Alterations to our genes are important in determining whether we get cancer and how well we respond to cancer treatments.
The NBN Childhood Cancer Research Group identifies and investigates genes that:
1) place a person at increased risk of developing cancer
2) affect the severity of cancer once it develops and
3) affects an individuals response to therapy.
Some recent achievements by the group include:
The appointment of internationally renowned Geneticist, Professor Rodney Scott as the NBN Telethon Children's Cancer Fellow
The establishment of this position will greatly enhance HMRI’s research capacity in investigating childhood cancers. It will also allow Prof Scott's team to identify cancer related genes that will translate into developing better methods of cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The Establishment of the Newcastle Bioinformatics Initiative
The Newcastle Bioinformatics Initiative was established to enhance our understanding of how genes are altered in cancer but has broad appeal across other disease disciplines.
In collaboration with Dr Pablo Moscato from the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, The NBN Childhood Cancer Research Group has established an approach that can be used to identify tumour signatures with a mathematical guarantee of accuracy.
Using state-of-the-art technology (the Illumina Bead Station), researchers are identifying genes with similar patterns of expression with the aim of determining how diseases, drugs or toxic chemical can alter normal patterns of gene behaviour. This technology also enables researchers to analyse individual genetic variation which has the distinct potential of accelerating the introduction of personalised medicine, where treatments for malignancies or strategies aimed at health promotion can be specifically tailored to the individual.
Risk Gene for Bowel Cancer
Geneticist Professor Rodney Scott in collaboration with a team of researchers in Poland has identified an association between a change in a gene known as NOD2/CARD15 and the risk of developing bowel cancer. This study identified for the first time the association between bowel cancer and a change in NOD2/CARD15 gene. This is the first example of a common genetic change having been identified as a contributing factor in the development of bowel cancer. Other associations between genetic differences and malignancy have also been reported indicating the importance of this in understanding better the gene/environment disease relationship. These include genes associated with melanoma development, breast cancer, lung cancer and laryngeal cancer.
