How breast cancer spreads and how surrounding tissues change its behavior
Official title: Evolutionary dynamics and microenvironmental determinants of metastatic breast cancer
Funded at Stanford University · NIH-11178532 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project studies how breast cancer cells evolve as they spread and how nearby tissues affect their response to treatments for people with metastatic breast cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Stanford University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stanford, United States) |
| Project start | September 14, 2021 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $1,500,497 |
| NIH project number | 5U54CA261719-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11178532 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with primary or metastatic breast cancer who can provide tumor samples or enroll in longitudinal tissue collection at participating sites would be ideal candidates to contribute to this work.
✕Less likely to help
People without breast cancer or those not able or willing to provide tissue samples or travel to participating centers are unlikely to directly benefit from participation.
What this research studies
This center brings together patient tissue collections, lab-grown tumor organoids, and computer models to recreate how breast cancer changes over time and across metastatic sites. Researchers use clinically annotated, longitudinal tumor samples taken through treatment and at metastasis alongside a living biobank of patient-derived organoids to capture disease diversity. Laboratory experiments, including CRISPR-based approaches, and mechanistic computational models are used to test how tumor cells resist therapies and evade the immune system. The team links findings from models back to real patient samples to pinpoint drivers of relapse and therapy failure.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could improve prediction of which cancers will spread and point to new ways to prevent or overcome treatment resistance.
How similar studies have gone: Patient-derived organoids, longitudinal tissue cohorts, and computational tumor models have shown promise individually, and this program integrates them in a relatively novel way focused on metastasis.
Where this research is happening
-
Stanford University
Stanford, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Curtis, Christina N — Stanford University
- Study coordinator: Curtis, Christina N
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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.