Developing new models for prevention or treatment of cancer v1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Development and Application of Ex Vivo Assays to Assess Efficacy Biomarkers in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

• IRAS ID

  160769

• Contact name

  Wendy Gamble

• Contact email

  uolsponsor@le.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Leicester

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  The results of treatment for advanced cancer remain disappointing despite several advances that have been made over the last 10-20 years. The field of cancer prevention (chemoprevention) uses low toxicity drugs which may help to prevent, delay or reverse the development of cancer, particularly in high risk populations. The ultimate aim for chemoprevention strategies is to reduce the cancer burden in the population and thereby significantly reduce the cost and toxicity associated with treating advanced disease.
  Development of chemopreventive and therapeutic agents is significantly hampered by the lack of suitable models which can be used to identify the most promising agents to take forward into clinical trials. Much of the work investigating potential drugs, is undertaken using established cell lines which bear little resemblance to the tumour, which consists of lots of different types of cells that all interact with each other. These interactions are recognised to play an essential role in how a tumour grows, and also in how it responds to treatment.
  This study will use excess tissue derived from patients who are undergoing surgery for cancer, a pre-cancerous condition, or a condition which may increase cancer risk. In addition, a blood sample will be taken, in order that we can test whether markers present in the tissue may also be seen in blood.
  We will create more relevant model systems that will allow better representation of tissue architecture, in order that the effects of potential preventive and therapeutic drugs can be investigated. This will include use of very thin tissue slices in drug 'baths', sorting of cellular components to analyse effects of drugs on different cell types within a tumour, injection of tumour cells into immunocompromised mice and growth of 3-dimensional cell structures. Furthermore, we will assess potential tumour markers and DNA mutations detected in blood samples

• REC name

  Wales REC 4

• REC reference

  14/WA/1166

• Date of REC Opinion

  23 Oct 2014

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion