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    • What is cancer?
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      • View 45 other cancers
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      • Immunotherapy
      • Targeted therapy
      • Hormone therapy
      • Clinical trials
      • Palliative treatment
    • Managing side effects
      • Fatigue
      • Taste and smell changes
      • Hair loss
      • Pain and cancer
      • Peripheral neuropathy
      • Changes in thinking and memory
      • Lymphoedema
      • Mouth health
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Breast prostheses and reconstruction
      • Fertility
      • Sexuality
    • Supporting someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Family and friends
      • Supportive schools
      • Supportive workplaces
      • Caring for mob with cancer
    • Living well during and after treatment
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Exercise and cancer
      • Complementary therapies
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      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
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      • Resources for LGBTQI+ people
    • Fact sheets, podcasts and more
      • Cancer resource hub – fact sheets, booklets and more
      • Cancer Council Podcasts
  • Get Support
    Our cancer helpline consultants are ready for your call to support all people impacted by cancer. We may be able to assist with direct support services or by putting you in touch with other people who can support you.
    • 13 11 20 – Speak to a cancer professional
    • How can we help you
      • Accommodation during treatment
      • Cancer Counselling
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      • Legal & Workplace Support
      • Transport to treatment
      • Support after treatment
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    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Health care professionals
    • Cancer stories
    • Cancer podcasts
    • Meditation and relaxation podcasts
  • Preventing Cancer
    Discover lifestyle choices to minimise your risk of getting cancer and the importance of screening and early detection for cancer survival.
    • Healthy diet and exercise
      • Limit alcohol
      • Be a healthy weight
      • Move more, sit less
      • Healthy Made Tasty
      • Our Kids Our Call
    • Quit smoking and vaping
      • Quit smoking
      • Tackling Tobacco
      • Smoke free environments
      • Electronic cigarettes
      • Generation Vape
    • Sun protection
      • Slip on a shirt
      • Slop on sunscreen
      • Slap on a hat
      • Seek shade
      • Slide on sunglasses
      • SunSmart NSW website
      • Improve your long game
      • Outdoor workers
      • Sporting groups
      • Buy sun protection products online
    • Screening and early detection
      • Cervical screening
      • Bowel cancer screening
      • Breast cancer screening
      • Lung cancer screening
      • Testicular cancer
      • Prostate cancer
      • Ovarian cancer
      • Liver cancer and hepatitis B
      • Check for skin cancer
    • CanAct – campaigning for better policies
    • Cancer Council shops
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      • Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
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  • Developing an immunotherapy for triple negative breast cancer

Developing an immunotherapy for triple negative breast cancer

Associate Professor David Gallego Ortega
Associate Professor David Gallego Ortega University of Technology, Sydney $407,328 2023-2025

Background 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women with over 20,000 women expected to be diagnosed in 2022. Among them, around 20% will have triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype of the disease. Survival outcomes for triple negative breast cancer are poorer as there aren’t any targeted treatments for this subtype. New therapies that can effectively treat triple negative breast cancer and keep it from spreading are urgently needed. 

The research

It’s known that cells called Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs) dampen the body’s immune response to breast cancer and help tumours grow and spread. These cells are particularly active in triple negative breast cancer tumours. However, targeting these cells is challenging as they are very similar to life-saving immune cells.

Using high resolution molecular profiling technology, Associate Professor Gallego Ortega and his team have been studying MDSCs – trying to understand how they work, so they can develop treatments that block these cells. The team believe they have found some key differences between MDSCs and immune cells. In this project, the team will develop biomarkers for MDSC to detect the early spread of triple negative breast cancer cells to other parts of the body and refine a treatment prototype that targets only MDSCs leaving immune cells unharmed.

The Impact

The development of treatments that target MDSCs could pave the way for a new generation of immune therapies for triple negative breast cancer. The information gained from this study will take the team another step closer to extending this promising immunotherapy to clinical trials. 

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