Matthew Breen

Dr. Breen is a Professor of Genomics and the Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology Genetics in the Dept. of Molecular Biomedical Sciences at the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine. He is also a member of the NCSU Comparative Medicine Institute (CMI), the Center for Human Health for the Environment (CHHE), the NCSU Genetics Program in the College of Science, and the Cancer Genetics Program at the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Breen was a charter member, and now serves on the Board of Directors, of the Canine Comparative Oncology and Genomics Consortium (CCOGC), a 501c3 not-for-profit organization established to promote the role of the dog in comparative biomedical research. He is also a charter member of the Sea Lion Cancer Consortium (SLiCC).

Research Interests

Dr. Matthew Breen’s research focuses on genomics, genome mapping and the comparative aspects of canine cancer. In addition his lab is using high throughput molecular cytogenetics for anchoring emerging genome assemblies and for evaluating the changes to genome structure that occur during speciation. The lab is also developing new molecular assays for diagnostic and prognostic use in veterinary medicine.

Selected Publications

Marta Santos, Patrícia Dias-Pereira, Christina Williams, Carlos Lopes, Matthew Breen (2017). Malignant canine mammary tumours: Preliminary genomic insights using oligonucleotide array comparative genomic hybridisation analysis. The Vet Journal (in press).

Antonella Borgatti, Joseph S. Koopmeiners, Aaron L. Sarver, Amber L. Winter, Kathleen Stuebner Deborah Todhunter, Anthony Rizzardi, Jonathan C. Henriksen, Stephen Schmechel, Colleen L. Forster, Jong-Hyuk Kim, Jerry Froelich, Jillian Zientek, Michael Henson, Matthew Breen, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Jaime F. Modiano, Daniel A. Vallera (2017). Sarcoma Therapy Simultaneously Targeting EGFR and uPAR with a Recombinant Bispecific Angiotoxin Improves Survival while Abating Toxicity Associated with EGFR Targeting. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (in press).

N.J.N. Goncalves, F.F. Bressan, K.C.S. Roballo, F.V. Meirelles, P.L.P. Xavier, H. Fukumasu, C. Williams, M. Breen, S. Kohe, R. Sper, J. Piedrahita, C.E. Ambr.sio. (2017). Generation of LIF-independent induced pluripotent stem cells from canine fetalfibroblasts. Theriogenology (in press)

Hiroyuki Mochizuki, Rachael Thomas, Scott Moroff, Matthew Breen (2017). Genomic profiling of canine mast cell tumors identifies DNA copy number aberrations associated with KIT mutations and high histological grade. Chromosome Research (in press)

M. Taylor Hensley, Junnan Tang, Kathleen Woodruff, Teresa Defrancesco, Bruce Keen, Sandra Tou, Christina M. Williams, Mathew Breen, Kathryn Meurs, Ke Cheng.
Intracoronary allogeneic cardiosphere-derived stem cells are safe for use in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (in press).

Seelig, Ito D., Forster, C., Yoon, U., Breen, M., Burns, L., Bachanova, V., Lindblad-Toh, K., O’Brien, T., Schmechel, S., Rizzardi, A., Modiano, J., Linden, M. Constitutive activation of alternative nuclear factor kappa B pathway in canine diffuse large B-cell lymphoma contributes to tumor cell survival and is a target of new adjuvant therapies. Leukemia and Lymphoma (in press)

Ji-Hey Lim, Sehwon Koh, Rachael Thomas, Matthew Breen, Natasha J. Olby. Evaluation of gene expression and DNA copy number profiles of adipose tissue derived stromal cells and consecutive neural progenitors generated from dogs with naturally occurring spinal cord injury. AJVR (in press)

Rachael Thomas, Zoltan Demeter, Katherine A. Kennedy, Luke Borst, Kuldeep Singh, Victor E. Valli, Kevin Le Boedec, Matthew Breen. Integrated Immunohistochemical and DNA Copy Number Profiling Analysis Provides Insight Into the Molecular Pathogenesis of Canine Follicular Lymphoma. Veterinary and Comparative Oncology (in press)

Hiroyuki Mochizuki and Matthew Breen. Sequence analysis of RAS and BRAF mutation hot spots in canine carcinoma. Veterinary and Comparative Oncology (in press)
Hiroyuki Mochizuki, Alison Motsinger-Reif, Chuck Bettini, Scott Moroff, Matthew Breen. Association of Breed and Histopathological Grade in Canine Mast Cell Tumors. Veterinary and Comparative Oncology (in press)

Amy K. LeBlanc, Christina Mazcko, Diane B. Brown, Jennifer W. Koehler, Andrew D. Miller, C. Ryan Miller, R. Timothy Bentley, Rebecca A. Packer, Matthew Breen, Beth Boudreau, Jonathan M. Levine, Mark R. Simpson, Charles Halsey, William Kisseberth, John H. Rossmeisl Jr., Peter J. Dickinson, Timothy Fan, Kara Corps, Kenneth Aldape, Vinay Puduvalli, Mark R. Gilbert (2016). Creation of an NCI Comparative Brain Tumor Consortium: Informing the translation of new knowledge from canine to human brain tumor patients. Journal of Neuro Oncology (in press)

Rachael Thomas, Zoltan Demeter, Katherine A. Kennedy, Luke Borst, Kuldeep Singh, Victor E. Valli, Kevin Le Boedec, Matthew Breen. Integrated Immunohistochemical and DNA Copy Number Profiling Analysis Provides Insight Into the Molecular Pathogenesis of Canine Follicular Lymphoma. Veterinary and Comparative Oncology (in press)

Mochizuki, H., Motsinger-Reif, A.A., Bettini, C., Moroff, .S., Breen, M. (2016). Association of Breed and Histopathological Grade in Canine Mast Cell Tumors. Veterinary and Comparative Oncology (in press).

Katherine Kennedy, Rachael Thomas, Matthew Breen (2016). Canine histiocytic malignancies. Challenges and opportunities. Veterinary Sciences 3(1), 2
A.K.LeBlanc, M.Breen, P.Choyke, M.Dewhirst, T.M.Fan, D.L.Gustafson, L.J.Helman, M.B.Kastan, D.W.Knapp, W.J.Levin, C.London, N.Mason, C.Mazcko, P.N.Olson, R.Page, B.A.Teicher, D.H.Thamm, J.M.Trent, D.M.Vail, C.Khanna. (2016) Perspectives from man’s best friend: National Academy of Medicine’s Workshop on Comparative Oncology. Sci. Transl. Med. 8,324ps5.