Project Title: Therapeutic Targeting of the Tumour Microenvironment in Glioblastoma
Project Start Date: 1/02/2021
Project Expected End Date: 31/01/2023
Chief Investigator: Professor Hui Gan; Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute
Co-Researcher(s): Professor Andrew Scott, A/Professor Peter Janes, A/Professor Eng-Siew Koh
Project Summary:
Imagine if we had a “magic bullet” drug that targeted cancer and abnormal cells but left the healthy cells undamaged
Professor Hui Gan and his team are developing an exciting new drug for patients with glioblastoma. This drug is the result of decades of work by several Australian research groups. Professor Gan describes the drug as a “magic bullet”, designed to target only the cancer cells and the surrounding abnormal cells in their vicinity, but to spare the healthy cells in the rest of the brain. This will allow doctors to precisely kill the cancer cells but not cause side-effects.
Professor Gan’s preliminary data show early promise when tested in the laboratory. The funding generously provided by the Mark Hughes Foundation will allow his team to undertake comprehensive testing in the laboratory in preparation for starting human trials for glioblastoma patients.
Project progress: Despite some delays caused by COVID and the team needing to tweak the pre-clinical model this project is on track and showing promise that there may be a new drug to test in a clinical trial.
Acknowledgement of donor:
Thank you for your support, which has allowed us to continue testing promising new drugs for brain
tumours in state-of-the-art pre-clinical models that most closely resemble real tumours in people. These models are challenging but their use is essential to finding the best drugs for trials.