Understanding Lung Metastasis: Innovative Research and Patient Perspectives
Join Dr. Jessica Christenson, Ph.D., a cancer biologist from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, as she discusses her cutting-edge research on lung metastases in breast cancer. Dr. Christenson’s work focuses on how the lung promotes metastatic growth and how therapies used for asthma and chronic inflammation could be repurposed for metastatic patients. This session offers a unique opportunity for patients living with lung metastasis to share their experiences, provide feedback on Dr. Christenson’s grant proposal, and discuss how her research could lead to new treatment options for lung metastases.
Speaker
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Jessica Christenson, Ph.D.Jessica Christenson is a cancer biologist currently performing research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. For the past 13 years Jessica has made it her mission to discover more effective treatments for patients with breast cancer. In recent years her aims have shifted to focus exclusively on the study of metastatic disease. Jessica is currently investigating how the lung itself promotes the growth and survival of metastases in an effort to better understand ways in which to block metastatic progression and extend the survival and quality of life of patients with metastatic disease. In a project funded by a METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award, she is presently studying how lung-targeted therapies, such as those used to treated asthma and chronic inflammatory diseases, may be repurposed for use in metastatic patients, and while her primary research is focused on breast cancer, she has great hope that her discoveries will provide benefit for any patient with lung metastases. Like countless others, cancer has taken the lives of several of Jessica’s loved ones, and she is committed to making metastatic cancer a treatable and survivable condition.
