Dr Dean Bryant
University of Southampton
Awarded: £114,182 – in partnership with GIST Cancer UK
The challenge
GISTs are the most common type of soft tissue sarcoma, making up about 20% of all sarcomas diagnosed. They consist of various cell types, including ‘normal’ cells that communicate with and support the cancer cells. These interacting cells are called the ‘tumour microenvironment’. This is important as it helps cancer cells grow and resist treatment.
In other cancers, we have a good understanding of how the tumour micro-environment works, which has led to better predictions about patient outcomes and the development of new treatment strategies. But we don’t have this knowledge yet for GIST.
How will this project tackle this challenge?
Building on a previous Sarcoma UK research grant, the project team will use pioneering technologies that can study the tumour microenvironment in detail. They will identify what normal, non-cancer cells are present and are communicating with the cancer cells. This type of data analysis is hugely complex, but the team at the University of Southampton brings together experts in computer science and biology and has access to one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world to carry out this project. The project will also train a PhD student to become an expert in this field.
What this means for people affected by sarcoma
By understanding the tumour micro-environment in GIST, the team hope to be able to predict which GIST patients are likely to do well on certain treatments. In turn this will allow those likely to do worse to be offered different treatments.
We are delighted to be funding this project in partnership with GIST Cancer UK.
