It has remained a challenging time for everyone, with lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions continuing to impact every facet of our lives. Our team at Cure Cancer, as well as our hardworking cancer researchers, have felt this. But despite all these obstacles, there are also many things we are grateful for, such as the outpouring of support from our wonderful donors, ambassadors, and amazing volunteers who continue to work with us and imagine a future without cancer.
Funding for cancer research has been crucial at a time when resources are even more scarce due to the pandemic. But because of generous donations to our cause, our researchers have continued to make significant strides in studies for brain cancer, lung cancer, melanoma cancer, and immunotherapies. We take a closer look at some of the milestones they have achieved this past year.
ORAZIO VITTORIO
In 2022 Orazio has been generously funded by the Melissa Lewis Foundation.
Dr. Orazio’s initial study was to examine the efficacy of targeting copper in neuroblastoma and glioblastoma cells, as copper was found to be essential in making tumours resistant to conventional therapy. In 2020, he and Cure Cancer alumna Professor Maria Kavallaris made a breakthrough discovery that a copper chelator available in Australia was effective in blocking the protein that makes cancer cells resistant to treatment while also increasing the body’s innate immune cells that work against tumours.
The drug used in their study is normally used to treat children with metabolic diseases and has been shown to have minimal side effects. Dr. Orazio and his team are now working on running clinical trials, with the intention of repurposing the drug as part of a novel anticancer immunotherapy. This presents a more affordable and more accessible treatment than conventional therapy, with less risk of side effects.
“We are now very close to improving the survival and the life of kids with cancer. Cure Cancer Australia has been supporting us since the early stage of this work and we are very grateful for this amazing support. Together, we can make a difference for kids with devastating cancers.”
MARLENE HAO
In 2021 and 2022, Marlene is generously funded by the Jennifer Eggins Trust.
Gliomas are the most prevalent malignant brain tumour, formed through mutations in the glial and stem cells in the brain. They are also found throughout the nervous system, including the enteric nervous system in the gut, but interestingly, over 95% of glial tumours in the bowel are benign. Which begs the question, what properties of enteric glial cells protect them from developing aggressive cancers?
So in 2021, Dr. Marlene and her team focussed on investigating this phenomenon. Despite a few setbacks due to lockdowns in Victoria, she and her team had been successful in completing their in vivo analysis. They cross-planted brain tumour cells in the gut and found that they do not survive well in this environment. This confirms their hypothesis that there are protective mechanisms in the glial cells, and further study will be looking at how these properties can be translated for the treatment of brain cancer.
While examining the gut environment more closely, Dr. Marlene and her team also found that enteric glial cells are associated with increased immune cells. This suggests that mutant enteric glial cells might be able to recruit immune cells to the gut, thus targeting the over-proliferating glia. Further study will be examining the interactions between oncogenic enteric glia and the immune system closely.
“This will be the focus of our studies going forwards into 2022. We hope that our results can identify targets that help in the development of immunotherapy for brain cancer.”
JESSICA DUARTE
In 2021 Jessica was generously funded by the Denton Family Trust through Cancer Australia Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme.
Through her first Cure Cancer grant in 2019, Dr. Jessica was able to develop a non-invasive technology that measures a patient’s response to treatments aimed at boosting immunity. Although she focussed her work on patients undergoing immunotherapy for melanoma, the application of this research has potential for immunotherapy for all cancer types, including ones that are rare and have a few treatment options.
It is especially significant for patients with rare cancer types, as rare cancers have low incidence, low survival rates, and are often excluded from clinical trials and biomarker studies. Through her project, Dr. Jessica is measuring the cancer-specific antibody repertoire of rare cancer patients who are undergoing combination immunotherapy. Her current analyses are already showing an improved prediction for treatment outcomes, and she aims to complete data validation in 2022.
ARUTHA KULASINGHE
In 2020 Arutha was generously funded by the Can Too Foundation.
In 2020, Dr. Arutha focussed his research on using novel tissue mapping technology to examine tumour and immune cells interaction. His aim was to make individualised assessments of a patient’s tumour and identify biomarkers targeted for immunotherapy, thus making treatment more effective and better suited to each individual case.
By the following year, he and his team conducted a study using a lung patient’s tumours to identify markers that were associated with immunotherapy response. They successfully identified a gene signature in the patient’s biopsy samples that were predictive of treatment outcome. In addition to this, he and his team recently demonstrated that the methodology they used can also be applied in identifying tissue signatures in treating breast cancer. This research is currently under advanced review in a major immunotherapy journal. In 2022, Dr. Arutha is looking forward to validating gene signatures in lung cancer through several trials across multiple patients from different demographics.
Interestingly, Dr. Arutha’s research has also been significant in treating patients for COVID-19. In a parallel study conducted with Cure Cancer Alumni Dr. Fernando Guimaraes, they were able to identify a gene signature associated with COVID-19 severity that could also help identify which patients will need urgent care. This work has been validated in an international multi-institute cross-sectional study of almost 1000 patients and was recently published in the European Respiratory Journal.
LOOKING TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE WITHOUT CANCER
We are fortunate to witness a time of amazing advancements in cancer cure and prevention. Our hardworking researchers are making waves in different fields of cancer research, exploring novel approaches to cancer care that will impact millions of lives. But there is still much work left to be done, and our brightest minds need your help to ensure that lifesaving research can continue.
Every donation, no matter how large or small, may be the difference in helping researchers like Orazio Vittorio, Marlene Hao, Jessica Duarte, and Arutha Kulasinghe to break new grounds in cancer research. Help us fund brilliant early-career researchers with your donations today.
