Bio21 Molecular Science & Biotechnology Institute - Cancer https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/tags/cancer en Media Release: New anti-cancer drugs put cancers to sleep…permanently https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/media-release-new-anti-cancer-drugs-put-cancers-sleep%E2%80%A6permanently <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/sites/www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/files/styles/page/public/field/image/2017-02-15-Bio21_Basic-Page_Michael-Parker.jpg?itok=FlQlzNQJ" width="960" height="440" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>2 August 2018</p> <p><a href="https://wehi.edu.au/news/new-anti-cancer-drugs-put-cancers-sleep%E2%80%A6permanently">Original Media Release from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute can be found here.</a></p> <p>In a world first, Melbourne scientists have discovered a new type of anti-cancer drug that can put cancer cells into a permanent sleep, without the harmful side-effects caused by conventional cancer therapies.<br /> Published today in the journal Nature, the research reveals the first class of anti-cancer drugs that work by putting the cancer cell to sleep – arresting tumour growth and spread without damaging the cells’ DNA.</p> <p>The new class of drugs could provide an exciting alternative for people with cancer, and has already shown great promise in halting cancer progression in models of blood and liver cancers, as well as in delaying cancer relapse.</p> <p>Permanent sleep</p> <p>Research led by Associate Professor Tim Thomas and Associate Professor Anne Voss from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Professor Jonathan Baell from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Dr Brendon Monahan from Cancers Therapeutics CRC investigated whether inhibiting KAT6A and KAT6B could be a new approach to treating cancer.</p> <p>A member of the CRC program, St Vincent’s Institute and Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne’s Professor Michael Parker and his team contributed to the structural biology of the target proteins KAT6A and KAT6B, as well as the corresponding selective inhibitors.</p> <p>The X-ray crystallography capacity of the Australian Synchrotron was harnessed to elucidate the crystal structure of the proteins involved, providing fundamental knowledge about the interactions between the proteins and the drug inhibitors.”</p> <p>Associate Professor Thomas said the new class of drugs was the first to target KAT6A and KAT6B proteins. Both are known to play an important role in driving cancer. KAT6A sits at number 12 on the list of genes most commonly amplified in cancers.</p> <p>“Early on, we discovered that genetically depleting KAT6A quadrupled the life expectancy in animal models of blood cancers called lymphoma. Armed with the knowledge that KAT6A is an important driver of cancer, we began to look for ways of inhibiting the protein to treat cancer,” Associate Professor Thomas said.</p> <p>The compounds had already shown great promise in preclinical testing, he said.</p> <p>“This new class of anti-cancer drugs was effective in preventing cancer progression in our preclinical cancer models. We are extremely excited about the potential that they hold as an entirely new weapon for fighting cancer.</p> <p>“The compound was well tolerated in our preclinical models and is very potent against tumour cells, while appearing not to adversely affect healthy cells,” Associate Professor Thomas said.</p> <p>No more DNA damage<br /> The research efforts were almost a decade in the making, requiring strong collaboration between experts in cancer research, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery.</p> <p>There is a critical difference between this new class of drugs and standard cancer therapies.</p> <p>Chemotherapy and radiotherapy work by causing irreversible DNA damage. Cancer cells are unable to repair this damage, and die. The downside is that the therapies cannot be targeted only to cancer cells, and cause significant damage to healthy cells as well. This causes well-known short-term side effects, such as nausea, fatigue, hair loss and susceptibility to infection, as well as long-term effects such as infertility and increased risk of other cancers developing.</p> <p>“Rather than causing potentially dangerous DNA damage, as chemotherapy and radiotherapy do, this new class of anti-cancer drugs simply puts cancer cells into a permanent sleep,” Associate Professor Voss said.</p> <p>“This new class of compounds stops cancer cells dividing by switching off their ability to ‘trigger’ the start of the cell cycle,” she said. “The technical term is cell senescence. The cells are not dead, but they can no longer divide and proliferate. Without this ability, the cancer cells are effectively stopped in their tracks.”