University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia researcher Kandy Velazquez, PhD, is one of 11 early-career researchers and research teams to be named to the second cohort of Cancer Moonshot Scholars. Awarded through the Biden Cancer Moonshot and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Velazquez’s five-year R01 grant award of $2,628,525, is titled ‘The Role of TGFβ2 and Macrophages in Cancer Cachexia.’
The Cancer Moonshot was launched in 2016 to accelerate scientific discovery in cancer research, foster greater collaboration, and improve the sharing of cancer data. The Cancer Moonshot Scholars program was launched in 2022 to support early-career researchers and help build a cancer research workforce that better represents the diversity of America.
Velazquez, an assistant professor in the SOMC’s Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and her team focus their research on the treatment of cancer pain and cachexia, a syndrome that causes muscle and weight loss. The above-mentioned study aims to find a better way to treat the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function in people facing cancer through a better understanding of immune mechanisms that drive muscle loss. Her pre-clinical research shows an upregulation of TGFβ2, transforming growth factor 2, preceding the recruitment of M2 macrophages, and that depleting M2 macrophages inhibited the transition from cachexia to severe cachexia by preserving muscle mass and reducing fibrosis. The outcome of the study aims to uncover a novel mechanism and innovative strategies for the treatment of cancer cachexia.
“The Cancer Moonshot grant presents an exceptional opportunity to advance my research in cancer cachexia, a debilitating condition affecting many cancer patients,” Velazquez says. “With this support, I can explore innovative approaches to understanding and treating muscle wasting and weight loss in cancer, with future aims to improve patients' quality of life and survival outcomes. The funding will enable access to resources and collaborations crucial for breakthroughs in this understudied area of cancer research.”
Velazquez’s study on the roles of TGFβ2 and macrophages in cancer cachexia compliments her additional NCI awarded research on the role of platelets in cancer cachexia.