
Tackling Cancer Treatment Resistance

Professor of Biology Nancy Krucher, PhD, has been involved in cancer research for nearly 30 yearsŮٱƵa passion that began when she was an undergraduate student immersed in a lab environment for the first time.
Now, her mission is to provide that same experience for her undergraduate students on the Pleasantville campus.
ŮٱƵHonestly, it's the best part of my job,ŮٱƵ said Krucher, whoŮٱƵs been working with students in the state-of-the-art lab since she joined Pace 25 years ago. ŮٱƵI was an undergraduate and worked in a lab, and that changed my life and I decided to become a scientist. ItŮٱƵs important for me to bring the students in and get them excited about science and research.ŮٱƵ
Last year, Krucher received a three-year, $400k grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study alternative methods to combat cancer cellsŮٱƵ development of resistance to targeted treatments, focusing specifically on breast cancer and melanoma cells.
ŮٱƵMany treatments in cancer will work on a patient for a few years and then the treatment stops workingŮٱƵthat's called resistance,ŮٱƵ said Krucher. ŮٱƵSo, I developed an idea of how we could reverse that resistance. My team has been working on melanoma and this particular drug that we think is going to be very interesting as a possible melanoma treatment.ŮٱƵ

This year, biology students Michael Ferretti ŮٱƵ24 and Anastasiia Vaska ŮٱƵ24 have joined Krucher in her pursuit, working with 3D models of melanoma cellsŮٱƵbecause theyŮٱƵre more physiologically accurate as to how tumors behave in a live patientŮٱƵand studying the cellsŮٱƵ reaction to the drug.
Within the cells, the group is studying the expression of various proteins that can contribute to cancer growth. TheyŮٱƵre working to determine the correlation between the expression of the proteins and programmed cell death (the death of a cell due to processes within the cell) to understand the mechanisms in which this drug could successfully kill cancer cells.
Understanding these processes can lead to better combination cancer treatmentsŮٱƵtreatment through more than one drugŮٱƵKrucher said. ŮٱƵCombination treatments have higher efficacy and lower system toxicity, meaning patients have fewer side effects and tend to respond to the treatment longer.ŮٱƵ
For Vaska, in particular, working on this significant project has opened a new world. ŮٱƵI'm from Ukraine, where we don't really have a lab component to the vast majority of our classes,ŮٱƵ she said. ŮٱƵI'd never even seen a microscope back home. When I first heard about doing experiments in the lab, I thought, ŮٱƵWow, I could I really get my hands on that.ŮٱƵ And now I do that 10 hours a week.ŮٱƵ
Ferretti had also taken an interest in KrucherŮٱƵs work, and, after enrolling in two of her courses and discussing her research together, was enthusiastic to join the project.

ŮٱƵI was a bit nervous when I first found out I was going to be working with 3D cancer cells,ŮٱƵ said Ferretti, noting the fragility of the cells. ŮٱƵThere are certain techniques you have to be proficient in, and not every experiment comes out the way youŮٱƵd hoped. ThereŮٱƵs a lot of trial-and-error involved, so when they come out well, itŮٱƵs a very rewarding feeling.ŮٱƵ
Krucher added, ŮٱƵScience is a lesson in persistence, and we learn that in the laboratory. ItŮٱƵs useful in all of life, really.ŮٱƵ
Before Vaska graduates this spring, the group hopes to make significant progress on a paper for publication detailing their results. ŮٱƵWe have reason to believe that this drug will eventually be developed by pharmaceutical companies,ŮٱƵ said Krucher. ŮٱƵAnd we think it's important that they understand how the drug works. So we have a lot of data on that."
Vaska and Ferretti also recently presented their work at ŮٱƵŮٱƵs Society of Fellows Annual Meeting, a research conference held by Dyson CollegeŮٱƵs premier honor society.
ŮٱƵI'm very happy with how we've overcome the challenges and just how well we work together as a team,ŮٱƵ said Ferretti. ŮٱƵEverybody is really excited about our research, and nobody is holding anyone back. We're all pushing each other forward to keep getting good data.ŮٱƵ