Breaking Down Chemoresistance: Targeting Cancer Stem Cells in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

This past year, I had the incredible opportunity to conduct independent cancer research at the Wayne State University in collaboration with Dr. Prahlad Parajuli and his team . My project focused on one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of breast cancer, Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), and how cancer stem cells (CSCs) drive chemoresistance and recurrence.

When I joined Dr. Parajuli’s lab, I wanted to work on something that felt both clinically relevant and translational. TNBC stood out because, unlike other breast cancers, it lacks the estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and HER2 receptors that many therapies target. That means chemotherapy is the main treatment option, but patients often relapse because a small, stubborn population of CSCs survives.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and complex breast cancer subtypes, lacking the estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and HER2 receptors that make other forms of breast cancer more treatable. Despite initial responsiveness to chemotherapy, TNBC often relapses due to a small, highly resilient population of cells, cancer stem cells (CSCs).

What This Paper Covers

This review explores:

• The biology of TNBC and CSCs

• How CSCs drive drug resistance and recurrence

• Emerging therapeutic strategies that specifically target CSCs, including epigenetic therapy, immunotherapy, and antibody-drug conjugates.

To my honor, this work earned me a Letter of Commendation and a Letter of Distinction from a scientific member at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Karmanos one of only 57 NCI-designated cancer centers in the United States, a federal government organization dedicated to advancing cancer research, recognizing the depth, innovation, and clinical relevance of my research.

Read more about my paper here: https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jpbs/pages/20%284%29Series-2.html