# Novel Mechanisms of Cancer Bone Metastasis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $370,575

## Abstract

Bone metastasis is a frequent, debilitating and essentially incurable consequence of many types of cancers.
Approximately 70% of patients living with advanced breast cancer have metastases to their bones. They suffer
from severe bone pain, pathological fractures, life-threatening hypercalcemia, limited mobility and eventually
mortality. During cancer bone metastasis, cancer cells and osteoclasts form a vicious cycle so that cancer cells
promote osteoclast differentiation and osteoclasts in turn facilitate cancer cell seeding and proliferation in bone.
Although current FDA-approved osteoclast inhibitor drugs can attenuate bone metastasis, they are only at best
palliative and do not improve overall patient survival. As such, bone metastases remain incurable and better
therapeutics is urgently needed. We have recently discovered a new gene that is upregulated in breast cancer
and bone metastasis to simultaneously stimulate tumor growth and osteoclast differentiation. Therefore, we
hypothesize that it synergistically promotes cancer bone metastasis by orchestrating the vicious cycle between
tumor cells and the osteoclastic bone metastatic niche; and its blockade may inhibit both cancer cells and
osteoclasts, thereby impeding both arms of the vicious cycle and putting a more effective brake on cancer
bone metastasis. Specifically, we propose three aims: Aim 1: Determine how this gene acts in breast cancer
cells to promote bone metastasis; Aim 2: Determine how this gene enhances osteoclastogenesis and bone
resorption in the bone met niche; Aim 3: Identify and characterize the key molecular targets for this gene. We
will establish innovative experimental tools combining in vitro and in vivo, gain- and loss-of-function, genetic
and pharmacological approaches. Importantly, our preclinical studies will reveal the translational potential of
this novel regulator: 1) its inhibitors may represent exciting new therapeutics to confer dual suppression of
primary cancer and bone metastasis; 2) it may serve as an innovative biomarker to predict the propensity of
bone metastasis in cancer patients. Understanding of biological principles and eradication of cancer mortality
require new knowledge beyond the existing paradigms. Current cancer research often focuses on primary
tumors alone. However, most cancer morbidity and mortality relates to metastasis, a complex process
involving not only cancer cells but also their microenvironment in the host tissues such as bone. To this end,
the proposed investigation creates a new paradigm in cancer research by shifting the focus to novel dual
therapeutic targets for cancer cell and osteoclast. Our study will elucidate fundamental mechanisms of cancer
and bone biology, provide important insights for bone metastasis prevention and treatment, and identify new
signaling pathways as innovative drug targets. Therefore, this study will open exciting new paths to the
understanding of cancer etiology and the improvement of cancer outco...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9848518
- **Project number:** 5R01CA236802-02
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Yihong Wan
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $370,575
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-10 → 2020-08-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9848518

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9848518, Novel Mechanisms of Cancer Bone Metastasis (5R01CA236802-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9848518. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*