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Toshima Parris

Researcher

Department of Oncology
Mail
toshima.parris@oncology.gu.se
Visiting address
Blå stråket 2 su/jubileusklin
41345 Göteborg
Postal address
Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset
41345 Göteborg

About Toshima Parris

Research area: Translational research on the development of novel treatment options for breast- and ovarian cancer.

Research environment Toshima Parris works in a multidisciplinary research group comprised of several biologists (molecular biologist/geneticist), specialists in oncology, pathology, surgery, and radiation physics, as well as, one PhD student and a Masters student. Her research is conducted at the Department of Oncology and Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research.

Background The main objective of this proposal is to discover new treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that prevent recurrence and metastasis. In 2018, approximately 2.1 million new breast cancer cases were reported worldwide. TNBC accounts for about 15-20% of these cases and is an aggressive form of breast cancer (grows rapidly and tends to metastasize) frequently found in women under the age of 50. Due to resistance to most common breast cancer treatments, battling TNBC has proven difficult. About 30% of TNBCs will recur within the first three years after initial diagnosis and 5-year survival rates are drastically lower (77%) than other types of breast cancer (93%). We propose a strategy to test combination therapies on TNBCs in vitro and in vivo. If successful, my work may not only pinpoint promising treatment strategies that can be used for future testing in clinical trials, but also identify genes that play a pivotal role in response/resistance to certain treatment options. These genes, in turn, may be used as diagnostic tools to identify patients that would most benefit from a specific type of treatment.

Research tools and resources

  • In vitro studies: Cell lines, spheroids, patient-derived organoids, drug screening
  • Biobanking of patient samples
  • Flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, tissue microarrays (TMA), RNA-seq, DNA methylation profiling, Immunoblot, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
  • Bioinformatics analyses of pan-cancer data: RNA-seq, mutation signatures, DNA copy number profiling, drug sensitivity data
  • Drug repurposing: Transcriptomics- and structure-based virtual screening
  • Epidemiologic studies using national registers: Swedish National Register for Breast Cancer (NBCR), National Patient Register, and Swedish Cause of Death Register

Current group members

  • Maxim Olsson, PhD student
  • Slavica Janeva, Postdoc
  • Jenny Nyqvist-Streng, Postdoc
  • Sithumini Sarathchandra, Master's student

Financial support

  • King Gustav V Jubilee Clinic Research Foundation
  • Familjen Knut och Ragnvi Jacobsson
  • Assar Gabrielsson Research Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research
  • Sahlgrenska University Hospital Research Foundation
  • Magnus Bergvall Research Foundation
  • Wilhelm och Martina Lundgren Research Foundation
  • Åke Wiberg Research Foundation
  • The Swedish Society of Medicine
  • Anna-Lisa och Bror Björnsson Research Foundation
  • Cancer and Allergy Research Foundation

Awards

Professional organizations

  • The European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
  • Swedish Association of Scientists (Naturvetarna)
  • Swedish Association of Scientists at the University of Gothenburg (Naturvetarna vid GU)
  • Swedish Society of Medicine (Svenska Läkaresällskapet)
  • Radiation Research Society (RADRES)
  • American Association of Cancer Research (AACR)

Associate Editor

  • BMC Cancer, Journal of Ovarian Research, Frontiers in Medicine, Frontiers in Genetics (Cancer Genetics and Oncogenomics), Frontiers in Oncology (Breast Cancer)

Popular science articles

  • Parris TZ. Bröstcancerpatientens tumör innehåller prognostisk information. Onkologi i Sverige 02-2014, 72-78.

ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0834-5540