Research at Ohio State could one day help some breast cancer patients reduce or avoid the impact of metastatic brain tumors. Gina Sizemore, PhD, and her lab team specialize in identifying the causes of metastatic breast cancer at the molecular level. One anomaly they have discovered in the microenvironment that exists in breast tissue is a protein called platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGFB). Sizemore, an assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and a member of the Cancer Biology Program, explains that, in some women with breast cancer, “the PDGFB level is really high compared to a normal [non-cancerous] breast.” Sizemore provides all the details on her metastatic breast cancer research on our Cancer-Free World Podcast. Listen via the video player above, or on SoundCloud. Further research found that a high level of PDGFB increases the odds that patients’ breast cancers will metastasize and travel to the brain. This is an important discovery because, “when this happens there is a very poor prognosis — the median survival rate is 10 or 11 months,” Sizemore says. “Something about PDGFB allows the cancer cells to travel to the brain more readily and grow. If we can figure out why, we can target that and block that from happening or reduce it when it does occur.” Even women who are diagnosed in the early stages of breast cancer are at risk. Cells that are high in PDGFB can “get out before the [breast cancer] tumor is eliminated by treatment,” Sizemore explains. These cells can lie dormant for several years “and then wake up.” Analysis of breast cancer tumors could determine which patients have high PDGFB levels, and they can then be monitored and screened carefully over ensuing years. If a brain tumor does form, it would be detected in the early stages, when it could be more readily treated. Learn more about breast cancer screening at the OSUCCC – James. Sizemore is one of several Ohio State experts to receive funding from Pelotonia, and annual cycling event that has grown to include thousands of annual riders and has raised more than $200 million for cancer research. Sizemore came to Columbus upon receiving a two-year Pelotonia Fellowship, which resulted in in the preliminary data that led to two larger, federal grants. She has also received two Pelotonia Idea Awards and has mentored two Pelotonia Fellows in her lab. “I came to Ohio State because of Pelotonia,” she says. “I don’t know what would have happened without it — it was the gift, the funding, that enabled me to keep going.” Learn more about breast cancer, including risks, symptoms and treatment options at Ohio State.