Late recurrence of metastatic disease stemming from acquired therapy resistance remains a significant health burden for women with ER+ breast cancer. Contributing factors include breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) which are poorly proliferative and frequently exist as a minority population in recurrent therapy resistant tumors.

Our current objectives are centered on defining how steroid receptors (SRs) (e.g., estrogen receptor [ER], progesterone receptor [PR]) and their associated co-activators mediate the survival and expansion of therapy resistant breast CSCs with emphasis on oncogenic signaling pathways and metabolic reprogramming. Identifying and targeting reversible events that drive metastatic ER+ breast tumor cells is an unmet need that has the potential to extend patient lives and improve well-being.

Our laboratory employs a wide variety of techniques to investigate the CSC population at the gene and protein level. We also use a variety of in vitro (breast cancer cell lines), pre-clinical (patient-derived organoids, PDxO), and in vivo (xenograft) models to achieve our research goals. Our research interests broadly include cancer stem cells, signal transduction, gene regulation, cancer metabolism, post-translational modifications, therapy resistance, breast cancer, and cancer biology

• Truong, T.H., Benner, B., Hagen, K.M., Temiz, N.A., Perez Kerkvliet, C., Wang, Y., Cortes-Sanchez, E., Yang, C.-H., Trousdell, M.C., Pengo, T., Guillen, K.P., Welm, B.E., Dos Santos, C.O., Telang, S., Lange, C.A., and Ostrander, J.H. (2021). “PELP1/SRC-3 dependent regulation of metabolic kinases drives therapy resistant ER+ breast cancer.” Oncogene. 40(25): 4384-4397.
• Truong, T.H.*, Dwyer, A.R.*, Diep, C., Hu, H., Hagen, K.M., and Lange, C.A. (2019). “Phosphorylated progesterone receptor isoforms mediate opposing stem-like and proliferative breast cancer cell fates.” Endocrinology. 160(2), 430-446. *Equal contribution
• Truong, T.H., Hu, H., Temiz, N.A., Hagen, K.M., Girard, B.J., Brady, N.J., Schwertfeger, K.L., Lange, C.A., and Ostrander, J.H. (2018). “Cancer Stem Cell Phenotypes in ER+ Breast Cancer Models Are Promoted by PELP1/AIB1 Complexes.” Mol. Cancer Res. 16 (4) 707-719.
• Truong, T.H., Ung, P.M., Palde, P.B., Paulsen, C.E., Schlessinger, A., and Carroll, K.S. (2016). “Molecular Basis for Redox Activation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Kinase.” Cell Chem. Biol. 23 (7), 837-848.
• Paulsen, C.E., Truong, T.H., Garcia, F.J., Homann, A., Gupta V., Leonard, S.E., Carroll, K.S. (2011). “Peroxide-dependent sulfenylation of the EGFR catalytic site enhances kinase activity.” Nat. Chem. Biol. 8 (1), 57-64.

• Postdoctoral Fellow - University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center
• Ph.D. in Chemistry (Chemical Biology) - University of Michigan, 2014
• B.S. in Chemistry - Texas A&M University, 2008

Honors/Awards:

• NIH/NCI K22 Transition Career Development Award, 2023
• METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award, 2020
• NIH/NCI F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA), 2017