Professor Darryl Overby
Imperial College London
Awarded: £129,979
The challenge
All biological tissues are composed of living cells that attached to a matrix, a 3-dimensional scaffold, that provides mechanical support and organisation for cells to work together to perform specific functions. This matrix regulates cell growth, and movement. In healthy tissues, the matrix provides signals to prevent uncontrolled growth and division of cells.
In cancer, however, the matrix becomes disorganised, contributing to unchecked cell growth and invasion that leads to cancer metastasis and drug resistance, both of which lead to poor outcomes for patients.
How will this project tackle this challenge?
By utilising a special device thinner than human hair, the team hopes to gain further understanding of the cancer cell ‘matrix’, a scaffold of cells providing support to the tissue. They aim to understand how this contributes to the uncontrollable growth and development of cancer cells in leiomyosarcoma. The aim is to study parts of the ‘matrix’ that are responsible for the cancer spreading and drug resistance and comparing movement of cells in tumour versus health tissue.
This project includes sarcoma clinicians and surgeons, experts in proteomics (a technique to precisely measure matrix composition), and bioengineers to build cell systems thinner than a human hair. Building on miniscule scales is key to make the most efficient use of precious patient-derived material allowing future use in drug testing.
What this means for people affected by sarcoma
This knowledge has real-world impact by potentially allowing clinicians to identify which patients are most at risk and to tailor therapies to improve outcomes on a patient-by-patient basis, as opposed to the typical “one-size-fits-all” approach where every patient gets the same or similar therapy.
