Estefania Labanca, PhD
Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2019 | MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, Texas, US, Cancer Biology, Ph.D |
| 2014 | Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, AR, Molecular Biology, BS/MS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2020-2023 | Research Fellowship, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Instructor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2023 - 2023
Associate Member Faculty, MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Houston, TX, 2023 - 2023
Honors & Awards
| 2024 | Rising Stars and Emerging Leaders, 40 Under 40 in Cancer |
| 2024 | Endowed Fellowship Pilot Project Grant Award, Office of Research Education and Training, MD Anderson Wllm Pippin Jr Fellow GU Rsch and TH & MP Scott Fellow Cncr Rsch Endowed Fellowships |
| 2024 | Society for Basic Urologic Research/Society of Women in Urology Award, in honor of Dr. Nora Navone, Society for Basic Urologic Research/Society of Women in Urology |
| 2024 | PCF Young Investigator Award, PCF 2024 |
| 2023 | Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Research Award finalist, Bone Disease Program of Texas |
| 2020 | Lightning talk poster presentation winner, 2nd Annual Meeting, NCI Patient-Derived Models of Cancer |
| 2019 | T.C. Hsu Memorial Scholarship, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2018 | T.C. Hsu Memorial Scholarship, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2018 | Travel Award, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2018 | Takeda Oncology Scholar-in-Training Award, American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2017 | Floyd Haar, MD Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Memory of Freda Haar, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2015 | Trainee Research Day Poster Competition Finalist in Translational Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2013 | Undergraduate fellowship to promote Scientific Vocations, National Interuniversity Council, Secretariat of Science and Technology, University of Buenos Aires |
| 2012 | Undergraduate fellowship to promote Scientific Vocations, National Interuniversity Council, Secretariat of Science and Technology, University of Buenos Aires |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Sabater A, Sanchis P, Seniuk R, Pascual G, Anselmino N, Alonso DF, Cayol F, Vazquez E, Marti M, Cotignola J, Toro A, Labanca E, Bizzotto J, Gueron G. Unmasking Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer with a Machine Learning-Driven Seven-Gene Stemness Signature That Predicts Progression. Int J Mol Sci 25(21):None, 2024. PMID: 39518911.
- Tien JC, Luo J, Chang Y, Zhang Y, Cheng Y, Wang X, Yang J, Mannan R, Mahapatra S, Shah P, Wang XM, Todd AJ, Eyunni S, Cheng C, Rebernick RJ, Xiao L, Bao Y, Neiswender J, Brough R, Pettitt SJ, Cao X, Miner SJ, Zhou L, Wu YM, Labanca E, Wang Y, Parolia A, Cieslik M, Robinson DR, Wang Z, Feng FY, Chou J, Lord CJ, Ding K, Chinnaiyan AM. CDK12 loss drives prostate cancer progression, transcription-replication conflicts, and synthetic lethality with paralog CDK13. Cell Rep Med 5(10):101758, 2024. PMID: 39368479.
- Sabater A, Sanchis P, Seniuk R, Pascual G, Anselmino N, Alonso D, Cayol F, Vazquez E, Marti M, Cotignola J, Toro A, Labanca E, Bizzotto J, Gueron G. Unmasking Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer with a Machine Learning-Driven 7-Gene Stemness Signature that Predicts Progression. medRxiv None(None):None, 2024. PMID: 39399052.
- Archer M, Begemann D, Gonzalez-Kozlova E, Nepali PR, Labanca E, Shepherd P, Dogra N, Navone N, Kyprianou N. Kinesin Facilitates Phenotypic Targeting of Therapeutic Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer. Mol Cancer Res None(None):None, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38648082.
- Anselmino N, Labanca E, Shepherd PDA, Dong J, Yang J, Song X, Nandakumar S, Kundra R, Lee C, Schultz N, Zhang J, Araujo JC, Aparicio AM, Subudhi SK, Corn PG, Pisters LL, Ward JF, Davis JW, Vazquez ES, Gueron G, Logothetis CJ, Futreal A, Troncoso P, Chen Y, Navone NM. Integrative Molecular Analyses of the MD Anderson Prostate Cancer Patient-derived Xenograft (MDA PCa PDX) Series. Clin Cancer Res 30(10):2272-2285, 2024. PMID: 38488813.
- Tien JC, Chang Y, Zhang Y, Chou J, Cheng Y, Wang X, Yang J, Mannan R, Shah P, Wang XM, Todd AJ, Eyunni S, Cheng C, Rebernick RJ, Xiao L, Bao Y, Neiswender J, Brough R, Pettitt SJ, Cao X, Miner SJ, Zhou L, Wu YM, Labanca E, Wang Y, Parolia A, Cieslik M, Robinson DR, Wang Z, Feng FY, Lord CJ, Ding K, Chinnaiyan AM. CDK12 Loss Promotes Prostate Cancer Development While Exposing Vulnerabilities to Paralog-Based Synthetic Lethality. bioRxiv, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38562774.
