Louise Medina Bengtsson

Program: Cancer Biology

Current advisor: Sheila A. Stewart, PhD

Undergraduate university: University of Notre Dame, 2021

Enrollment year: 2021

Research summary
Unraveling the role senescent cancer-associated fibroblasts play in breast cancer metastasis

Previous work from our lab has shown that elimination of senescent cancer-associated fibroblasts (senCAFs) in a breast cancer mouse model significantly reduces metastatic burden in the lungs. Additionally, we found that senCAFs improve the migration efficiency of tumor organoids in vitro, and that these senCAFs are present in circulating tumor cell clusters in the blood of tumor-bearing mice. Given these data, I am currently studying how senCAFs promote breast cancer metastasis, focusing on collective migration.

Graduate publications