Purdue University

Sulma I. Mohammed, DVM, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Cancer Biology, Director of Purdue Drug Development Shared Resource, Purdue Veterinary Medicine Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907 Phone: 765-494-9948 Email: mohammes@purdue.edu

Education

Overview of Research

Research Interest

Dr. Mohammed’s laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular, genetic, epigenetic, and functional changes involved in the earliest steps of breast disease. Our goal is to identify molecules intrinsic to the breast premalignant lesions and normal-looking adjacent tissues to typify lesions destined to progress to become invasive cancer and to elucidate the causative pathways of carcinogenesis and to use this information to improve clinical management of patients who at high risk of developing breast cancer. We have devoted much effort to characterization of a unique animal model which develops spontaneous pre-malignant lesions very similar to humans’ lesions in all morphological, molecular, and clinical diversity. We have shown that Spontaneous canine mammary premalignant lesions such as atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are similar to those of the human breast in term of developing spontaneously before mammary tumors, histologic diversity, and immunohistochemical profile of ER-α, PR, and HER-2 (these findings, Antuofermo et al., 2007; were featured on the cover page of AACR Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention where the article was published accompanies by an editorial by Dr. Elaine Ostrander, (Chief, Cancer Genetics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland). In addition, clustered micro-calcifications and other radiographic lesions, corresponding to BI-RAD criteria for human breast cancer screening, can be detected in the canine mammary glands. This will allow non-invasive evaluation of drug efficacy in prevention clinical trials. We are using our dog model to shed the light on the evolution of ADH and DCIS to malignancy and to identify breast cancer progression features that distinguishes indolent from aggressive disease.

A major recent focus of Dr. Mohammed’s laboratory is in identifying and characterizing, in term of receptors expression, stem cell-like properties, and pathway analysis, lymph tumor circulating cells compared to blood tumor circulating cells in human (we have an ongoing study in collaboration with Indiana University School of Medicine to collect lymph from women with metastatic breast cancer). We have successfully grown the lymph tumor circulating cells isolated from lymph collected from an animal model in vitro. This study has potential to identify metastasis-specific molecules to stratify women according to the risk of developing metastasis, provide targets to treat and prevent metastasis, and determine therapeutic efficacy.

Our laboratory is also interested in identifying the reasons for ER-negative tumors and what contribute to their aggressiveness. Our laboratory has special interest in African women living in Africa and African women living in the United States. A published work from our laboratory indicated that the majority of breast cancers in women from Africa and living in Africa were ER-negative, a pattern similar to breast cancer in African American women. We are conducting studies looking at the similarities and differences in breast cancer epigenetic and proteomic profiles and effect of race and the environment.

At the international level, Dr. Mohammed has been involved in issues related to global cancer. Dr. Mohammed with other African colleagues reactivated the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC). AORTIC become the Pan African cancer organization with a membership of ~800 MDs, PhDs, RNs, scientists, and others. It has a clear mission: to facilitate research and training, and to provide relevant and accurate information on the prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, and palliation of cancer. AORTIC is dedicated to providing all Africans with these benefits, as well as to increasing public awareness of cancer and reducing the stigma associated with it. Dr. Mohammed was the vice present of North American and now she is a council member of AORTIC. AORTIC biannual meetings were supported partially by NIH grants administered through Purdue, Lilly and the Veterinary School of Medicine. In August Dr. Mohammed will join the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI-NIH) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities to participate in establishing a comprehensive initiative on global health Disparities, specifically cancer in African countries.

Scholarly Interest

Publications

Refereed journals

Dibernardi L, Dore M, Davis JA, Owens JG, Mohammed SI, Guptill CF, Knapp DW (2007), Study of feline oral squamous cell carcinoma: Potential target for cyclooxygenase inhibitor treatment, Prostaglandins Leukot.Essent.Fatty Acids 76: 245-250