For JoEllen Welsh, researching ways to prevent some of the most aggressive types of cancer is more than a professional pursuit; it’s personal.
“I have a strong history of breast cancer in my family, which has influenced my focus on prevention strategies,” said Welsh, a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the College of Integrated Health Sciences and The RNA Institute. “We know that diet influences cancer risk, but to turn that knowledge into effective therapies, we need to understand the exact cellular mechanisms affected by specific nutrients.”
Population studies link deficiencies in vitamins D and K with higher breast cancer incidence. Welsh’s work at UAlbany’s Cancer Research Center is exploring how these nutrients impact healthy cell functioning — insights that could inform new cancer prevention and treatment strategies.
Triple-negative breast cancer is a highly aggressive form of the disease that resists most conventional treatments. Welsh’s research shows that vitamin D can prompt breast cancer cells to behave more like healthy cells, slowing their growth and restoring normal cell death patterns. Importantly, her work has identified that triple-negative breast cancer cells retain vitamin D receptors, making them potentially responsive to vitamin D-based interventions.
More recently, Welsh has expanded her research to vitamin K. Using cellular and animal models, her team is examining how different forms of vitamin K accumulate in healthy and cancerous tissues and is identifying molecular targets affected by the vitamin. The team’s findings suggest vitamin K regulates cell stress and death, pathways known to influence tumor progression.
“Our studies have clearly demonstrated that vitamins D and K affect cellular pathways that drive cancer,” said Welsh. “Further work is geared towards personalized nutrition and better understanding the specific tumor types and patients who are most likely to benefit from maximizing these nutrients, especially as a way to help prevent disease.”