Local research team groundbreaking breast cancer medical research could change breast cancer treatments. Led by Upstate Medical University’s Dr. Leszek Kotula, their published discoveries are leading to awards of more grant funding to find a cure and stop breast cancer from spreading.

“Research is my passion, and I want to share this passion with people and bring them together. My mom told me, 'why don't you go and treat patients?' I said, 'I'm going to treat millions when I do my research,'" said Kotula.

Kotula grew up in a medical family in Poland. Now he's a professor of urology, biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as the associate director of research at Upstate Medical University.

“I was able to get funding from Carol Baldwin Foundation and that allowed me to ask questions about the involvement of the gene in breast cancer and why this is important is because hormone driven cancers, such as prostate and breast, have lots of things in common," said Kotula.

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Kotula and his students' research focuses on the ABI-1 gene's role in human cancers

  • They utilize an interdisciplinary approach to address key questions about tumor development, disease progression and acquired-treatment resistance

  • Dr. Kotula says the investment in his research by the Carol Baldwin Foundation was key to finding the gene



Kotula says Abelson Interactor One, or ABI-1 in science speak, predicts breast cancer metastasis and survival.

 

“We found that there is a group of genes collaborating in the human that are very important for the metastatic process. So using a high-level bioinformatics, you were able to define a very small group of genes actually, that when they work together, they're responsible for the metastatic process," said Kotula.

Kotula places great emphasis on his students being a major part of the research discoveries and identifying the ABI-1 key gene.

“So the major impact right now is predicting the metastatic potential. So we are working on the test to do that. Okay, now we can look at various therapies effect on this seven gene signature,” said Kotula.

More than experiments and research, Kotula says it's the science of hope.

Kotula says the investment in his research by the Carol Baldwin Foundation was key to finding the gene and that discovery has helped him secure even bigger grants to find the treatment to stop breast cancer metasis.