The Institute of Cancer Research – Advancing Research on Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour Through Innovative Models and Collaborative Efforts

The Institute of Cancer Research shared on LinkedIn:

“Today, we remember Rob on the anniversary of his death. Rob died of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour in 2007, aged 15.

We’re so thankful for the continuous help and funding for Professor Janet Shipley and her Sarcoma Molecular Pathology group thanks to Rob’s ArTTT – a charity set up in his honour.

Over the course of their support, many exciting discoveries have been made towards establishing better models to test potential treatments.

Dr Ewa Aladowicz has been working to develop new laboratory models of DSRCT derived from patient samples. The cancer models Ewa is working extremely hard to cultivate are incredibly valuable research resources as cases of DSRCT are rare.

Ewa is growing cancer models in 3D tumour-like spheres, rather than flat on the bottom of petri dishes. By doing so, the models more closely mimic how tumours appear and behave in the body.

Dr Stella Man is shedding more light on how non-cancerous cells interact with and support DSRCT cells.

Tumours in the body aren’t purely made from cancer cells. In the case of DSRCT, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are known to be in high numbers around cancer cells.

Stella has been creating co-culture models in the laboratory that have both DSRCT and CAF cells.

These co-cultures are being used to test potential treatments. They also enable investigation of the ways the two types of cells interact with each other through signalling pathways that resist treatment and promote tumour spread.

Thank you for your support as we work towards making new discoveries and saving lives

It was Rob’s vision to raise funds to support research, in the hope of finding an effective treatment for the disease. ”

Read further.
Source: The Institute of Cancer Research/LinkedIn