Our research is instrumental in improving the survival of patients with a range of cancers
Clinical researchers from BCI and Barts Health NHS Trust have conducted one of the first studies to investigate the outcome of COVID-19 infection in patients with blood cancer. People with blood cancer are expected to be amongst those at increased risk of infection and more severe outcomes following infection. However, lead author of the study, Dr John Riches, said “this study suggests that the risk of COVID-19 to younger patients with few or no medical conditions aside from their blood cancer is less than the risk to older patients with lots of other medical conditions”.
An immunotherapy drug called ‘avelumab’ has been shown to significantly improve survival in patients with the most common type of bladder cancer, according to results from a phase III clinical trial led by Professor Tom Powles.
This is the first time an immune therapy has resulted in a survival advantage in this setting in bladder cancer and will potentially benefit thousands of patients each year.
An immune therapy for the most aggressive form of breast cancer can substantially reduce the risk of the disease returning, according to a clinical trial led by Professor Peter Schmid.
Patients with early triple negative breast cancer were given the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in addition to standard chemotherapy to shrink their tumour prior to surgery. Nearly 65 per cent of the women showed no sign of the cancer after the treatment, compared to just over 51 per cent of patients on chemotherapy alone.
Study lead, Professor Peter Schmid from Barts Cancer Institute and Barts Health NHS Trust said:
“We saw a nearly 14 per cent increase in the number of women with no cancer following chemotherapy, which is a massive step forward. It’s long been established that women with no residual cancer after preoperative treatment stand a much better chance of remaining cancer-free; so being able to substantially improve these numbers is truly exciting. This would be the first targeted treatment open to all women with early triple negative breast cancer.”
Screening entire populations for breast and ovarian cancer gene mutations could prevent millions more cancer cases across the world compared to current clinical practice, according to an international study led by Queen Mary University of London. The research also shows that it is cost effective in high and upper-middle income countries.
Lead researcher Professor Ranjit Manchanda from Barts Cancer Institute and Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary said:
“General population BRCA testing can bring about a new paradigm for improving global cancer prevention. Strategies and pathways for population testing must be developed to enable population genomics to achieve its potential for maximising early detection and cancer prevention.
Researchers have found that melanoma cells fight anti-cancer drugs by changing their internal skeleton (cytoskeleton) – opening up a new therapeutic route for combatting skin and other cancers that develop resistance to treatment.
Malignant melanoma has very poor survival rates despite being at the forefront of personalised immunotherapy. This is largely due to the development of resistance. Around 16.000 people in the UK are diagnosed with malignant melanoma each year, with more than 2,300 deaths.
Lead author Professor Victoria Sanz-Moreno, Professor of Cancer Cell Biology, said: “We were very surprised to find that the cancerous cells used the same mechanism, changing their cytoskeleton, to escape two very different types of drugs. In a nutshell if you are a cancer cell, what does not kill you makes you stronger. However, their dependence on ROCK-Myosin II is a vulnerability that combination drug therapy tests on mice suggest we can exploit in the clinic by combining existing anti-melanoma therapies with ROCK-Myosin II inhibitors.”
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You can also watch our recent videos for World Cancer Day and World Pancreatic Cancer Day, where BCI staff discuss their work.