Liverpool Update – Cancer Research Genetics UK Oct ’23

Translation Immunology Group 

We hope you enjoy reading this update report on your generous donation to the Translational Immunology Group at the University of Liverpool, part of the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology. 

The Translational Immunology Group is currently working on a number of key areas of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, including head and neck cancer, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Your donation has enabled the team to purchase vital equipment for their research. Thank you. 

To read the report – click here.

Bowel Screening Age Lowered To 51 In Wales

Finally, the Welsh Government and the Health Service are going to honour their 2008 pledge that Bowel Screening roll out for the 50-74 years age group would be rolled out over 5 years. We have had many excuses from the lack of training colonoscopists to Eluned Morgan’s recent excuse blaming Covid. The Government in the future need to ensure screening and other health initiatives are fully researched and planned for their ability to deliver on time.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan is urging people to use their kit when it arrives in the post.

Almost nine out of ten people survive bowel cancer when it is detected and treated earlier on

Starting from today (Wednesday 4 October), people aged 51-54 who are registered with a GP in Wales will be offered self-screening for bowel cancer, and will automatically receive an easy-to-use, bowel screening kit in the post every two years.

The programme will come into full effect for the newly eligible age group gradually over the next year.

Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Wales. Between 2018-2020 there were nearly 7000 registered cases of bowel cancer, but the survival rate is high.

Completing a home test kit is part of the bowel screening process. In 2019, the Welsh Government introduced a new, easy-to-use, FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) at-home testing kit. With increased sensitivity, the kit can better detect bowel cancer in those who are at risk and has contributed to an improved screening uptake of 65% in the current age cohort of men and women aged 55 to 74.

The move is part of a phased approach to lower the screening age to 50, based on the recommendation of the UK National Screening Committee.

Imperial partners in UK’s first total-body PET platform for drug discovery

Imperial researchers are partners in a UK initiative to improve clinical imaging for research and the development of new treatments.

Scientists at Imperial College London are among a UK-wide team of experts set to lead a new national clinical imaging platform which could see patients benefit from full-body scans.

Launched today, the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP) will deploy total-body positron emission tomography (PET) across the UK, with two state-of-the-art total-body scanners based at hubs in Scotland and London, expected to be operational as soon as April 2024.

More information here.

To read the full article – click here.

 

Supporting Cancer Research Equipment Donation

The University of Liverpool is most grateful to Cancer Research and Genetics UK and their supporters for the enormous generosity in supporting our research needs over the years. The recent donation to the Translational Immunology Group in the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine has supported the purchase of two vital pieces of equipment:

Evident/Olympus microscope CX43

This microscope will be used for our work in immunohistochemistry.

We have a large panel of antibodies that we are developing for use in a large multiplex panel however, they all need to be worked up individually.

We will use this microscope in conjunction with pathologists to confirm staining on control and cancer tissues prior to their use in a multiplex assay.

EVOS™ XL Core Configured Cell Imager with Mechanical Stage.

We will use this in the laboratory for cell culture.

This microscope is that it has a screen which will enable the laboratory group to jointly look at the cells and also to take images of cells.

This capability will be extremely valuable to record the visual differences in cells as we culture them under different conditions.

The Translational Immunology Group is currently working on a number of key areas of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, including head and neck cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and glioblastoma, which is the most common type of primary brain cancer.

Despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiotherapy & chemotherapy, people with glioblastoma on average lose 20 years of life – the highest average years of life lost compared to other cancers.

The group are working on a new type of treatment that is revolutionising oncology by manipulating the body’s own immune system into fighting cancer.

Thank you for helping us to research promising new treatments for these devastating diseases.

For more information please contact:

Mark Horne

Development Manager

Development and Alumni Relations team

University of Liverpool

Victoria Building

Liverpool

L69 3DR

T: +44 (0)151 794 6940

W: www.liverpool.ac.uk/giving

 

Proposal for Cancer Research and Genetics UK 

Understanding the genetic causes of prostate cancer 

June 2022 

We are enormously grateful for the generosity of Cancer Research and Genetics UK over the years in supporting The Institute of Cancer Research’s (ICR) prostate cancer research. We hope you will now continue your support with a further donation towards the cutting-edge prostate cancer research led by Professor Ros Eeles. 

Your support is critical as more than 52,000 people are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the UK, and around 22,000 patients are considered at “high -risk” of their cancer spreading. The number of men diagnosed with the disease has also been increasing over the last ten years as more men get tested and the population continues to age. 12,000 men will lose their life to prostate cancer each year in the UK leaving their loved ones devastated. 

UK Genetic Prostate Cancer Study 

The UK Genetic Prostate Cancer Study (UKGPCS) was first established in 1993 and is the largest prostate cancer study of its kind in the UK, involving nearly 200 hospitals, including our clinical partner, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The study which is led by Professor Eeles of the ICR aims to find genetic changes which are associated with prostate cancer risk. If we can find alterations in genes that increase the chances of getting prostate cancer, it may be possible in the future to use this knowledge: 

  • To screen other family members to see if they are also at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. 
  • To develop new prostate cancer treatments for the future. 

The target is to recruit 26,000 men into the study by 2022 and so far, 22,947 men have been recruited. 

Causes of prostate cancer 

Although prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men in the UK, with 1 in 8 men developing prostate cancer in their lifetime, its causes remain very poorly understood with few established risk factors. 

The fact that prostate cancer incidence tends to be much higher in Western countries (for example the USA and UK), together with migrant studies, indicates that lifestyle and/or environmental factors such as diet could be important determinants of prostate cancer risk. However, so far little is known abou t which lifestyle factors might contribute to prostate cancer, and results between current studies are conflicting. 

Part of the study involves collaboration with Professor Kenneth Muir at the University of Manchester who is conducting a study into which environmental factors might affect prostate cancer risk. Men taking part in the UKGPCS can also opt to take part in the environmental study if they wish by filling in a lifestyle questionnaire. 

Genetic causes of prostate cancer 

The UKGPCS was set up to find genetic alterations which occur in patients who have prostate cancer. A man’s risk of developing prostate cancer increases if he has a first-degree relative (father or brother) who was diagnosed with prostate cancer at a young age. 

Therefore, the researchers are looking for men who are affected at a young age or who have a family history of prostate cancer, since it is more probable that these prostate cancers are due to an inherited genetic cause rather than an environmental cause. 

All men who come to the Royal Marsden Hospital to be treated for prostate cancer are asked if they would like to take part in the study so that the researchers can also look to see if they find genetic alterations in older men, and those who do not have a f amily history of prostate cancer. 

Ethical approval to continue to collect samples for the study is in place until the end of 2022 and this will be extended until 2027 once approved, as the study is being extended for another five years. 

How you can help 

The last decade has brought major advances in the way we diagnose and treat prostate cancer and men with advanced disease (those whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body) are living longer than ever. However, there remains an urgent need to continue our research to understand the causes of prostate cancer as more men are being diagnosed with the disease every year. 

Professor Eeles and her team are striving to make further advances for the ultimate benefit of patients with prostate cancer all over the world. To do so, they need to secure funding for a new -80 freezer for their laboratory. This will allow them to safely store blood samples collected from patients enrolled onto the UKGPCS. Their current freezer is over 10 years old and needs replacing. If the freezer should break down the team would need to urgently decant the samples into a back-up freezer and then transfer them back into the original freezer once it has been repaired. This carries the risk of compromising the quality of the samples and thus negatively affecting the research. Following the latest engineer’s report, the team have been advised to purchase a new freezer as soon as possible as the current freezer is coming to the end of its lifespan. 

We would be delighted if Cancer Research and Genetics UK would consider renewing their support of Professor Eeles’ vital research. A donation of £10,275 would allow the team to purchase a new freezer and safely store patient samples – the basis of the genetic research they undertake in this study. 

Your kind support would enable Professor Eeles and her team to make further advances for the ultimate benefit of prostate cancer patients everywhere. 

 

Mama Dear by O’Reily

Mama Dear

“After a chance meeting with Mr Nick Philips, the director of the charity, I played him the demo of the song “Mama Dear” and Nick immediately agreed that the song could help his charity. He suggested we record the track at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth. The iconic venue, where many a music legend have hung out. Artists such as Budgie, Queen, Oasis, David Bowie, Simple Minds and Coldplay to name just a few have all recorded there.” – O’Reily, singer songwriter

To hear the song or see the video, just click the logo. If you like the song you can always donate to the charity direct.

All proceeds from the sale of the song are going to: Cancer Research & Genetics UK.

 

Donation to Imperial University

17/01/23

Imperial University, London

Cancer Research & Genetics UK have donated £10,000 to Imperial University, London to purchase a histology slide screen.

“Our mission is to ensure all men have access to fast and accurate diagnosis of prostate disease. We want patients to receive intelligent and personalised therapies which minimise complications.” – Professor Hashim U. Ahmed, Chair of Urology, Imperial College London

Nick Philips also spoke in the Prostate Cancer Masterclass Conference organised by Imperial Prostate.

 

Donation to Cardiff University

6/12/22

University of Cardiff

Early career stage researchers, Dr Aaron Wall and Dr Bruce MacLachlan (they work under Prof. Awen Gallimore who we have previously supported and Prof. Andrew Godkin) are looking at how the immune system detects and interacts with cancer cells and have a really exciting project to get set up and off of the ground. They want to establish a human cell expression facility for the study of immune proteins involved in tumour recognition and once established, the facility could be used by researchers across the University and have a huge impact on our research.

Cancer Research & Genetics UK have donated £10,000 to help establish this project.

 

Ottensmeier Group

1/7/21

University of Liverpool – Ottensmeier Group

The University of Liverpool and local NHS partners recently invested in a major new programme of immunology cancer research to help translate new discoveries into novel treatments for patients as quickly as possible.

