Multi-omics analysis of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Multi-omics analysis of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) and their tumour microenvironment.
IRAS ID
354407
Contact name
Zoë Walters
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GISTs) is a type of tumour that affects over a 1000 people in the UK each year. These tumours appear along the digestive tract, but are most commonly found in the stomach. The majority of GISTs are small, benign and relatively harmless, but for a number of patients these tumours behave aggressively. Since the introduction of the targeted therapy imatinib, which is a type of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), prognosis has improved. However, with some patients this therapy is not effective. As with many cancers, there are a variety of ‘normal’ cells communicating with and supporting the tumour that influence the severity of the disease and the ability of the GIST cancer cells to grow and divide, despite treatment. This diverse ecosystem, termed the tumour microenvironment (TME) has become increasingly important in understanding why tumours are able to continue to grow despite intensive treatment, however how the composition affects the growth and spread of GISTs to date is largely unknown. New technologies have been developed that not only reveal the composition of the TME but also the location of each cell within the tumour and thus how each cell type might communicate with the cancer cells to enhance their ability to grow and divide. This project aims to utilise these technologies for GIST to reveal this ecosystem and explore differences between patients whose cancer responds to treatment and those whose cancer does not, to provide potential avenues for new treatments for these patients.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/NW/0263
Date of REC Opinion
28 Aug 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion