An internationally recognized expert on Lyme disease, Eva Sapi, Ph.D., has made groundbreaking discoveries in the lab that have shed light on the bacteria that cause the disease, as well as a possible link between Lyme disease and another largely unknown and increasingly common illness: breast cancer.

A trained breast cancer researcher, Dr. Sapi spent 15 years conducting breast and ovarian cancer research at Yale University before shifting her focus to Lyme disease. These two research areas may be linked more closely than previously thought, and she is currently exploring a possible link between breast cancer and Lyme disease.

“I’d heard about people who suffered from Lyme disease and then received a breast cancer diagnosis soon after,” said Dr. Sapi, coordinator of the University’s graduate program in cellular and molecular biology. “I wondered if the Borrelia bacteria were in breast cancer tissue. My research group examined slides with several kinds of breast cancer, as well as healthy tissues. The normal breast tissues were completely negative for the bacteria, and we have found evidence that they are present in breast cancer tissues. Furthermore, when we introduced Borrelia to cancer cells, we found they start to invade very quickly.”

https://www.newhaven.edu/news/blog/2020/eva-sapi-research.php