</p> <p>Associate Professor Voss said the team believed the drugs might be effective in delaying cancer recurrence.</p> <p>“There is still a lot of work to be done to get to a point where this drug class could be investigated in human cancer patients,” she said. “However our discovery suggests these drugs could be particularly effective as a type of consolidation therapy that delays or prevents relapse after initial treatment.”</p> <p>“The possibility of giving clinicians another tool that they could use to substantially delay cancer recurrence could have a big impact for patients,” Associate Professor Voss said.</p> <p>‘Undruggable’ no more<br /> Professor Baell said the project was particularly significant because the scientific community had coined the gene family ‘undruggable’.</p> <p>“There were many hurdles to overcome with this project; this compound certainly didn’t fall into our laps, requiring dedicated PhD students and NHMRC-supported postdoctoral medicinal chemists to drive the chemistry forward,” Professor Baell said. “But with perseverance and commitment, we are excited to have developed a potent, precise and clean compound that appears to be safe and effective in our preclinical models. Our teams are now working on developing this compound into a drug that is appropriate for human trials.”</p> <p>Professor Baell said the project was indebted to funding from the Australian Government and proved that public research could be an effective translational vehicle.</p> <p>“It can be difficult to secure funding for medicinal chemistry and higher-risk drug discovery projects,” he said. “We are grateful to the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for the early funding that supported this project.”</p> <p>Dr Ian Street, chief scientist at Cancer Therapeutics CRC said it had been a great collaboration between the three organisations.</p> <p>“This has been a very tough nut to crack,” Dr Street said. “There is no doubt that the KAT6 inhibitors have played an important role in elucidating the potential of this new and exciting strategy to treat cancers.”</p> <p>This work was conducted in collaboration with the Cancer Therapeutics CRC and supported by the NHMRC, Therapeutic Innovation Australia, the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program and the Victorian Government.</p> <p>Media enquiries</p> <p>M: +61 475 751 811<br /> E: <span class="spamspan"><span class="u">communityrelations</span> [at] <span class="d">wehi.edu.au</span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div> Thu, 02 Aug 2018 03:42:23 +0000 floder 325 at https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au On the ‘breadcrumb trail’ of aggressive lung cancer https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/%E2%80%98breadcrumb-trail%E2%80%99-aggressive-lung-cancer <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/sites/www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/files/styles/page/public/field/image/2018-03-09-Bio21_Pursuit-Piece_Lung-Adenocarcinoma.jpg?itok=xkGzN-Tx" width="960" height="440" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><header></header></p> <p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline ! important; float: none;">This article was first published on </span><a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 118, 222); text-decoration: underline; max-width: none; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.2px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Pursuit</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline ! important; float: none;">. Read the </span><a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/on-the-breadcrumb-trail-of-aggressive-lung-cancer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 118, 222); text-decoration: underline; max-width: none; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.2px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">original article</a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline ! important; float: none;">.</span></span></p> <p><a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/individuals/dr-david-de-souza" rel="author">Dr David De Souza </a>, <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/individuals/dr-kate-sutherland" rel="author">Dr Kate Sutherland</a>, <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/individuals/dr-sarah-best" rel="author">Dr Sarah Best</a> and <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/individuals/professor-malcolm-mcconville" rel="author">Professor Malcolm McConville </a></p> <p></p> <p>Lung cancer is <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/types-of-cancer/lung-cancer.html">Australia’s biggest cancer killer</a>, and is expected to claim more than 9000 lives over the course of just this year.