Growth Regulation of Cancer Program

Program Overview

The overall scientific goals of the Growth Regulation of Cancer (GRC) Program are to understand fundamental aspects of the regulation of cell growth and cell death and how they impact the cancer process. The Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has a long history of outstanding research accomplishments in the hormone-dependent malignancies, breast and prostate cancer. Consistent with these interests, the program has a major focus on the tumor cell biology of steroid hormone and nuclear receptors.

The specific aims of the program are:

Aim 1 - To determine the role of signal transduction in the growth and survival of human cancer cells.
Aim 2 - To determine the role of steroid hormone and nuclear receptors in the cancer process and to determine how these molecules interact with other signal transduction pathways to stimulate the growth of cancer cells.
Aim 3 – To understand the viral causes of human cancer and exploit that knowledge for cancer prevention strategies.
Aim 4 – To provide a forum for scientific interactions and training in basic science of tumor molecular and cellular biology.