Swarnali Acharyya

About

Swarnali Acharyya, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, within the Institute for Cancer Genetics. Her laboratory focuses on studying metastasis, which is the predominant cause of cancer-patient mortality. Her research investigates what makes metastasis lethal and how to target metastases to improve patient outcomes. The lab studies metastasis as a systemic disease involving crosstalk between metastatic cancer cells and both cancer-inhabiting and cancer-free organs of the body. Key areas of her research include therapy resistance of metastatic tumors and the systemic effects of metastatic disease, such as cachexia. Her work has identified mechanisms promoting therapy resistance, including a novel S100A9-ALDH1A1-retinoic acid signaling axis that promotes resistance in brain metastases from EGFR-mutant lung cancer patients. She also studies the metabolic deregulation of organs affected by metastasis, particularly focusing on cachexia, a condition characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. Her research has identified ZIP14 as a marker and mediator of cachexia, demonstrating that muscle tissue can detect early metastatic relapse. Her work aims to inform the development of more effective and durable treatments for metastatic cancer patients to prolong survival.

Research topics

• Cancer research
• Immunology
• Biology
• Internal medicine
• Medicine
• Bioinformatics

Selected publications

• Understanding cachexia in the context of metastatic progression

  Nature reviews. Cancer · 2020 · 203 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Upregulation of ZIP14 and Altered Zinc Homeostasis in Muscles in Pancreatic Cancer Cachexia

  Cancers · 2019-12-18 · 40 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer type in which the mortality rate approaches the incidence rate. More than 85% of PDAC patients experience a profound loss of muscle mass and function, known as cachexia. PDAC patients with this condition suffer from decreased tolerance to anti-cancer therapies and often succumb to premature death due to respiratory and cardiac muscle wasting. Yet, there are no approved therapies available to alleviate cachexia. We previously found that u…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Phase I trial of the TNF-α inhibitor certolizumab plus chemotherapy in stage IV lung adenocarcinomas

  Nature Communications · 2022-10-15 · 19 citations

  articleOpen access

  We previously identified a chemotherapy-induced paracrine inflammatory loop that paradoxically mitigates the anti-tumor effect of chemotherapy and triggers metastatic propagation in breast and lung cancer models. Therefore, we sought to further validate and translate these findings into patient care by coupling the anti-TNF-α drug certolizumab pegol with standard cisplatin doublet chemotherapy. Here we first validate the anti-metastatic effect of certolizumab in a liver-metastatic Lewis Lung Car…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Simultaneous formation of non-oxidovanadium(<scp>iv</scp>) and oxidovanadium(<scp>v</scp>) complexes incorporating phenol-based hydrazone ligands in aerobic conditions

  New Journal of Chemistry · 2020-01-01 · 13 citations

  article

  A family of non-oxidovanadium(<sc>iv</sc>) complexes incorporating multidentate hydrazone ligands were synthesized through a thermodynamically unfavourable process along with oxidovanadium(<sc>v</sc>) species.

  PublisherDOI

• FLT1 activation in cancer cells promotes PARP-inhibitor resistance in breast cancer

  EMBO Molecular Medicine · 2024-07-02 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Acquired resistance to PARP inhibitors (PARPi) remains a treatment challenge for BRCA 1/2-mutant breast cancer that drastically shortens patient survival. Although several resistance mechanisms have been identified, none have been successfully targeted in the clinic. Using new PARPi-resistance models of Brca1 - and Bard1 -mutant breast cancer generated in-vivo, we identified FLT1 (VEGFR1) as a driver of resistance. Unlike the known role of VEGF signaling in angiogenesis, we demonstrate…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Defining mechanisms of cancer chemoresistance and metastasis

  NIH · $737k · 2013–2017

• Modulating dietary zinc to prevent cachexia and improve survival in cancer

  NIH · $1.8M · 2019–2025

• NIH Grant K99CA172697

  NIH · $159k · 2013

Frequent coauthors

• Anup Biswas

  68 shared

• Courtney Coker

  Columbia University

  43 shared

• Denis C. Guttridge

  Medical University of South Carolina

  40 shared

• Wanchao Ma

  Columbia University

  31 shared

• Hanna Scholze

  28 shared

• Timothy James Zhong

  28 shared

• Michael G. B. Drew

  University of Reading

  23 shared

• Nirmalendu Biswas

  Centenary College of Louisiana

  23 shared

Labs

• Acharyya LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Pathology and Cell Biology

  Columbia University

  2017

Awards & honors

• Shelanski Research Innovation Award in Pathology

Similar researchers at Columbia University

• Ottavio Arancioh-95
• Jonathan M. Baraschh-79
• Rando L. Allikmetsh-79