Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, PhD

Dr. Katzenellenbogen and her research group have shown that inputs from estrogen receptor actions via the nucleus and also initiated from the membrane are integrated to regulate gene expression patterns that are associated with the aggressiveness of breast cancers and the outcome of patients on endocrine therapy. Using novel pathway-specific estrogen and antiestrogen probes they have developed, they have documented the critical role of kinase pathways that link estrogen nuclear and extranuclear actions with growth factor actions in breast cancer that result in resistance to endocrine therapies.

Their identification of new signaling components associated with endocrine resistance points to new targeted approaches for breast cancer prevention or treatment that would involve inhibition of these components, either alone or in combination with established endocrine therapies involving agents such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors. The overall goal of this project is to understand the basis of endocrine resistance, which limits the effectiveness of endocrine therapies in breast cancer, either treatment with anti-estrogens such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors such as letrazole.

Building upon their recent findings, in the coming year Dr. Katzenellenbogen and her research team will investigate the role of estrogen receptor action, both in the nucleus and outside of the nucleus, in regulating the proliferation and aggressiveness of breast cancers. In particular, they will study the involvement of 14-3-3fê, a gene they have identified to be tamoxifen stimulated and to be associated with poor patient response to tamoxifen, in determining the failure of benefit from endocrine therapies. Their aim is to assess whether blocking the action of 14-3-3fê would be a valuable approach to preventing or reversing endocrine resistance, thereby improving the effectiveness of endocrine therapies in women with breast cancer.

Bio:
Benita Katzenellenbogen is Swanlund Professor of Physiology, Cell and Structural Biology, and director of a breast cancer research group at the University of Illinois and University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign. She is an internationally known endocrinologist and cancer researcher and has been a key scientist in understanding the biology of estrogen receptors and in elucidating mechanisms by which antiestrogens and SERMs, such as Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, are effective in controlling breast cancer. The work of her research group has most recently involved the development of selective hormonal agents for breast cancer treatment and prevention.

The quality and impact of Professor Katzenellenbogen's scholarly achievements are extraordinary. Since joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1971, she has published over 250 research articles, has contributed 30 chapters in books, and has co-edited a text on hormone-dependent cancers.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, honors and special fellowships from governmental, private and academic institutions including the MERIT Award (1991-1999) from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, the Jill Rose Award for outstanding research from The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Ernst Oppenheimer Award and Roy O. Greep Lecture Award of The Endocrine Society, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the National Scholar Award from the American Association of University Women.

She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recently served as President of The Endocrine Society, the world's largest professional society representing approximately 10,000 endocrinologists. She has been active on government scientific review panels of the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society, and has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. She directs an active research unit that has trained over 70 graduate students and postdoctoral scientists, many of whom are leading distinguished careers in academia, governmental agencies, and the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry.