A new direction for brain cancer research

Marlene’s first and second year grant is funded by our principal supporter, the Can Too Foundation. Marlene’s third year grant is funded by the Jennifer Eggins Trust.

Marlene is based at the University of Melbourne.

Brain cancer is a devastating disease that affects about 1,700 Australians each year, Dr Marlene Hao says. Though there have been improvements in diagnoses, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, survival rates are still low.

Dr Marlene Hao’s research at the University of Melbourne is centred around the enteric nervous system, which is responsible for controlling the movement of contents through the gut. “This sounds like it’s far removed from cancer research,” says Marlene, “but we believe knowledge from our field will help find new targets for the treatment of brain cancer.”

How can such knowledge help? First, some background. Gliomas are an aggressive form of brain cancer that make up most malignant primary brain tumours. They grow rapidly, can spread from the initial site and are often life-threatening.

Typically, gliomas arise from mutations that affect glial cells or stem cells found in the brain. Yet glial cells are found throughout the nervous system, including the enteric nervous system in the gut. These gut glial cells, known as enteric glia, share many similarities with brain glia.

Her Research

Dr Marlene Hao is now in her third year of her 3 year Cure Cancer Grant.

“Remarkably,” says Marlene, an Australian Research Council Research Fellow at the university’s Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, “gliomas in the gut are very rare, and more than ninety-five per cent of tumours in the bowel are benign. This key difference raises a fascinating question: what is unique about enteric glial cells that protect them from developing aggressive cancers?”

To help find the answer, Marlene is investigating the genetic differences between the two types of glial cells, with the hope of finding a gene, or gene family, that has a strong relationship with the occurrence of the cells’ metastasis. They’re also investigating the influence of environmental factors on cancer by introducing glia cells isolated from the brain into the gut.

By understanding the difference between the gut and brain glial cells, they hope to gain fresh knowledge about how gliomas form. They can use this information to find new targets for treatment and develop new therapies for the aggressive brain cancer. “We also aim to test the newly identified targets by introducing them into glioma cells and see whether they curb the cancer’s aggressive nature,” Marlene says.

Marlene's inspiration

Behind Marlene’s commitment to her field is a powerful desire to help cancer patients. Her aunt is a survivor of cervical cancer, and family members of her friends have died from the colon and brain forms of the disease.

“We want our research to help these families and prevent early deaths. [That’s why] we work so hard to try to understand the mechanisms of how our body works. It’s very rewarding to be able to use the knowledge to help patients who are suffering.”

Funding early career researchers

Sandra shares her thoughts on the importance of Early Career Researcher grants:

“Being an early-career researcher means you’re only at the beginning of your career with often a limited number of publications (if any) after your PhD. Competing for funding with already established researchers is very challenging and the success rates are small. Cure Cancer grants are highly important in the current funding landscape in Australia.”

The importance of funding

Marlene gained her PhD in 2013 at the University of Melbourne. Her postdoctoral work included a three-and-a-half year stay at KU Leuven university in Belgium, after which she returned to Melbourne to co-head a lab with her long-time collaborator Dr Lincon Stamp. “Our lab is still in its infancy and now steadily growing,” she says. “I’m extremely proud of the work Lincon and I have done together and how we’ve managed to pursue our new lines of research and maintain our lab.” 

They’re excited about their current project and its promising direction. “The Cure Cancer grant gives us the opportunity to pursue this extremely novel line of research, comparing glial cells from the gut and brain to hopefully find targets to treat brain cancer.”

“It’s been extremely hard work to maintain funding in our lab. We’ve spent most of last year writing grant application after grant application. Now Cure Cancer has given us some valuable time to focus on the research!”

Marlene’s message to Cure Cancer donors and fundraisers is to continue their efforts. Giving a new generation of researchers the chance to develop their ideas will be a huge benefit to the scientific community in future, heralding new medical practices and cancer treatments, she says.

“We’ve spent most of last year writing grant application after grant application. Now Cure Cancer has given us some valuable time to focus on the research.”

Previous Research

In 2021 Marlene received a grant by Cure Cancer, Cancer Australia Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme and our principal supporter, The Can Too Foundation.

In 2020 Marlene received an additional grant for an extension project which is supported by the Jennifer Eggins Cancer Support Trust Fund.

Together, we can cure cancer.

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