- Toro A, Lage-Vickers S, Bizzotto J, Vilicich F, Sabater A, Pascual G, Ledesma-Bazan S, Sanchis P, Ruiz MS, Arevalo AP, Porfido JL, Abbate M, Seniuk R, Labanca E, Anselmino N, Navone NM, Alonso DF, Vazquez E, Crispo M, Cotignola J, Gueron G. Pin-Pointing the Key Hubs in the IFN-γ Pathway Responding to SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Viruses 14(10), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36298734.
- Sanchis P, Anselmino N, Lage-Vickers S, Sabater A, Lavignolle R, Labanca E, Shepherd PDA, Bizzotto J, Toro A, Mitrofanova A, Valacco MP, Navone N, Vazquez E, Cotignola J, Gueron G. Bone Progenitors Pull the Strings on the Early Metabolic Rewiring Occurring in Prostate Cancer Cells. Cancers (Basel) 14(9), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35565211.
- Labanca E, Yang J, Shepherd PDA, Wan X, Starbuck MW, Guerra LD, Anselmino N, Bizzotto JA, Dong J, Chinnaiyan AM, Ravoori MK, Kundra V, Broom BM, Corn PG, Troncoso P, Gueron G, Logothethis CJ, Navone NM. Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 Drives the Metastatic Progression of Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol Oncol 5(2):164-175, 2022. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34774481.
- Lage-Vickers S, Sanchis P, Bizzotto J, Toro A, Sabater A, Lavignolle R, Anselmino N, Labanca E, Paez A, Navone N, Valacco MP, Cotignola J, Vazquez E, Gueron G. Exploiting Interdata Relationships in Prostate Cancer Proteomes: Clinical Significance of HO-1 Interactors. Antioxidants (Basel) 11(2), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35204174.
- Labanca E, Bizzotto J, Sanchis P, Anselmino N, Yang J, Shepherd PDA, Paez A, Antico-Arciuch V, Lage-Vickers S, Hoang AG, Tang X, Raso MG, Titus M, Efstathiou E, Cotignola J, Araujo J, Logothetis C, Vazquez E, Navone N, Gueron G. Prostate cancer castrate resistant progression usage of non-canonical androgen receptor signaling and ketone body fuel. Oncogene 40(44):6284-6298, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34584218.
- Cascardo F, Anselmino N, Páez A, Labanca E, Sanchis P, Antico-Arciuch V, Navone N, Gueron G, Vázquez E, Cotignola J. HO-1 Modulates Aerobic Glycolysis through LDH in Prostate Cancer Cells. Antioxidants (Basel) 10(6), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34208670.
- Lage-Vickers S, Bizzotto J, Valacco MP, Sanchis P, Nemirovsky S, Labanca E, Scorticati C, Mazza O, Mitrofanova A, Navone N, Vazquez E, Cotignola J, Gueron G. The expression of YWHAZ and NDRG1 predicts aggressive outcome in human prostate cancer. Commun Biol 4(1):103, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33483585.
- Palanisamy N, Yang J, Shepherd PDA, Li-Ning-Tapia EM, Labanca E, Manyam GC, Ravoori MK, Kundra V, Araujo JC, Efstathiou E, Pisters LL, Wan X, Wang X, Vazquez ES, Aparicio AM, Carskadon SL, Tomlins SA, Kunju LP, Chinnaiyan AM, Broom BM, Logothetis CJ, Troncoso P, Navone NM. The MD Anderson Prostate Cancer Patient-derived Xenograft Series (MDA PCa PDX) Captures the Molecular Landscape of Prostate Cancer and Facilitates Marker-driven Therapy Development. Clin Cancer Res 26(18):4933-4946, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32576626.
- Ortiz E, Sanchis P, Bizzotto J, Lage-Vickers S, Labanca E, Navone N, Cotignola J, Vazquez E, Gueron G. Myxovirus Resistance Protein 1 (MX1), a Novel HO-1 Interactor, Tilts the Balance of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress towards Pro-Death Events in Prostate Cancer. Biomolecules 10(7), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32640729.
- Anselmino N, Starbuck M, Labanca E, Cotignola J, Navone N, Gueron G, Zenclussen AC, Vazquez E. Heme Oxygenase-1 Is a Pivotal Modulator of Bone Turnover and Remodeling: Molecular Implications for Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis. Antioxid Redox Signal 32(17):1243-1258, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31861963.
- Anselmino N, Bizzotto J, Sanchis P, Lage-Vickers S, Ortiz E, Valacco P, Paez A, Labanca E, Meiss R, Navone N, Cotignola J, Vazquez E, Gueron G. HO-1 Interactors Involved in the Colonization of the Bone Niche: Role of ANXA2 in Prostate Cancer Progression. Biomolecules 10(3), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32197509.