</p> <p>Although we can reduce our risk of getting lung cancer by quitting smoking - or better still, never starting - this deadly disease cruelly catches many who have never had a single puff of a cigarette.</p> <p><figure class="full-width"><img alt="" itemprop="image" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 892px, (min-width: 1099px) 860px, (min-width: 769px) 700px, 100vw" src="https://res-4.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--QglhOZBU--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_892/v1/pursuit-uploads/55e/36c/6e7/55e36c6e7ae38d64518d124a1e73df5ee1e6b0903dda2bf4f2d41d22ea9d.jpg" srcset="https://res-4.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--CBJClw0_--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_446/v1/pursuit-uploads/55e/36c/6e7/55e36c6e7ae38d64518d124a1e73df5ee1e6b0903dda2bf4f2d41d22ea9d.jpg 446w, https://res-4.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--n7cE0DsM--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_669/v1/pursuit-uploads/55e/36c/6e7/55e36c6e7ae38d64518d124a1e73df5ee1e6b0903dda2bf4f2d41d22ea9d.jpg 669w, https://res-4.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--QglhOZBU--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_892/v1/pursuit-uploads/55e/36c/6e7/55e36c6e7ae38d64518d124a1e73df5ee1e6b0903dda2bf4f2d41d22ea9d.jpg 892w, https://res-4.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--KPkk2kr1--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_1784/v1/pursuit-uploads/55e/36c/6e7/55e36c6e7ae38d64518d124a1e73df5ee1e6b0903dda2bf4f2d41d22ea9d.jpg 1017w" /><br /><figcaption>An immunofluorescence image detecting cancer cells (green) in the lung. Picture: Supplied</figcaption><br /></figure></p> <p>And the most common lung cancers affecting non-smokers are an aggressive type, called adenocarcinomas.</p> <p>They account for around 40 per cent of all lung cancers and occur more frequently in females and in young people than other types of lung cancer.</p> <p>Now, research from the <a href="https://www.wehi.edu.au/">Walter and Elizabeth Hall Medical Research Institute</a>, University of Melbourne and the <a href="http://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/">Bio21 Institute</a>, published in <em><a href="http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(18)30117-7">Cell Metabolism</a>, </em>could lead to a new diagnostic blood test and treatment for adenocarcinoma.</p> <p><figure class="related inset-right" role="complementary"><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/caught-the-cell-behind-a-lung-cancer"><img alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/fetch/s--649i6Nup--/c_fill,f_jpg,q_70,w_435/https://res-3.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--rPFtQAta--/c_fill%2Cf_auto%2Ch_630%2Cq_75%2Cw_1200/v1/pursuit-uploads/fa5/31e/44e/fa531e44e8786c05ec1bb8cddb6ae2d6ccff27c6523325faace0a1ccf1b5.jpg" /></a></figure></p> <h3><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/caught-the-cell-behind-a-lung-cancer">Caught! The cell behind a lung cancer</a></h3> <div class="readmore"><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/caught-the-cell-behind-a-lung-cancer">Read more</a></div> <p></p> <p>Cancer researchers Dr Sarah Best and Dr Kate Sutherland focused their attention on alterations in two cell programs, or “pathways”, that instruct our cells how to behave.</p> <p>Dr Best and Dr Sutherland already knew from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5643752/">previous studies</a> that alterations in the KEAP1/NRF2 pathway had been identified in 23 per cent of lung adenocarcinomas, suggesting that deregulation of the pathway is a major cancer driver. This pathway normally functions to reduce toxins that lead to cell stress and shut-down, so activation of this program ensures cells can continue to function and grow.</p> <p>The PI3K pathway alterations are found in 11 per cent of adenocarcinomas. This pathway drives cell growth and division, so it is important that regulation of this program is under control.</p> <p>“Lung cells with both of these alterations grow faster and with less stress,” Dr Best says.</p> <p>And when it comes to cancer, that is the last thing you want.