Background

Improvements in early detection and treatment options for breast cancer have led to a significant increase in survival rate in recent decades. A typical woman diagnosed today has around a 90% chance of surviving beyond five years. However, advanced breast cancer – breast cancer that has spread – still poses a huge challenge with more than 3000 Australian women dying every year.  

The research

Immunotherapy is revolutionising cancer treatment, particularly for diseases such as melanoma. However, immunotherapy is yet to make a substantial impact on the management of advanced breast cancer. Associate Professor Swarbrick wants to understand why this is the case. 

The team will use biopsies from advanced breast cancers and analyse single cells to understand the immune environment of these tumours, which cell types are present and which drugs could target these cells. This work will provide ground-breaking information which can be used to develop new immunotherapy drugs in pre-clinical models to treat advanced breast cancer.