Patrick Ha
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare salivary gland cancer that surgery and radiation can usually control in the head and neck. However, more than half of patients later develop cancer that spreads to distant organs, mostly the lungs.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Genetics
- Topics
adenoid cystic carcinoma
salivary gland cancer
head and neck cancer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Characterize cell lines carrying 5 different Myb-NFIB fusions, which join the cancer gene Myb to the gene-regulating protein NFIB, by comparing how aggressively they form lung metastases after tail-vein injection in mice.
- Inject the fusion-carrying cancer cells into mouse salivary glands so that the tumors grow in their natural site and behave more like human adenoid cystic carcinoma.
- Develop an orthotopic patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model, in which patient tumors grow in the matching mouse organ, as a platform for testing drugs aimed specifically at adenoid cystic carcinoma.
- Use RNA sequencing, which measures gene activity, to find the pathways each Myb-NFIB fusion type changes and the weak points that drugs could target.
More about the research
Once that happens, no approved chemotherapy or targeted drug works. Up to 70% of these tumors carry a fused gene that joins the cancer-driving gene Myb to NFIB, a transcription factor (a protein that switches other genes on or off). The fusion can break and rejoin at several different points, producing several different proteins. Little is known about how these fusion proteins drive cancer, no drugs target them, and few research models exist to study the disease.
Why it matters
Patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma whose cancer spreads to the lungs currently have no effective drug options. Models of how Myb-NFIB fusion proteins drive this cancer could reveal new drug targets and pathways specific to ACC. A metastasis model in mice could also provide a platform to test candidate therapies before they reach patients.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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Virginia Commonwealth University, VA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Develop more than 500 new patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, patient tumors grown in mice, from the patient populations served by the cancer center.
Sanchita Bhatnagar
University of California-Davis, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research
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Shilpa Sant
University of Illinois Chicago, IL·Biomedical Engineering
Test whether malignant calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite) microcalcifications promote breast tumor growth and bone-like traits through Na-Pi transporter signaling, using engineered ECM-mimic hydrogels carrying defined mineral types.
The school
University of California-San Francisco: 89 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 164 research doctorates a year.
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