Methylation And The Risk Of Urothelial Cell Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$703,628.00
Summary
Why don’t we run prevention programs for urinary tract cancers like we do for others? It’s because we don’t know which lifestyle factors, except smoking, are important to cancers of the renal pelvis, ureters, bladder and urethra. We plan to use new technology to measure the ‘epigenome’, the part of the genome that turns genes on or off. This may explain how lifestyle factors influence what genes do, and we hope our findings will help to develop future prevention strategies for these cancers.
Activating Transcription Factor 3 And Cancer Progression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$767,794.00
Summary
We have shown that the transcription factor ATF3 suppresses bladder cancer spread. Turning off ATF3 is associated with disease progression in bladder and colorectal cancer. We will test whether levels of ATF3 can be used as a prognostic maker for disease progression, investigate the mechanisms underlying the actions of ATF3 in bladder and colorectal cancer and test whether therapeutically activating ATF3 can inhibit cancer progression.
Role Of Sensory Neurons In Obstruction-induced Bladder Overactivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$340,986.00
Summary
About 20% of people over the age of 40 have the clinical syndrome of an “overactive bladder”, which causes symptoms of urgency, frequency and incontinence. The mechanisms causing bladder overactivity are not known. This project will identify sensory neurons, which become overexcited, and determine which mediators and ionic channels are responsible for this. Our new data will identify selective pharmacological targets for new therapies and diagnostic tools for these distressing bladder disorders.
Is Overactive Bladder A 'Bladder Itch'? Identification Of Itch Specific Pathways Within The Bladder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$720,585.00
Summary
Overactive bladder is a leading cause of nocturia, urgency and incontinence. These symptoms arise from sensory nerve fibres in the bladder. We have identified key irritant mechanisms, including the bile acid receptor TGR5 and Mrgpr family, thought to only exist in the skin, also innervate the bladder. We hypothesis that the clinical entity overactive bladder, is triggered by pathological activation of bladder afferents by such irritants and that overactive bladder is essentially a bladder itch.
Strategies To Restore Bladder Control After Peripheral Nerve Injury
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$519,967.00
Summary
A major complication of pelvic surgery is loss of bladder control, mainly due to nerve injury at the time of removing cancerous tissue. This has a big effect on quality of life. Very little research has been conducted on injured bladder nerves. In this project we will investigate what happens to bladder nerves after injury and how we can make them regrow. We will also investigate if undamaged bladder nerves can be made to compensate for the lost function.
Can Persistent Bladder Pain Be Treated By Targeting TRPA1 Expressing Nociceptors?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$687,730.00
Summary
Persistent visceral pain is extremely difficult to treat and manage. To solve this problem we need to understand how pain nerves in internal organs differ from those in skin and muscle. We have discovered a pain-detecting molecule TRPA1 in bladder sensory nerves. We aim to show how bladder inflammation changes the function of these bladder pain detectors and test a new way of selectively anesthetising them. We also will use a new technique to study how the bladder lining detects pain.
Improving Sexual Health In Men With Prostate Cancer: Randomised Controlled Trial Of Exercise And Psychosexual Therapies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$583,416.00
Summary
Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common and distressing side effects of prostate cancer. Despite being a critical survivorship care issue, there is a clear gap in knowledge surrounding the optimal treatment of sexual dysfunction in men with prostate cancer. This project examines whether exercise aids in the management of sexual dysfunction and explores if an integrated treatment model incorporating pharmacological, exercise and psychosexual therapies maximises improvement in sexual health.
Identifying The Missing Heritability Of Breast Cancer.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$461,104.00
Summary
One of the strongest risk factors for the development of breast cancer is having a close relative with the disease. Some advances have been made in understanding the specific genetic factors that underlie this susceptibility but these known genetic factors only explain about a third of the overall familial effects. This research will utilise our prior research, international research resources, new technology and supercomputing to identify the majority of genetic factors associated with breast c ....One of the strongest risk factors for the development of breast cancer is having a close relative with the disease. Some advances have been made in understanding the specific genetic factors that underlie this susceptibility but these known genetic factors only explain about a third of the overall familial effects. This research will utilise our prior research, international research resources, new technology and supercomputing to identify the majority of genetic factors associated with breast cancer susceptibility.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Aspirin In The Prevention Of Colorectal Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,725,799.00
Summary
ASPREE is a large, phase 3 clinical study of health participants over the age of 70 years who have been randomized to either continuous low dose aspirin or placebo for an average of 5 years. This grant is concerned with collecting long-term follow-up for an additional 5 years, especially for evidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as the exploration of potential mechanisms of action by which aspirin may prevent the development of CRC.
Investigating Signalling Pathways That Mediate Suppression Of Anoikis By Chemokine Receptors In Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$597,349.00
Summary
This research aims at understanding the "nuts and bolts" of the main killer in cancer patients - tumour metastasis. We will look for molecules that are specific to metastatic tumour cells that transmit signals from the cell surface to the cell "suicide" machinery and prevent metastatic cancer cell death.