Better drug delivery for breast cancer that has spread to the brain
Official title: Novel drug delivery strategies for treatment of breast cancer brain metastases
Funded at Baltimore VA Medical Center · NIH-11130937 · Data updated 2026-11-12
New methods to deliver cancer-fighting drugs into the brain for people whose breast cancer has spread there.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Baltimore VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| NIH project number | 5I01BX005770-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11130937 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain, particularly those with triple-negative or HER2-positive disease and who can receive care at VA or affiliated centers.
✕Less likely to help
People without brain metastases, those with unrelated cancer types, or patients who cannot access VA-based care or the specific delivery approaches are unlikely to benefit directly.
What this research studies
This project aims to create and refine ways to get anti-cancer medicines past the brain's natural protections into breast cancer tumors that have spread to the brain. The team is tackling barriers such as the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers, drug-efflux pumps in tumor and blood vessel cells, and the brain's clearance systems that wash drugs away. They will use laboratory models and patient-derived samples and may move promising approaches toward tests involving patients to measure how well drugs penetrate brain metastases. The work focuses especially on tumors from triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer that often spread to the brain.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, these delivery methods could increase drug levels inside brain tumors, which may slow tumor growth, reduce symptoms, and extend survival.
How similar studies have gone: Some related drug-delivery approaches have shown promise in laboratory and early clinical work, but effective treatments for breast cancer brain metastases remain limited so this approach is partly novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Baltimore VA Medical Center
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kim, Anthony J. — Baltimore VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Kim, Anthony J.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Rational approaches to improve treatment for breast cancer that has spread to the brain
Aimed at boosting how well a HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate works for people whose breast cancer has spread to the brain.
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Understanding how brain metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer is shaped by tumor-immune interactions
A patient-focused program aims to learn why TNBC spreads to the brain and how the immune system interacts with those cancer cells, with a focus on women of African ancestry.
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Stopping RET-driven breast cancer spread to the brain
This project looks at whether blocking the RET protein can slow or stop breast cancer that has spread to the brain.
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Following neural stem cells that target breast cancer spread in the brain
Researchers will build high-resolution, non-invasive imaging to watch therapeutic neural stem cells move to breast cancer brain metastases to support better-targeted treatments for patients.
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Tracking how neural stem cells move to brain tumors in breast cancer patients
This study is looking at how special brain cells called neural stem cells move towards tumors in the brains of breast cancer patients, with the hope of using these cells to deliver better treatments directly to the tumors.
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Improving treatment for breast cancer that has spread to the brain
Trying antibody-drug combinations and immune-targeting drugs to help people with HER2-positive or HER2-low breast cancer that has spread to the brain.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.