Breast Cancer Immunotherapy

Harnessing the immune system to fight triple negative breast cancer

Women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) learn quickly that their aggressive form of the disease is notoriously resistant to the standard treatments of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

That's why the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research is focusing on advancing the science of immunotherapy—using the body's immune system to target and destroy even the toughest cancer cells.

With support from a new $12.5 million gift from the Vera Bradley Foundation, our investigators are developing therapies that will enable the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells while avoiding cancer’s tendency to inactivate immune cells.

Our goal is to have a breast cancer diagnosis become an inconvenience rather than an overwhelming presence.

Ruth Cook — Chair, Vera Bradley Foundation Board of Directors

Team Science: Mateusz Opyrchal, MD, PhD

In early 2022, Mateusz Opyrchal, MD, PhD, was named the inaugural Vera Bradley Foundation Scholar in Breast Cancer Discovery at IU School of Medicine and co-leader of the cancer center’s experimental and development therapeutics research program.

Mateusz Opyrchal, MD, PhD

Dr. Opyrchal’s research focuses on novel therapeutic approaches and enhancing immune responses in triple negative breast cancer. He and his colleagues collaborate with the experts at the Brown Center for Immunotherapy to get their scientific breakthroughs into patients as quickly as possible.

Read more about Dr. Opyrchal:

I believe that, in my lifetime, we’ll see a good portion of these women live long, productive lives.

Mateusz Opyrchal, MD, PhD — Vera Bradley Foundation Scholar in Breast Cancer Discovery

About the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer

To date, the Vera Bradley Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit fundraising organization, has committed more than $50 million to advance breast cancer research and treatment in Indiana and around the world.

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