</p> <p><figure class="full-width"><img alt="" itemprop="image" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 892px, (min-width: 1099px) 860px, (min-width: 769px) 700px, 100vw" src="https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--jxtGhSMu--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_892/v1/pursuit-uploads/4bd/7d2/a15/4bd7d2a1505ed1f12a866b41be0ab11158572005e1c25946884b344ccf64.jpg" srcset="https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--qrPi6PRR--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_446/v1/pursuit-uploads/4bd/7d2/a15/4bd7d2a1505ed1f12a866b41be0ab11158572005e1c25946884b344ccf64.jpg 446w, https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--9xmB3JZh--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_669/v1/pursuit-uploads/4bd/7d2/a15/4bd7d2a1505ed1f12a866b41be0ab11158572005e1c25946884b344ccf64.jpg 669w, https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--jxtGhSMu--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_892/v1/pursuit-uploads/4bd/7d2/a15/4bd7d2a1505ed1f12a866b41be0ab11158572005e1c25946884b344ccf64.jpg 892w, https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--_YfHRepp--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_1784/v1/pursuit-uploads/4bd/7d2/a15/4bd7d2a1505ed1f12a866b41be0ab11158572005e1c25946884b344ccf64.jpg 1784w" /><br /><figcaption>Dr Sarah Best and Dr Kate Sutherland focused their research on alterations in two cell programs. Picture: Supplied</figcaption><br /></figure></p> <p>Using preclinical models, the researchers confirmed that lung adenocarcinomas are caused by mutations that lead to non-stop activation in both the KEAP1/NRF2 and PI3K pathways.</p> <p>“This is the first time anyone has shown that these alterations directly cause lung adenocarcinomas.</p> <p>“With this knowledge, we can further investigate how targeting the activity of those pathways could lead to therapies for these aggressive and hard-to-treat cancers,” Dr Best says.</p> <p><figure class="related inset-right" role="complementary"><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/exercising-with-lung-cancer"><img alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/fetch/s--WRypPKYH--/c_fill,f_jpg,q_70,w_435/https://res-2.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--kOgYxlHm--/c_fill%2Cf_auto%2Ch_630%2Cq_75%2Cw_1200/v1/pursuit-uploads/5d9/784/b8b/5d9784b8b1444df5b443753e5b35593e540a901fdd0df23a00705b15adfa.jpg" /></a></figure></p> <h3><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/exercising-with-lung-cancer">Exercising with lung cancer</a></h3> <div class="readmore"><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/exercising-with-lung-cancer">Read more</a></div> <p></p> <p>But they also made two other important findings.</p> <p>“The first is that these adenocarcinomas have characteristics that make them sensitive to immunotherapies, that are already being used to treat other types of cancer like melanoma,” she says.</p> <p>This is significant because these tumours are chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistant, meaning there are effectively no current treatments available for these patients.</p> <p>“Using preclinical models, we showed for the first time that these tumours have the ‘markers’ that make them susceptible to anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapies, which are some of the most exciting new cancer therapies being investigated in the clinic.</p> <p>“But more importantly, we showed that these immunotherapies were effective in fighting the tumours and leading to tumour regression in our preclinical models,” she says.</p> <p>Normally, our immune system can detect and kill cancerous cells, so when a cancer develops it has evaded our immune system. Immunotherapy (such as anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4) is an exciting new treatment option that can unmask the cancer to our immune system, unleashing its natural killing capacity.</p> <p><figure class="full-width"><img alt="" itemprop="image" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 892px, (min-width: 1099px) 860px, (min-width: 769px) 700px, 100vw" src="https://res-5.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--yqR0xK19--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_892/v1/pursuit-uploads/9cf/33d/07f/9cf33d07fb7cffb725459c52626824d5fbf7d76d4ce602a24b1d1969cf68.jpg" srcset="https://res-5.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--O2BnPG5n--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_446/v1/pursuit-uploads/9cf/33d/07f/9cf33d07fb7cffb725459c52626824d5fbf7d76d4ce602a24b1d1969cf68.jpg 446w, https://res-5.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--6nr9zkCu--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_669/v1/pursuit-uploads/9cf/33d/07f/9cf33d07fb7cffb725459c52626824d5fbf7d76d4ce602a24b1d1969cf68.jpg 669w, https://res-5.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--yqR0xK19--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_892/v1/pursuit-uploads/9cf/33d/07f/9cf33d07fb7cffb725459c52626824d5fbf7d76d4ce602a24b1d1969cf68.jpg 892w, https://res-5.