Against Breast Cancer is delighted to announce the awarding of funding to post-doctoral student, Ludovica Tarantola for the completion of her PhD studies at the renowned Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University, London.
Ludovica’s research focuses on understanding how the tumour environment—known as the extracellular matrix—affects immune cells and prevents them from effectively fighting breast cancer.
Over recent years, Ludovica has studied how chemotherapy can unintentionally change this environment. These changes can make tumours more resistant to treatment by weakening the immune response. In particular, chemotherapy can affect macrophages—immune cells that normally help remove cancer cells—making them less effective at doing their job.
At the same time, Ludovica has identified a “glycan shield” within the tumour environment. Glycans, which contain sugar molecules, form a barrier, preventing immune cells from entering the tumour and communicating with each other in ways that are needed to mount a strong anti-cancer response.
This important discovery, supported by Against Breast Cancer, has recently been accepted for publication in the journal Nature Communications. It now opens the door to the development of a new type of therapy aimed at modifying the extracellular matrix.
Ludovica Tarantola will present her latest research progress at the second Against Breast Cancer Research Conference, Oriel College, 23rd June 2026. Please contact our Research Manager Mark for more information.