Principal Investigator Richard Hynes is a Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research.

Working on three different cancers—triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and colorectal cancer (CRC)—the focus of the Hynes Laboratory has been on the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM forms a key component of the tumor microenvironment, providing both architectural support and signaling cues; it typically comprises at least 25% of the tumor mass and, in the case of PDAC, up to 90%. Over the past several years the Hynes group has developed novel methods for characterizing in detail the composition of the ECM as tumors progress. Since the ECM is insoluble, analysis has previously proved difficult, but the group has developed mass spectrometric approaches to investigate the proteins found in tumor ECM. The Hynes Laboratory finds that there are around 200 ECM-associated proteins in any tumor, and a significant fraction of those are newly expressed or markedly increased during development of the primary tumor and further expanded in metastases. The group has used the proteomic information to develop strategic biological insights around tumor progression that have implications for multiple cancer types; additionally, the researchers have devised novel and specific tools for improved diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of the three tumor types on which they focus.

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