Our current cancer research programme

 

Preventing metastasis and saving lives

Our Cancer and Polio Research Fund Laboratories are based at the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Liverpool.  Each year we contribute £20,000 to help maintain the infrastructure of the Laboratories and to fund pilot experimental research.

Whilst most cancer research elsewhere is concentrated on the cause of cancer, that at our Laboratories is focused on the spread, or metastasis, of cancer.  It is this spread of cancer, leading to secondary tumours, that is the cause of most cancer deaths.  Scientists at our Laboratories have previously identified a family of genes, called metastagenes, that are active in this process of metastasis.  They believe that, if the action of these genes can be controlled, the spread of cancer can be prevented and thus patients’ lives saved.  Their work has put us one step closer to saving thousands of lives and our Laboratories are now recognised as world-leaders in this sphere of cancer research.

In the last year, these scientists have identified how two of the metastagenes work, and in particular what part they play in cell migration, one of the mechanisms of metastasis.  They have also identified a defect in the repair mechanism for DNA in some patients who suffer metastasis.  It is thought that this defect allows the metastagenes to create an environment where metastasis can take place.

Building on previous work, the research we are sponsoring has the long-term aim of developing drugs to control the metastagenes, enabling primary tumours to be treated without secondaries developing.  It is being done on a progressive basis, the overall programme being divided into discrete projects.  The total cost is likely to be £1½ million and take a number of years to complete, the exact timescale being dependent on the availability of funding.  Later in 2010, a long-standing Cancer and Polio Research Fund gift worth £¼ million will be allocated to this work.  For now, Cancer and Polio Research Fund is sponsoring one of these discrete projects, further investigating the metastagene known as S100P, at a total cost of £57,000.  This year we will be contributing £42,000 towards it.

We have also been instrumental in securing an additional £26,000 for another project on the same metastagene.

 

Does PAK6 promote the spread of cancer?

The spread of cancer involves a series of changes in cell behaviour which lead to cell separation, cell migration and colonisation of distant tissues.  Cancer cells have been found to have high levels of a protein known as PAK6, which has also been found in moving prostate cancer cells.  It is also known to cause changes in cell shape.

The aim of this project is to understand more of the molecular mechanisms involved in this cell behaviour and in particular the role of PAK6.  The results will contribute to the development of new drugs against metastasis.

This work is being undertaken at King’s College, London and is being jointly funded with the Medical Research Council and The Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.  This year we are contributing £5,000 towards the project.

 

Small peptide analogues of CDK4 for cancer treatment

For the last ten years, Cancer and Polio Research Fund has been closely involved with research that has led to a unique discovery that explains how cancer cells keep growing relentlessly.  Arising from this, a constituent of a protein has been identified that selectively kills cancer cells.  Whilst most anti-cancer drugs are only effective against a particular type of cancer, this constituent appears to kill a wide range.  Work is now progressing on translating this discovery into an anti-cancer drug, thus having direct clinical application.

We are jointly funding this work with The University of Southampton at a cost to ourselves of £60,000 over four years.  This year we are contributing £20,000.

 

Identifying non-coding RNAs as biomarkers for drug resistance in ovarian cancer

Each year more women die of ovarian cancer than all the other gynaecological cancers combined, partly because the symptoms do not become evident until the disease is advanced.  Treatment usually involves chemotherapy with platinum-based compounds.  Whilst the majority of patients respond well initially, the cancer usually returns as a drug-resistant metastasised tumour.

This project aims to understand the biological reason for drug resistance so that it can be detected early on in treatment, allowing alternative therapies to be employed and thereby extending the duration of effective treatment for patients.

We are jointly funding this work with Oxford Brookes University at a cost to ourselves of £13,500.  This year we are contributing £12,000.

 

THE ABOVE RESEARCH PROGRAMME WILL COST £99,000 IN 2010

The majority of medical research in the UK is funded by charities such as Cancer and Polio Research Fund

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