# Cancer Immunology and Immunogenomics: Stratification of Benefit from Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer

**Source**: https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en/qbri/qbri-research-teams-research-group_dr-mariam-al-muftah
**Parent**: https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en/qbri/translational-oncology-research-center

Dr. Mariam Al-Muftah’s research team is involved in understanding cancer immunology to enhance cancer immunotherapy outcome. Much progress has been made in the past decades in discovering and approving immune checkpoint inhibitor agents as cancer immunotherapies, nevertheless a limited subset of patients responds. Single biomarkers have shown limitations in predicting response to immunotherapy and capturing the complexity of the tumor microenvironment. One of the areas Dr. Al-Muftah’s team is focused on is the identification and validation of gene/immune signature as biomarkers. Alongside other well-established biomarkers, for the classification of patients’ eligibility in terms of deriving benefit from cancer immunotherapy, with particular focus on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The use of immunotherapy (anti-PD-L1) for the treatment of metastatic TNBC has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and this cancer shows relatively higher prevalence in the Middle East, imposing a high burden and challenge on the healthcare systems. This translational research team aims to provide valuable knowledge for precision medicine to overcome the challenges associated with the immunologic treatment of TNBC that can enhance clinical practice and improve patients’ survival.

## Research Team

### [Dr. Mariam Al-Muftah](https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en/qbri/staff/dr-mariam-al-muftah)

Scientist

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute

### [Dr. Mingzhan Xue](https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en/staff/dr-mingzhan-xue)

Postdoctoral Researcher

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute

## Current Projects

Identification and validation of gene/immune signatures associated with benefits from immunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.

Identification of circulating protein markers in plasma of breast cancer patients (Breast cancer interdisciplinary research project BC-IDRP).

Identification of gene mutations and copy number variations (Breast cancer interdisciplinary research project BC-IDRP).

## Latest Publications

[Pubmed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=mariam%20al-muftah)

###### [Shan, J., Al-Muftah, M. A., Al-Kowari, M. K., Abuaqel, S. W. J., Al-Rumaihi, K., Al-Bozom, I., Li, P., & Chouchane, L. (2019). Targeting Wnt/EZH2/microRNA-708 signaling pathway inhibits neuroendocrine differentiation in prostate cancer. Cell death discovery, 5, 139.](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41420-019-0218-y)

###### [Sastry, K. S., Al-Muftah, M. A., Li, P., Al-Kowari, M. K., Wang, E., Ismail Chouchane, A., Kizhakayil, D., Kulik, G., Marincola, F. M., Haoudi, A., & Chouchane, L. (2014). Targeting proapoptotic protein BAD inhibits survival and self-renewal of cancer stem cells. Cell death and differentiation, 21(12), 1936–1949.](https://doi.org/10.1038/cdd.2014.140)

###### [Castro, F. V., Al-Muftah, M., Mulryan, K., Jiang, H. R., Drijfhout, J. W., Ali, S., Rutkowski, A. J., Kalaitsidou, M., Gilham, D. E., & Stern, P. L. (2012). Regulation of autologous immunity to the mouse 5T4 oncofoetal antigen: implications for immunotherapy. Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII, 61(7), 1005–1018.](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-011-1167-3)

###### [Southgate, T. D., McGinn, O. J., Castro, F. V., Rutkowski, A. J., Al-Muftah, M., Marinov, G., Smethurst, G. J., Shaw, D., Ward, C. M., Miller, C. J., & Stern, P. L. (2010). CXCR4 mediated chemotaxis is regulated by 5T4 oncofetal glycoprotein in mouse embryonic cells. PloS one, 5(4), e9982.](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009982)