Testing potential cancer drugs on tissue cultures derived from patients with metastatic endometrial cancer

Dr. Asmerom's grant, funded by Cure Cancer, includes a significant contribution of $20,000AUD from SC Johnson to support his research in endometrial cancer.

He is based at The Queensland University of Technology.

Dr Asmerom Sengal graduated with Doctor of Medicine (MD) in 2009 from the Latin American School of Medicine, Cuba, with further specialisation in clinical pathology (UoG, Sudan). In his time in the clinic, he witnessed first-hand the challenges of treating patients with advanced cancer. Finding the experiences similar in both East Africa and Australia, he realised that the issue was not with resourcing, but in the lack of treatment options. This inspired him to pursue research that could uncover pathways to optimal drugs for treating cancer patients with limited options.

“The hope and resilience I see in cancer patients motivated me to do my best and help find a cure,” he says.

Dr Asmerom Sengal's research

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological cancer in Australia with approximately 15% of newly diagnosed patients dying from their disease. Patients with metastatic/recurrent endometrial cancer are particularly at risk, with less than 12% expected to survive beyond 5 years. This dismal survival rate is largely driven by limited treatment options, with the current standard of care being largely ineffective.

A possible reason for the lack of development of treatments for advanced and metastatic endometrial cancers is that over 95% of the genomic studies on endometrial cancer have been performed in primary tumours, where the cancer first developed. However, as cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it can evolve and mutate to survive in new tissues and organs. This means that these distal cancers are both genetically different from the source cancer, and may respond differently to treatment to the original cancer. As such, treatments that may work on the original cancer may be ineffective on genetically different cancers that spread to  other sites of the body.

Dr Asmerom and his team are hoping to overcome this limitation by creating patient-derived ‘organoids’ – a miniature ‘tumours grown in a dish’. These organoids can replicate the full range of metastatic cancers that can develop from endometrial originating cancers in a 3D model. With funding from Cure Cancer, these platforms will be developed, tested, and validated. They will form the foundation of future research into drug development and screening, which could drastically improve predictions towards a patient’s response to treatment.

”The objective of this research project is to generate, expand, and characterise a panel of novel metastatic endometrial cancer organoids, and optimise screening of drug/drug combinations on these models. The organoids could also be used to investigate the biology of endometrial cancer progression and identify new therapeutic targets,” he tells us.

“Our long-term aim is to develop personalised therapies for those with advanced endometrial cancer to improve outcomes, increase enrolment of patients into clinical trials and lead to more treatment options.”

The impact of cancer research funding

“The greatest hurdle for early-career researchers is the lack of adequate funding to continue their careers. The current landscape for funding in Australia is highly competitive which is why I’m so grateful to Cure Cancer for giving me this opportunity,” Dr Asmerom says.

“This Cure Cancer funding will promote the discovery of optimal drugs for endometrial cancer patients who have limited treatment options. It will allow me to generate more data and preliminary proof of concept so that I can push the project forward and make a real difference to patients who currently have little hope.

“Research is a continuous learning journey and there are often ups and downs. I urge young researchers not to give up. Dedication with a big vision and hard work are the source of success.”

“My experience as a doctor in a setting with limited resources made me realise the value of research in improving outcomes for cancer patients. Knowing the real challenges at their bedside motivates me to push forward my research in the lab so that it can be translated quickly and benefit those patients waiting for a radical cure.”

Together, we can cure cancer.

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