Jyoti Singh

-Breast Cancer-Tumor microenvironment- -Metastasis- Exosomes -miRNA-

The incidence of breast cancer in India is rising due to the lack of awareness and the absence of a proper breast cancer screening program. In general, cancer arises due to the failure of the mechanism that usually controls cell growth, proliferation, and death. The majority of breast cancers are diagnosed at a relatively advanced stage which shows metastasis. This metastatic property of Breast cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and it alters the pathology of the target site for tumor progression. And the major sites of Breast cancer metastasis are the lung, liver, brain, and bones besides lymph nodes. And this metastasis is a major challenge to therapies and these metastatic cells show immune evasion, drug resistance, and relapse. These tumors have been reported to communicate through a novel mode by secretion of extracellular vesicles. It is reported that one of the EVs known as Exosomes forms a pre-metastatic niche for Breast cancer growth and metastasis. Recently the role of small non-coding RNAs also called as micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play important role in gene regulation to control many cellular processes. And these miRNAs have a tissue, stage, and disease-specific expression pattern in different cancers. Similarly, breast cancer is known to have stage-specific miRNAs secreted in exosomes. Interestingly, these exosomes have miRNA which is very stable, and resistant to RNases, repeated freezing, and thawing which intrigued me most. That’s why I am focussing on exploring the exosomal miRNA pattern as a biomarker for Breast cancer progression and metastasis. I have an immense interest in understanding the release of exosomes which is modulated by crosstalk between exosomes and lysosomes.