He aims to make life difficult for cancer cells
Professor Ebbe Bødtkjer from the Department of Biomedicine aims to disable a specific transport protein in cancer cells using a new antibody. The goal is to weaken breast cancer cells and enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatments against a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.
One in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Triple-negative breast cancer is a particularly aggressive form of the disease that is difficult to treat and affects approximately 15% of breast cancer patients.
Professor Ebbe Bødtkjer and his research group have demonstrated that triple-negative breast cancer depends on a specific transport protein in order to survive in the acidic microenvironment that develops within tumours. Together with his team, he has developed an antibody that inhibits this transport protein, thereby slowing tumour growth and making the cancer cells more responsive to treatment.
The research project has received a Frontier Grant from the Lundbeck Foundation. Over the next 18 months, Ebbe Bødtkjer and his team will further develop the antibody, test it in preclinical models, and prepare a presentation for potential investors.
To confirm its effectiveness, the antibody must be tested in mouse models. This presents a challenge, as it requires an antibody that works in mice while closely resembling the human antibody.
“Sometimes an antibody works in both humans and mice, but that is not the case here. The prerequisite for us to move forward is that we have a mouse antibody that resembles our human antibody,” he explains.
In the longer term, the aim is to contribute to new and more effective treatment options for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
Based on press material from the Lundbeck Foundation.
Contact
Professor Ebbe Bødtkjer
Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University
Telephone: +45 24 87 02 40
Email: eb@biomed.au.dk