Toriola recognized for breast cancer prevention research

Adetunji T. Toriola, MD, PhD, a William H. Danforth Washington University Physician-Scientist Scholar, has received the 2022 Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research. The award is supported by the Breast Cancer Foundation and honors physicians and scientists whose research has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of breast cancer.

Toriola, a professor of surgery in the Public Health Sciences Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received the award for his research that identified molecular determinants of mammographic density and breast cancer risk that can be targeted in breast cancer prevention, particularly among premenopausal women.

Toriola, who also co-leads the cancer prevention control program at Siteman Cancer Center, was the first to report a positive association between mammographic breast density and RANK pathway gene expression among premenopausal women. His work showed the potential value of RANK pathway targeting for primary breast cancer prevention in this population.

Toriola’s work also showed plasma levels of RANK pathway proteins can serve as biomarkers of mammographic breast density among premenopausal women, and that RANK ligand signaling is linked to mammographic breast density among premenopausal women with high progesterone levels. These discoveries helped identify a subgroup of women who likely would derive benefit from RANK ligand inhibition for breast cancer prevention.

Toriola leads several studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is principal investigator on an NIH grant aimed at understanding the molecular basis of breast density and the mechanisms by which dense breasts increase the risk of breast cancer. He is also principal investigator of an NIH-funded MERIT Award, which supports a phase 2 clinical trial evaluating whether targeting a signaling pathway can reduce biomarkers known to increase breast cancer risk. His research aims to open up additional approaches to breast cancer prevention in premenopausal women.