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--5cFdpwSO--/c_limit,f_auto,q_75,w_1784/v1/pursuit-uploads/9cf/33d/07f/9cf33d07fb7cffb725459c52626824d5fbf7d76d4ce602a24b1d1969cf68.jpg 1784w" /><br /><figcaption>Adenocarcinoma account for around 40 per cent of all lung cancers and could be diagnosed by a new blood test. Picture: Shutterstock</figcaption><br /></figure></p> <p>Currently, the efficacy of immunotherapy to treat lung cancer is being investigated in clinical trials in Australia.</p> <p>Their other finding is that the cell pathway changes create a distinctive metabolic by-product, such as an altered abundance of specific sugars, which can effectively be used to detect these hard-to-treat lung cancers.</p> <p>Dr Best says all cells leave by-products in the blood, but adenocarcinomas with these alterations have their own fingerprint.</p> <p><figure class="related inset-right" role="complementary"><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/cleaner-safe-air-needs-you"><img alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://res-3.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/fetch/s--hvn3bDix--/c_fill,f_jpg,q_70,w_435/https://res-1.cloudinary.com/the-university-of-melbourne/image/upload/s--NcD8b2QP--/c_fill%2Cf_auto%2Ch_630%2Cq_75%2Cw_1200/v1/pursuit-uploads/e40/c21/397/e40c21397fdffc616596ef32b0d64f56b740a36be3a8025e664bc9f9d92c.jpg" /></a></figure></p> <h3><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/cleaner-safe-air-needs-you">Cleaner safe air needs you!</a></h3> <div class="readmore"><a class="single" data-bound="true" href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/cleaner-safe-air-needs-you">Read more</a></div> <p></p> <p>By collaborating with Bio21 Institute researchers Dr David De Souza and Professor Malcolm McConville in using mass spectrometry, the group was able to identify the unique molecular signature left by the adenocarcinoma.</p> <p>As Dr Best says, identifying these distinctive cell by-products among all the other normal by-products is a bit like finding a jellybean in a bag full of gummy bears, resulting in a breadcrumb trail that leads straight to the lung.</p> <p>But now that they’ve uncovered how to identify these “breadcrumbs” they believe that this knowledge could in future be used to develop a simple non-invasive blood test for these aggressive lung cancers.</p> <p>And these unique molecular signatures found in the blood could soon be used as a tool to identify patients who would respond to those immunotherapies that Dr Best and Dr Sutherland have shown to be effective and which are already available.</p> <p>“The next steps would be to analyse human samples to prove the same is true in lung adenocarcinoma patients,” Dr Sutherland says.</p> <p>“But we need more funding for that work to continue and to generate results that will lead to better detection and treatments for the community.”</p> <p><em>The research was supported by the <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/">Australian National Health and Medical Research Council</a>, <a href="https://www.wehi.edu.au/news/illuminate-newsletter/september-2016/Peter-Julie-Alston-Centenary-Fellowship">Peter and Julie Alston Centenary Fellowship</a>, <a href="https://www.acrf.com.au">Australian Cancer Research Foundation</a>, <a href="http://www.victoriancanceragency.org.au/">Victorian Cancer Agency</a>, the <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/">Victorian Government</a> and <a href="https://www.worldwidecancerresearch.org/">Worldwide Cancer Research</a> (UK).</em></p> <p>Banner image: Shutterstock</p> <p><img alt="" height="1" src="//track.web.unimelb.edu.au/pursuit/pageview.png?location=https%3A%2F%2Fpursuit.unimelb.edu.au%2Farticles%2Fon-the-breadcrumb-trail-of-aggressive-lung-cancer&amp;title=On+the+%E2%80%98breadcrumb+trail%E2%80%99+of+aggressive+lung+cancer&amp;path=%2Farticles%2Fon-the-breadcrumb-trail-of-aggressive-lung-cancer&amp;campaign_name=Pursuit+republishing&amp;campaign_medium=republish&amp;campaign_content=On+the+%E2%80%98breadcrumb+trail%E2%80%99+of+aggressive+lung+cancer" style="display:none" width="1" /></p> </div></div></div> Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:21:39 +0000 floder 306 at https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au Bio21 Tilley team wins the Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research 2016 https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/bio21-tilley-team-wins-eureka-prize-infectious-diseases-research-2016 <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/sites/www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au/files/styles/page/public/field/image/2015-06-24-Bio21News_Leann-Tilley_web_3.jpg?itok=KCZeoJw0" width="960" height="440" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span class="date-display-single" content="2016-07-29T00:00:00+10:00">31 August 2016</span></p> <div class="field field-name-field-teaser field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"> <p>A team from the University of Melbourne's Bio21 Institute for Molecular Science and Biotechnology has won the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research for its work on drug resistance in malaria parasites.