Breast Cancer Research
Our research group is searching for ways to prevent metastatic breast cancer, which claims the lives of over 40,000 women and men in the United States each year. In particular, we study breast cancer as a systemic disease. We are working to understand how physiological and microenvironmental processes determine whether a breast cancer will progress and respond to treatment. We are undertaking a number of exciting projects in our laboratory:
1. Identifying the cells responsible for metastasis and therapeutic resistance. We recently developed a novel technology that allows us to trace individual cancer cells over long periods of time using experimental models of metastasis and treatment. We use this technology to distinguish dormant tumor cells from the cells that eventually form aggressively growing metastases and contribute to therapeutic resistance, which are responsible for nearly all cancer-related deaths.
2. Understanding how hematopoietic and immune cells regulate metastasis. Our early work taught us that immune cells are recruited to breast tumors and their metastases. These immune cells can govern whether a cancer will advance or be halted. Our lab was among the first to understand that the hematopoietic progenitors of these cells in the bone marrow are already primed to support metastasis even when a primary breast tumor is in early stages. By studying and understanding how these bone marrow cells are different between cancer patients and women without cancer, we may be able to modulate these immune cells, or the molecules that they secrete, as a way to target metastases.
3. Understanding systemic processes that regulate breast cancer progression and response to therapy. We are learning that various physiological processes and pharmacological treatments, such as aging, inflamation, primary breast cancers, chemotherapies, and targeted therapies, have a profound impact on tumor cells and the hematopoietic immune cells that regulate tumor growth. Our studies in this area are helping us to identify new therapies that eliminate breast cancers in our pre-clinical models.
Our ultimate goals in conducting these studies are to support development of new non-invasive tests that identify cancer patients who are likely to suffer from disease relapse and to develop new treatment therapies that can be given to those patients before their cancer returns.
We invite you to contact us if you wish to learn more about our research.
Sandra McAllister, PhD
Dr. McAllister received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and completed her Ph.D. studies in molecular and cellular biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She did her postdoctoral work in Dr. Robert Weinberg’s laboratory at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research where she established new pre-clinical models to study breast cancer pathophysiology. She joined the faculty of Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2009, and is also an affiliate member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, an associate member of the Broad Institute, and a member of the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Dr. McAllister is an American Cancer Society Scholar, the 2013 recipient of the AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award, and an Era of Hope Award Scholar. In 2014, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama.
Publications
Ubellacker JM, Baryawno N, Severe N, DeCristo MJ, Sceneay J, Hutchinson JN, Haider MT, Rhee CS, Qin Y, Gregory WM, Garrido-Castro AC, Holen I, Brown JE, Coleman RE, Scadden DT, McAllister SS. Modulating bone marrow hematopoietic lineage potential to prevent bone metastasis in breast cancer. Cancer Res. 2018 Jul 31. pii: canres.0548.2018. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-0548.
Goel S, DeCristo MJ, McAllister SS, Zhao JJ. CDK4/6 Inhibition in Cancer: Beyond Cell Cycle Arrest. Trends Cell Biol. 2018 Jul 27. pii: S0962-8924(18)30123-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2018.07.002.
Lee JJ, van de Ven RAH, Zaganjor E, Ng MR, Barakat A, Demmers JJPG, Finley LWS, Gonzalez Herrera KN, Hung YP, Harris IS, Jeong SM, Danuser G, McAllister SS, Haigis MC. Inhibition of epithelial cell migration and Src/FAK signaling by SIRT3. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jul 3;115(27):7057-7062. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1800440115.
Olive JF, Qin Y, DeCristo MJ, Laszewski T, Greathouse F, McAllister SS. Accounting for tumor heterogeneity when using CRISPR-Cas9 for cancer progression and drug sensitivity studies. PLoS One. 2018 Jun 13;13(6):e0198790. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198790.
Goel S, DeCristo MJ, Watt AC, BrinJones H, Sceneay J, Li BB, Khan N, Ubellacker JM, Xie S, Metzger-Filho O, Hoog J, Ellis MJ, Ma CX, Ramm S, Krop IE, Winer EP, Roberts TM, Kim HJ, McAllister SS, Zhao JJ. CDK4/6 inhibition triggers anti-tumour immunity. Nature. 2017 Aug 24;548(7668):471-475. doi: 10.1038/nature23465.
Sceneay J, McAllister SS. The skinny on obesity and cancer. Nat Cell Biol. 2017 Jul 28;19(8):887-888. doi: 10.1038/ncb3583.
Ubellacker JM, Haider MT, DeCristo MJ, Allocca G, Brown NJ, Silver DP, Holen I, McAllister SS. Zoledronic acid alters hematopoiesis and generates breast tumor-suppressive bone marrow cells. Breast Cancer Res. 2017 Mar 6;19(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s13058-017-0815-8.
Olsen SN, Wronski A, Castaño Z, Dake B, Malone C, De Raedt T, Enos M, DeRose YS, Zhou W, Guerra S, Loda M, Welm A, Partridge AH, McAllister SS, Kuperwasser C, Cichowski K. Loss of RasGAP Tumor Suppressors Underlies the Aggressive Nature of Luminal B Breast Cancers. Cancer Discov. 2017 Feb;7(2):202-217. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-16-0520.
Henry WS, Laszewski T, Tsang T, Beca F, Beck AH, McAllister SS, Toker A. Aspirin Suppresses Growth in PI3K-Mutant Breast Cancer by Activating AMPK and Inhibiting mTORC1 Signaling. Cancer Res. 2017 Feb 1;77(3):790-801. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-2400.
Ubellacker JM, McAllister SS. The unresolved role of systemic factors in bone metastasis. J Bone Oncol. 2016 May 16;5(3):96-99.
Marsh T, Wong I, Sceneay J, Barakat A, Qin Y, Sjödin A, Alspach E, Nilsson B, Stewart SA, McAllister SS. Hematopoietic Age at Onset of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Dictates Disease Aggressiveness and Progression. Cancer Res. 2016 May 15;76(10):2932-43. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-3332.
McAllister SS, Weinberg RA. The tumour-induced systemic environment as a critical regulator of cancer progression and metastasis. Nat Cell Biol. 2014 Aug;16(8):717-27. doi: 10.1038/ncb3015. Review.
Shaked Y, McAllister SS, Fainaru O, Almog N. Tumor Dormancy and the Angiogenic Switch: Possible Implications of Bone Marrow-Derived Cells [invited review]. Curr Pharm Des. 2014; 20(30):4920-33. PubMed PMID: 24283950.
Qin Y, McAllister SS. SPSB1 may have MET its match during breast cancer recurrence. Cancer Discov. 2014 Jul;4(7):760-1. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-14-0505.
Alspach E, Flanagan KC, Luo X, Ruhland MK, Huang H, Pazolli E, Donlin MJ, Marsh T, Piwnica-Worms D, Monahan J, Novack DV, McAllister SS, Stewart SA. p38MAPK plays a crucial role in stromal-mediated tumorigenesis. Cancer Discov. 2014 Jun;4(6):716-29. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0743.
Redig AJ, McAllister SS. Breast cancer as a systemic disease: a view of metastasis. J Intern Med. 2013 Aug;274(2):113-26. doi: 10.1111/joim.12084. Review.
Castaño Z, Marsh T, Tadipatri R, Kuznetsov HS, Al-Shahrour F, Paktinat M, Greene-Colozzi A, Nilsson B, Richardson AL, McAllister SS. Stromal EGF and IGF-1 together modulate plasticity of disseminated triple-negative breast tumors. Cancer Discov. 2013 Aug;3(8):922-35. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0041.
Marsh T, Pietras K, McAllister SS. Fibroblasts as architects of cancer pathogenesis. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2013 Jul;1832(7):1070-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2012.10.013.
Kuznetsov HS, Marsh T, Markens BA, Castaño Z, Greene-Colozzi A, Hay SA, Brown VE, Richardson AL, Signoretti S, Battinelli EM, McAllister SS. Identification of luminal breast cancers that establish a tumor-supportive macroenvironment defined by proangiogenic platelets and bone marrow-derived cells. Cancer Discov. 2012 Dec;2(12):1150-65. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-12-0216. Epub 2012 Aug 15.
McAllister SS. Got a light? Illuminating lung cancer. Sci Transl Med. 2012 Jul 11;4(142):142fs22. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3004446.
Castaño Z, Fillmore CM, Kim CF, McAllister SS. The bed and the bugs: interactions between the tumor microenvironment and cancer stem cells. Semin Cancer Biol. 2012 Oct;22(5-6):462-70. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2012.04.006.
Castaño Z, Tracy K, McAllister SS. The tumor macroenvironment and systemic regulation of breast cancer progression. Int J Dev Biol. 2011;55(7-9):889-97. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.113366zc. Review.
Elkabets M, Gifford AM, Scheel C, Nilsson B, Reinhardt F, Bray MA, Carpenter AE, Jirström K, Magnusson K, Ebert BL, Pontén F, Weinberg RA, McAllister SS. Human tumors instigate granulin-expressing hematopoietic cells that promote malignancy by activating stromal fibroblasts in mice. J Clin Invest. 2011 Feb;121(2):784-99. doi: 10.1172/JCI43757.
McAllister SS, Weinberg RA. Tumor-host interactions: a far-reaching relationship. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Sep 10;28(26):4022-8. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2010.28.4257.
