Ashani T. Weeraratna, Ph.D.

A Complex TiME: How the aging tumor immune microenvironment governs tumor progression.

Speaker: Ashani T. Weeraratna, Ph.D.
Institution: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Oncology

Place: Jerónimo Forteza conference room, CIPF

Abstract: Patients over 65 account for 69% of all new cancer diagnoses. We have made the seminal discovery that aged fibroblasts secrete, or stop secreting, key molecules that affect multiple aspects of tumorigenesis in melanoma, pancreatic and ovarian cancer. Our current investigations include: the loss of molecules that maintain ECM integrity, resulting in changes in mechanotransduction and increased metastasis; the secretion of molecules that increase resistance to targeted therapy; the impact of age on tumor cell metabolism; changes in Wnt molecules that affect cell signaling leading to angiogenesis, metastasis, tumor dormancy and therapy resistance during aging. Additionally, we are investigating the evolving role of the immune microenvironment during aging—examining changes at primary and distal tumor sites while mapping the systemic immune landscape. We are also attempting to understand the intersectionality of systemic host factors e.g., biological sex and age, and how they compound metastatic progression and responses to cancer therapy.

Sponsored by:

With support from Generalitat Valenciana, AMPER-07/2024 and CIAORG/2023/147