Aberrant Transcriptional Signalling In The Progression And Metastasis Of Melanoma.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$353,033.00
Summary
There are currently no treatments that have any impact on decreasing mortality from metastatic melanoma. We have found 2 new variants in melanoma that may control the tumour growing and invading around the body. This study will examine the protein containing these changes with the aims of finding how they function differently, to identify their roles in the formation of melanoma, as well as to identify new targets for prevention and treatment of metastatic disease.
Using MiR-200 To Find New Therapeutic Targets For Neuroblastoma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$563,152.00
Summary
Neuroblastoma is one of the most common cancers in children. We have found that a genetic regulator, called microRNA, can limit the ability of neuroblastoma cells to invade surrounding tissues and metastasise. We aim use the microRNAs to find new therapeutic targets that may work in combination with existing treatments, reducing the short term toxicity and long term deleterious effects of current treatments.
A Randomised Phase III Study Of The Duration Of The Anti-PD1 - Therapy In Metastatic Melanoma (STOP-GAP)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,308,600.00
Summary
PD-1 inhibitors turn on the immune system,so that it can fight the cancer cells in the body and are effective in Melanoma. This study investigates whether interrupted PD-1 inhibitor dosing has no worse Melanoma outcome than continuous treatment for 24 months, which may lead to a reduction in treatment-related toxicities, improvements in patients' quality of life and decrease the cost of treatment to the health system as well as individual. Results may inform treatments for other common cancers.
Elucidating The Role Of Claudin-2 In Tumour Initiation And Metastasis Development From Colorectal Cancer: Consequence For Tumour Relapse
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$398,993.00
Summary
Mortality from colorectal cancer is often due to the development of metastases. Cancer stem cells (CSC) are suspected to provide a major drive for metastasis development, to resist current therapies, and to initiate tumour relapse. Yet, little is known about mechanisms that control CSC behaviour. Our project investigates the role of claudin-2, a cell adhesion protein that is strongly overexpressed in colorectal cancer, in the regulation of CSCs, metastasis development and tumour relapse.
The Microniche: A Novel In-vitro And In-vivo Prostate Cancer Model System
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$561,012.00
Summary
Maintaining primary prostate cancer cells (PCa) in vitro remains an enormous challenge for the field, and this obstructs efforts to systematically characterize cell behaviour and quantify drug response. Our group recently developed a 3-demsensional (3D) organoid culture system that does maintain PCa in vitro, and here we will integrate this technology with our 3D bone maorrow niche model system to better characterize PCa bone metastases and identify new clinical treatment regimes.
Deciphering Mechanisms Of Disease Evolution In Melanoma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$845,093.00
Summary
In many patients, cancers are ever-changing, even after they have formed. This explains why many cancers can spread beyond the point of cure by surgery and why they can become resistant to treatments. This project will use patient melanomas and laboratory modelling to understand how melanomas change as they grow and spread. The results will be used to identify the nature of evolutionary changes in cancer in order to predict and even exploit them in treatment.
Effects Of A Novel Hotspot Mutation Of Brm In Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Development
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$92,314.00
Summary
Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world. SWI/SNF, a yeast nucleosome remodeling complex, is known destabilise interactions in DNA. It is made up of 8-10 proteins, including a novel tumour suppressor Brm. There is some evidence that Brm acts as a tumour suppressor in skin cancer, but relevance of a recently found mutation in Brm is yet to be characterised. This project aims to identify the effect of this mutation, on cellular sensitivity to UV radiation and examine transfo ....Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world. SWI/SNF, a yeast nucleosome remodeling complex, is known destabilise interactions in DNA. It is made up of 8-10 proteins, including a novel tumour suppressor Brm. There is some evidence that Brm acts as a tumour suppressor in skin cancer, but relevance of a recently found mutation in Brm is yet to be characterised. This project aims to identify the effect of this mutation, on cellular sensitivity to UV radiation and examine transformation to malignancy.Read moreRead less
Identifying Castrate-resistant Tumour Cells In Localised Prostate Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$573,047.00
Summary
This proposal addresses one of the most important challenges in cancer: what cell population ‘drives’ tumour progression, and how can it be effectively targeted? We will define the prostate cancer cells that survive androgen withdrawal therapy and investigate new ways to target them. Eliminating these important cells earlier in disease progression will lead to increased survival for men with prostate cancer.
Transcriptional Effectors Of Oncogenic ERK Signaling In Colorectal Cancer
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$820,776.00
Summary
This project aims to unravel how one of the most frequently deregulated molecular pathways in colorectal cancer controls the expression of genes required for these tumours to grow and spread. We expect this work to uncover novel therapeutic targets to effectively inactivate this pathway and biomarkers to select patients most likely to benefit from existing therapies.
Defining The Function Of ROCK In Establishing A Tumour-promoting Microenvironment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$611,950.00
Summary
Cancer’s spread from its primary to secondary sites causes most cancer-related deaths. As cancers grow and spread, their internal structure is modified. Immune cells within the cancer begin to behave differently to the same types of cells in normal tissues, promoting its spread. We have discovered that many of these changes are regulated by a protein called ROCK. We plan to study how ROCK controls such a wide range of tumour promoting processes.