# MALAT1 lncRNA as a Therapeutic Target in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $59,023

## Abstract

In the United States 1 in 8 women will develop metastatic breast cancer within their lifetime,
accounting for nearly 30% of cancer diagnoses annually. The heterogeneity of breast cancer makes
treatment of the disease a challenge, since no single therapy is effective for all subtypes. Recent
developments in immunotherapy, notably checkpoint inhibition, has revitalized efforts to create
therapies that help boost the immune response to solid tumors. A novel approach that may help
improve immunotherapy response in breast cancer is the inhibition of highly abundant long
noncoding RNA (lncRNA), metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript (MALAT1).
MALAT1, has been associated with the cancer progression of liver cancer, renal cell carcinoma, lung
cancer and has been shown to be upregulated almost four-fold in breast cancer. Targeting of
MALAT1 is made possible through the use of antisense oligonucleotides (ASO). Our laboratory has
shown that knockdown of MALAT1 in several murine tumor derived cell lines also elicits an increase
in the stress marker p-eIF2α, and DNA damage marker γH2aX. Thus, the targeting of MALAT1 may
be a beneficial therapeutic to help increase the immune response to tumor cells, creating a tumor
microenvironment more susceptible to checkpoint inhibition.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10064061
- **Project number:** 3R01CA016303-44S1
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Jeffrey Mark Rosen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $59,023
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1978-08-01 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10064061

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10064061, MALAT1 lncRNA as a Therapeutic Target in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (3R01CA016303-44S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10064061. Licensed CC0.

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