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="page" title="Page 1"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column">Malaria kills nearly half a million children each year, and the emergence of resistance to the first-line antimalarial drug, artemisinin, is looming as a major global health crisis. Professor Leann Tilley and her team have made a number of key scientific discoveries leading to insights into how artemisinin resistance may be overcome. <p><span>The team, led by <strong>Professor Leann Tilley</strong> and also includes </span> <strong>Dr Nick Klonis,</strong> <strong>Associate Professor Julie Simpson</strong> and <strong>Associate Professor James </strong><strong>McCa</strong><span>w</span><span> has won</span><span> the Infectious Diseases Research prize for its work on resistance to artemisinin, the most commonly used frontline malaria treatment.</span></p> <p><span>Professor Tilley said artemisinin resistance is looming as a major global health crisis, with the World Health Organisation confirming multi-drug resistance in five countries: Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia. </span></p> <p><span>“Malaria already kills nearly half a million children each year,” Professor Tilley said. </span></p> <p><span>“As multi-drug resistance spreads, we risk wiping out the gains the world has made in fighting the disease, with potentially catastrophic results for children living in South-East Asia — as well as Africa, where the disease is endemic.” </span></p> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i-Nb0Rc3LIk" width="1280"></iframe><p><span>The multidisciplinary team draws together experts from the University’s Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, School of Mathematics and Statistics and School of Population and Global Health to understand how malaria parasites become resistant: </span></p> <ul><li> <p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Professor Tilley — the biochemistry and cell biology of malaria </span></p> </li> <li> <p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Dr Nick Klonis — computational biology </span></p> </li> <li> <p><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Associate Professor Julie Simpson — synthesising and translating mathematical modelling data</span></p> </li> <li> <p>Associate Professor James McCaw — mathematical biology</p> </li> </ul></div> <div class="column"><span style="line-height: 1.538em;"><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Artemisinin damages proteins and the team found that resistant parasites are better at repairing the damage. They then homed in on proteasomes — enzymes that act as disposal units within cells. When this recycling function is blocked, the efficacy of artemisinins against malaria parasite is restored.</span></span></div> <div class="column"><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">Some cancer drugs also target proteasomes to stop cancers spreading. “We’ve found that some cancer drugs already on the market have excellent antimalarial activity and are highly effective in combination with artemisinin,” Professor Tilley said.</span></div> </div> </div> <p><span>“This has led us to a new line of drug discovery, and we’re looking at libraries of compounds developed as anticancer agents to try to find a drug that specifically targets the malaria parasite.” </span></p> <p><span>The team also developed a mathematical model that predicts how sensitive and resistant parasites respond to the drug in patients. </span></p> <p>Tilley noted that the Math/ Biology interface is critical to solving major health problems. It is very important for students to keep studying Mathematics to feed into the pool of researchers with these skills.</p> <p><span>“Our model predicts that extending the current 3-day treatment to 5 days would restore the efficacy of artemisinin against resistant parasites,” Professor Tilley said. “This could buy us time to develop new antimalarials.” </span></p> <p><span>More information/media enquiries contact: </span></p> <p><span>Elisabeth Lopez (Media Advisor) | 0411 758 984 | </span><span> <span id="7fcabfe4911afec8b5b8fd80ef54fc7b1cfad1d3"><span class="spamspan"><span class="u">elopez</span> [at] <span class="d">unimelb.edu.au</span><span class="e"></span></span></span></span></p> <!--class="mailto"--><p></p> </div></div></div> Fri, 29 Jul 2016 00:22:07 +0000 floder 208 at https://www.bio21.unimelb.edu.au