# Project 3: Systematic characterization of factors controlling breast cancer progression and resistance

> **NIH NIH U54** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $66,233

## Abstract

Summary of the Parent Grant Project 3: Systematic characterization of factors controlling breast
cancer progression and resistance
Two central challenges limit effectiveness of cancer therapies and enable metastasis: development of intrinsic
resistance to targeted drugs, and development of resistance to recognition and destruction of cancer cells by
the immune system. Traditional in vitro cancer models have been limited in scale and often lack key properties
of the tumor microenvironment. We recently developed a scalable cancer spheroid system that enabled the
first genome-wide CRISPR screens in 3D culture; phenotypes in this system much better reflect in vivo tumors
(Han et al., 2020). In addition, we developed a magnetic separation strategy to rapidly identify regulators of
phagocytosis by macrophages (Haney et al., 2018), and have successfully extended this strategy to study
macrophage-tumor cell interactions. Here we propose to use these systems to identify regulators of
resistance to targeted and endocrine therapies and macrophage killing in metastatic breast cancer.
Aim 1: Identify critical drivers of growth and drug resistance in high relapse risk ER+ breast cancer cell
lines and PDOs using CRISPRi/a screen
Aim 2: Systematic identification and characterization of factors limiting macrophage phagocytosis of breast
cancer cells

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10911510
- **Project number:** 3U54CA261719-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHAEL C BASSIK
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $66,233
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-14 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10911510

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10911510, Project 3: Systematic characterization of factors controlling breast cancer progression and resistance (3U54CA261719-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10911510. Licensed CC0.

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