The Piskounova Lab
Targeting Metastasis
The main cause of death in cancer patients is the spread of cancer cells from the original tumor site to vital organs in the body in a process called metastasis. Yet there remain no clinical therapies that specifically target metastatic cancer cells.
Metastasis is a unique process. In fact, there is no physiological process- outside of embryonic development- that resembles that of the metastatic cascade. Metastasizing cancer cells experience many different stresses as they transition through different environments and successful metastasis requires a series of rapid adaptions in order for cells to survive and colonize in distant vital organs.
Although many efforts have been made to identify metastasis specific mutations, it is now becoming clear that these rapid adaptations have to be reversible. The Piskounova Lab is focused on identifying specific adaptations that enable the spread and survival of cancer cells to vital organs during advanced metastatic disease and employs a combination of patient derived-xenografts of melanoma and pancreatic cancer in vivo, along with cell culture systems in vitro. Recently, our lab has expanded its interests to include specific interactions that occur between metastasizing cancer cells and the pro- and anti-tumorigenic components of the immune system and microenvironment.
Pershing Square 2021 Announcement Video
Dr. Piskounova was recently awarded the Pershing Square prize for the proposed work on tRNA modifications in metastasis, discussed below.
Located in Boston's Longwood Medical Area:
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The Piskounova Lab is part of the Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Located in Boston's renowned Longwood Medical Area, BIDMC is surrounded by world-class research institutions including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Boston Children's Hospital.
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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston Children's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Harvard School of Public Health
Joslin Diabetes Center
Areas of Research
Metabolic Adaptation
What are the metabolic adaptations that enable survival and colonization of vital organs by metastasizing cancer cells?
Mechanisms of Stress resistance
Metastasis is a stressful multi-step process. What mechanisms of stress resistance are metastasizing cells most dependent on at different steps of the metastatic cascade?
Molecular plasticity
Metastasizing cells display increased degree of molecular plasticity. How is this achieved? What are the main regulatory hubs of plasticity that can be harnessed therapeutically?
“Any scientist of any age who wants to make important discoveries must study important problems. Dull or piffling problems yield dull or piffling answers. It is not enough that a problem should be “interesting.” … The problem must be such that it matters what the answer is—whether to science generally or to mankind.”