- Gueron G, Anselmino N, Chiarella P, Ortiz EG, Lage Vickers S, Paez AV, Giudice J, Contin MD, Leonardi D, Jaworski F, Manzano V, Strazza A, Montagna DR, Labanca E, Cotignola J, D Accorso N, Woloszynska-Read A, Navone N, Meiss RP, Ruggiero R, Vazquez E. Game-changing restraint of Ros-damaged phenylalanine, upon tumor metastasis. Cell Death Dis 9(2):140, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29396431.
- Paez AV, Pallavicini C, Schuster F, Valacco MP, Giudice J, Ortiz EG, Anselmino N, Labanca E, Binaghi M, Salierno M, Martí MA, Cotignola JH, Woloszynska-Read A, Bruno L, Levi V, Navone N, Vazquez ES, Gueron G. Heme oxygenase-1 in the forefront of a multi-molecular network that governs cell-cell contacts and filopodia-induced zippering in prostate cancer. Cell Death Dis 7(12):e2570, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 28032857.
- Labanca E, De Luca P, Gueron G, Paez A, Moiola CP, Massillo C, Porretti J, Giudice J, Zalazar F, Navone N, Vazquez E, De Siervi A. Association of HO-1 and BRCA1 Is Critical for the Maintenance of Cellular Homeostasis in Prostate Cancer. Mol Cancer Res 13(11):1455-64, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26227317.
Other Articles
- Habowski AN, Budagavi DP, Scherer SD, Aurora AB, Caligiuri G, Flynn WF, Langer EM, Brody JR, Sears RC, Foggetti G, Arnal Estape A, Nguyen DX, Politi KA, Shen X, Hsu DS, Peehl DM, Kurhanewicz J, Sriram R, Suarez M, Xiao S, Du Y, Li XN, Navone NM, Labanca E, Willey CD Patient-Derived Models of Cancer in the NCI PDMC Consortium: Selection, Pitfalls, and Practical Recommendations. Cancers (Basel) 16(3), 2024. PMID: 38339316.
- Labanca E, Vazquez ES, Corn PG, Roberts JM, Wang F, Logothetis CJ, Navone NM Fibroblast growth factors signaling in bone metastasis. Endocr Relat Cancer 27(7):R255-R265, 2020. PMID: 32369771.
Book Chapters
- Navone NM, Labanca E. Modeling Cancer Metastasis. In: Patient Derived Xenograft Models of Human Cancer. None. Springer International Publishing AG 2017. Humana Press, Ch7. p 93-114, 2017.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Targeting Metabolic Rewiring to Inhibit Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Progression and Bone Metastasis |
| Funding Source: | Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | Endowed Fellowship Pilot Grant |
| Funding Source: | William Pippin Jr Fellow GU Rsch & TH & MP Scott Fellow Cancer Research Fellowship |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| Title: | Drugging the Enzymes of the Ketogenic Pathway for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Therapy |
| Funding Source: | Scientific and Technologic Projects (PICT)/National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology (Mincyt) |
| Role: | Co-PI |
| Title: | Targeting B7-H3 in Aggressive Variant Prostate Cancer |
| Funding Source: | Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Identifying Different Metabolic Sub-types of Prostate Cancer for Early Therapeutic Assessment |
| Funding Source: | DOD |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Patient-Derived Models of Prostate Cancer for Personalized Medicine |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Instructor |
| Title: | CAR-T Cells Armored with Engineered Receptor Tyrosine Kinases for Prostate Cancer Treatment |
| Funding Source: | DOD/TAMU |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Understanding Tumorigenesis and Identifying Therapeutic Targets in CDK12-Mutant Prostate Cancer |
| Funding Source: | DOD/MSKCC |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Development of CAR T Cells Integrated with Engineered FGF Receptors for Prostate Cancer Treatment |
| Funding Source: | NIH/Texas A&M University |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Mapping the Spatial Transcriptomic Landscape of The Prostate Cancer–Bone Microenvironment Interface |
| Funding Source: | Mike Slive Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | Overcoming Castration Resistance in Prostate Cancer by Targeting the Fuels of Progression |
| Funding Source: | Elsa U. Pardee |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | Integrative Tissue "Omics" Strategies to Define Risk Stratification Biomarkers for Intermediate Gleason Scores in Prostate Cancer |
| Funding Source: | Scientific and Technologic Projects (PICT)/ National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology (Mincyt) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Therapeutic Implications for the Metabolic Shift occurring in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer |
| Funding Source: | Scientific and Technologic Projects (PICT)/ National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology (Mincyt) |
| Role: | Co-I |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified November 13, 2024