drug screening
• Biobanking of patient samples
• Flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, tissue microarrays (TMA), RNA-seq, DNA methylation profiling, Immunoblot, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
• Bioinformatics analyses of pan-cancer data: RNA-seq, mutation signatures, DNA copy number profiling, drug sensitivity data
• Drug repurposing: Transcriptomics- and structure-based virtual screening
• Epidemiologic studies using national registers: Swedish National Register for Breast Cancer (NBCR), National Patient Register, and Swedish Cause of Death Register

Current group members

Toshima Parris, PhD, Associate Professor (Junior PI)
Slavica Janeva, MD, PhD, Postdoc, Senior Consultant in Surgery
Nanfizat Abiket Alamukii, PhD, Postdoc​​​​​​​
Maxim Olsson, PhD student
Anna Fäldt Beding, MD, PhD student, Resident physician in Oncology
Sithumini Sarathchandra, Associate Researcher

We have openings for MSc thesis projects.
 

Selected publications

1. Larsson P, Pettersson D, Olsson M, Sarathchandra S, Abramsson A, Zetterberg H, Ittner E, Forssell-Aronsson E, Kovács A, Karlsson P, Helou K, Parris TZ. Cell Death Discov. 2024 Jan 29;10(1):57. doi: 10.1038/s41420-024-01819-5.
    

2. 
   Olsson M, Larsson P, Johansson J, Sah VR, Parris TZ*. Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 2023 https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2023.1237673
    
3. 
   Larsson P, Engqvist H, Rönnerman E, Kovács A, Karlsson P, Helou K, Parris TZ. Scientific Reports 2020 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62848-5.
    
4. 
   Janeva S, Zhang C, Kovács A, Parris TZ, Crozier JA, Pezzi CM, Linderholm B, Audisio RA, Olofsson Bagge R. Lancet Healthy Longevity 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(20)30018-0. 
    
5. 
   Parris TZ. Scientific Reports 2020 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58842-6.
    
6. 
   Nyqvist J, Kovács A, Kenne Sarenmalm E, Einbeigi Z, Karlsson P, Forssell-Aronsson E, Helou K†, Parris TZ†. †Toshima Z. Parris and Khalil Helou contributed equally as last authors. Cancer Medicine 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.3975.
    
7. 
   Janeva S, Parris TZ, Nasic S, De Lara S, Larsson K, Audisio RA, Olofsson Bagge R, and Kovács A. Xpert® BMC Cancer 2021 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-021-08171-2. 
    
8. 
   Larsson P, Pettersson D, Engqvist H, Rönnerman E, Forssell-Aronsson E, Kovács A, Karlsson P, Helou K, Parris TZ. BMC Cancer 2022 Sep 19;22(1):993. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-022-10079-4.
    
9. 
   Fäldt Beding A, Larsson P, Helou K, Einbeigi Z, Parris TZ. BMC Cancer 2022 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-022-09371-0. 
    
10. 
    Werner Rönnerman E, Pettersson D, Nemes S, Dahm-Kähler P, Kovács A, Parris TZ, Helou K. †Toshima Z. Parris and Khalil Helou contributed equally as last authors. Front Oncol. 2023 Feb 2;12:1112152. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.1112152. 
     
11. 
    Janeva S, Krabbe E, Parris TZ, Nasic S, Sundquist M, Karlsson P, Audisio RA, Olofsson Bagge R, and Kovács A. Breast Cancer Research 2023 (in press). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-023-01632-5.