Godar S, Ince TA, Bell GW, Feldser D, Donaher JL, Bergh J, Liu A, Miu K, Watnick RS, Reinhardt F, McAllister SS, Jacks T, Weinberg RA. Growth-inhibitory and tumor- suppressive functions of p53 depend on its repression of CD44 expression. Cell. 2008 Jul 11;134(1):62-73. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.06.006.
McAllister SS, Gifford AM, Greiner AL, Kelleher SP, Saelzler MP, Ince TA, Reinhardt F, Harris LN, Hylander BL, Repasky EA, Weinberg RA. Systemic endocrine instigation of indolent tumor growth requires osteopontin. Cell. 2008 Jun 13;133(6):994-1005. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.04.045.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Graduate Students
Lab Support
Alumni
Jessica Olive, PhD (Graduate Student) – Business-CONNECT Office, Michigan State University
Jessalyn Ubellacker, PhD (Graduate Student) – Postdoctoral Fellow, UT Southwestern
Molly DeCristo, PhD (Graduate Student) – Postdoctoral Fellow, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Ayana Henderson (Post-Baccalaureate Student) – PhD Student at Harvard Medical School
Kristin Wilson (Undergraduate Trainee) – BS Candidate, Boston University
Francis Greathouse (Undergraduate Trainee) – BS Candidate, Michigan State University
Ellen Murchie (Undergraduate Trainee) – Research Technician, Massachusetts General Hospital
Marie-Therese Haider, PhD (Visiting Scientist) – Postdoctoral Fellow, University Hamburg, Germany
Virginia Bruch (Summer Intern) – DVM Candidate, University of Georgia
Sara Morrow (Undergraduate Trainee) – Research Technician, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Caroline Arrellano Garcia (Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Candidate, Stanford University
Andrea Klapp (Undergraduate Trainee) – Research Technician, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Bennett King (Undergraduate Trainee; Post-Baccalaureate Trainee) – DVM Candidate, Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Jaclyn Sceneay, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow) – Scientist, Seres Therapeutics
Niko Bretz (Post-doctoral Fellow) – Medical Science Liaison Manager Immunology, Sanofi
Jaewon Lee (Visiting Scientist) – MD/PhD Candidate, Tufts University School of Medicine
Lauren Testa (Undergraduate Trainee) – MD Candidate, U. Mass Medical Center
Laura Rosenthal (Undergraduate Trainee) – ER Technical Nursing Assistant, North Shore Medical Center
Bianca Ho (Undergraduate Trainee) – MD Candidate, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Amanda Redig, PhD (Medical Internship and Fellowship) – Instructor in Medicine, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Irene Wong (High School Intern; Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Student at Harvard Medical School
Samantha Hay (Undergraduate Trainee) – Research Assistant, U. Mass Medical School
Donjeta Gjuka (Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Candidate, UT Austin
Yuanbo Qin, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow) – Scientist, EdiGene, Inc.
Laura Gabrovsek (Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Candidate, University of Washington
Maria Apellaniz Ruiz (Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Candidate, Spanish National Cancer Research Center
Sarah Harney (Undergraduate Trainee) – MD Candidate
Sabine Schneider (Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Candidate
Victor Fanjul Hevia (Undergraduate Trainee) – PhD Candidate, Spanish National Cardiovascular Research Center
Timothy Marsh (Research Technician) – PhD Candidate, UCSF
Ramya Tadipatri (Research Technician) – MD Candidate, Weill Cornell Medical College
Zafira Castano, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow; Instructor) – President, International Mentorship Foundation for the Advancement of Higher Education (IMFAHE)
Kristin Tracy, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow) – Scientist II, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc
Moshe Elkabets, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow) – Assistant Professor, Ben Gurion University, Israel
Hanna Kuznetsov, PhD (Undergraduate Trainee; Research Technician) – Scientist, Genocean Biosciences
Ashley Greiner, MD, MPH (Undergraduate Trainee) – Emergency Public Health Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Stephen Kelleher, MD, PhD (Undergraduate Trainee) – Anesthesia Resident, Stanford University
News
What We Have Been Doing
A Special Thanks to All Our Affilliates
The McAllister Lab gratefully acknowledges the following sources of funding:
American Association for Cancer Research
American Cancer Society
Breast Cancer Alliance
Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Department of Defense
DF/HCC Breast SPORE
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Contact Us
Post-doctoral Fellows
The McAllister lab is seeking highly talented individuals to join our team. Interested applicants should send their CV to smcallister1@bwh.harvard.edu.
Graduate Students
Dr. McAllister is affiliated with Harvard Medical School’s Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS). Students interested in rotating should email smcallister1@bwh.harvard.edu.
Mailing Address:
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Institutes of Medicine 742
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: 617-525-4929
Fax: 617-525-4986
Email: smcallister1