Identification of Methods to Predict Women's response to Breast Cancer chemotherapy
Dr. Maeve Hennessy
Dr. Maeve Hennessy is undertaking a two-year Breakthrough Cancer Clinical Research Fellowship to identify the biological characteristics that predict a woman’s response to breast cancer therapy, under the supervision of Prof. Roisin Connolly at University College Cork. Her work will contribute to the personalisation of treatment for early stage breast cancer. This will spare certain patients from unnecessary toxic therapy and also ensure that, at diagnosis, patients are put on the correct treatment pathway.
Most women who have had surgery for early stage breast cancer are offered adjuvant chemotherapy. This type of chemotherapy can reduce the chance of the cancer recurring, but this treatment causes many side effects. Many women who receive adjuvant chemotherapy will not benefit from it but do suffer its negative side effects. For this reason, there is a need to identify the women who will and will not benefit from receiving chemotherapy, thus improving breast cancer treatment and sparing women who will not respond the significant costs and potentially toxic side effects of the adjuvant chemotherapy.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
Publications
Hennessy MA, Leal JP, Huang CY, Solnes LB, Denbow R, Abramson VG, Carey LA, Liu MC, Rimawi M, Specht J, Storniolo AM, Valero V, Vaklavas C, Winer EP, Krop IE, Wolff AC, Cimino-Mathews A, Wahl RL, Stearns V, Connolly RM. Correlation of SUV on Early Interim PET with Recurrence-Free Survival and Overall Survival in Primary Operable HER2-Positive Breast Cancer (the TBCRC026 Trial). J Nucl Med. 2023 Nov;64(11):1690-1696. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.123.265853. Epub 2023 Aug 31. PMID: 37652539.
Kieran R, Hennessy M, Coakley K, O’Sullivan H, Cronin T, Lynch D, Mulroe E, Cooke K, Collins D, O’Reilly S. Optimising oncology drug expenditure in Ireland. Ir J Med Sci. 2024 Aug;193(4):1735-1747. doi: 10.1007/s11845-024-03672-y. Epub 2024 Apr 3. PMID: 38568369; PMCID: PMC11294381.
Awards
Alavi-Mandell Award, March 2024 – Best Publication
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Start year
2022
End year
2024
Principal Investigator
Prof. Roisin Connolly
Researcher
Dr. Maeve Hennessy
Institution
University College Cork and Cork University Hospital
Grant Funding
Breakthrough Cancer Clinical Research Fellowship
Linked Breakthrough Research Priorities
Improve integration of cancer research into cancer care in Ireland and increase clinical capacity by prioritising funding for projects and programmes with significant clinical engagement.
Fund the discovery and development of new therapeutics, surgical approaches and technologies, including biological and immune approaches, to improve cancer treatment.
Fund research which aims to improve the effectiveness or specificity of current cancer therapies including investing in biomarkers discovery, nutrition and therapeutic delivery.
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