Research Scholar Gains Insight Into Novel Gastric Cancer Target
Martina Molgora, Ph.D., was a post-doctoral student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis when her team led by Marco Colonna, Ph.D., made the surprising discovery that a receptor known to be active in Alzheimer’s disease called TREM2 is also prevalent in several tumor types, including gastric cancer. In 2023, the Gastric Cancer Foundation and American Gastroenterology Association awarded Molgora the AGA–Gastric Cancer Foundation Ben Feinstein Memorial Research Scholar Award in Gastric Cancer, which is providing her $100,000 per year for three years to pursue her TREM 2 research.
Molgora has since moved to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL, where she works as an assistant professor and continues to study TREM2 and tumors. She hopes her research will inspire new treatment regimens for gastric cancer.
In earlier studies Molgora and her colleagues showed that blocking or eliminating TREM2 could inhibit tumor growth. Her goals as a Research Scholar are to investigate how TREM2 affects tumor-associated macrophages in gastric cancer. She also plans to test antibodies that target TREM2 to see how modulating the receptor affects the tumor microenvironment, and to determine if combining TREM2 inhibition with immune-boosting PD-1 inhibitors could be effective in slowing gastric cancer.
In May of this year, the journal Science Immunology published a paper co-authored by Molgora that described how the gut becomes inflamed in the absence of TREM2. Her team discovered that a decline in TREM2 correlates with the enrichment of a specific gut microbe called R. gnavus. “Even though this microbe promotes inflammation, it’s actually very protective against the tumor at distant sites,” potentially improving the responsiveness to PD-1 inhibition, she said. “We’re now working to understand the mechanism behind this effect.” The study was co-authored by Stanford University microbiologist Blanda Di Luccia, Ph.D. and Washington University Ph.D. student Darya Khantakova.
Molgora adds that in studying mice that lack TREM2, she has observed slower progression of tumors, as well as differences in gastric cancer macrophages between TREM2-deficient mice and normal mice. “I can also see that certain pathways that are enriched in the stomach are different compared to the ones in other organs,” she said.
Ultimately, Molgora hopes to identify new treatment targets and combination regimens for gastric cancer. “Ideally we’ll be able to expand the cohort of patients that can benefit from immunotherapy,” she said.
Molgora is settling in at Moffitt, where she is starting to hire a team to build her lab. She is hopeful her research will benefit from the close integration of the clinical side of the cancer center with the basic science research, she said.
She added that she’s grateful for the Research Scholar grant and the opportunities it has provided for her to continue to build her career.
“I have the opportunity to attend AGA Women in GI and Academic Skills workshops, which are designed to help young researchers develop mentorship and leadership skills,” Molgora said. The Research Scholar award “not only provides money for the research, but also these training and networking opportunities that are so useful.”