World-leading experimental cancer researcher Professor Christian Ottensmeier leads a team of interdisciplinary researchers, focusing initially on immuno-oncology in head and neck and lung cancer.

Read more – click here.

 

Beaston Pebble Appeal

28/6/21

Beaston Pebble Appeal

An example of the ground-breaking research taking place at Glasgow includes the work taking place in The Cagan Laboratory. They are investigating and developing new cancer treatments using a classical tool, the fruit fly, Drosophila. The fly models are designed to capture important aspects of patient tumours in a whole animal context, which are then utilised to develop unique therapies tuned to the whole-body network. Fly models have so far been developed for colorectal, thyroid, lung, and liver cancers, as well as rare inherited diseases. This innovative approach has also led to a fly-to-bedside clinical trial, towards truly personalised treatments for cancer patients.

 

INCISE project

28/6/21

INCISE project and purchase of two high specification GPU cards

Computational workstations to enable deep learning-based bowel cancer screening in the University of Glasgow Digital Pathology Research Centre

We are delighted with the support from Cancer Research and Genetics UK which will facilitate the creation of a Digital Pathology Research Centre (DPRC) in the Institute of Cancer Sciences. As technology becomes available to improve cancer screening and diagnosis with the help of computers, we are building this centre to address this need in Glasgow and beyond. We will build on-site and remotely accessible digital workstations to further our research into cancer detection and classification with the purchase of two high specification graphics processing units (GPU) cards, connected by an interlink so they can be used together (giving a colossal 96Gb of GPU memory) or as separate cards (allowing two different scientists from two different groups to use them simultaneously). These computers are central to the deep learning aspirations of the DPRC and our first project around intestinal polyps and colorectal cancer, INCISE, which is described below.

Deep learning is used to infer conclusions from images. For example, it can examine pathology specimens and identify which cells are cancerous and whether they are actively spreading from the tumour. They can do some tasks far more accurately than a human pathologist and have the further advantage of not getting tired or bored, but we have found they are most useful when used as tools to help pathologists identify key tumour features. To do this, deep learning networks must be trained using huge amounts of data, with the amount they can hold at once determines their eventual accuracy.

Graphics processor computing is a highly specialised subfield of programming that has been embraced by the deep learning community; it is particularly suitable because the calculations that are needed to train models can be performed in parallel, making GPUs much faster than traditional computers. The computer we have requested will more than double our capacity for training new networks, which will make it possible to use more detailed and informative models. It will also be powerful enough that the computer would have been in the world’s top 200 or so as recently as 2012.

We will set up an on-site (located in the Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, WWCRC) and remotely accessible well-equipped computer with two NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPU cards, linked together using an NVLINK to create a machine in which both A6000s can be used together if large, data-hungry models are needed, or separately by two groups if not.

Our exemplar project for the DPRC is the innovative INCISE (INtegrated teChnologies for Improved polyp SurveillancE) programme, which aims to transform bowel cancer screening in the UK by developing a tool that can predict which patients with precancerous growths (polyps) in their bowels, will develop further polyps in the future. Professor Joanne Edwards, Professor of Translational Cancer Pathology, is leading the collaboration consisting of academics from across the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, NHS colleagues and Scottish technology companies. INCISE will combine polyp tissue from colorectal cancer patients with data from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Scottish Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to train algorithms to predict patients’ future risks. The team will combine information about specific changes in polyp structure, as seen under the microscope and analysed using deep learning, with new analysis of the genetic mutations that cause polyps to grow. This comprehensive risk stratification tool will, for the first time, predict polyp recurrence by utilising the latest developments in digital pathology, machine learning and next generation sequencing. INCISE will improve cancer detection, whilst directly reducing the number of people requiring repeated colonoscopy, a costly, invasive, and unpleasant procedure.

 

Chemiluminescence system

31/05/21

Chemiluminescence system for the Division of Cancer and Genetics at Cardiff University

Your generous donation will be used to purchase a chemiluminescence system for the Division of Cancer and Genetics at Cardiff University. Chemiluminescence is an analytical imaging technique that can be used to detect specific proteins in a sample using a chemical reaction to produce a white light. The system will support of the work of Professor Duncan Baird and Professor Alan Parker as well as the wider Division.

Professor Duncan Baird and his team are focused on understanding how telomere dysfunction can drive the evolution of the cancer genome. Telomeres are the structures found at the ends of chromosomes and when they become dysfunctional, they lead to large-scale genomic mutation. The lab has developed unique single-molecule approaches to determine telomere length and characterise telomere fusion events, the clinical application of these technologies has led to the development of high-resolution prognostic and predictive markers in several tumour types, including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, multiple myeloma, myelodysplasia and breast cancer. These technologies also have applications for informing patient selection and product development of cellular therapeutics. The chemiluminescence system is essential for this research and will be used to detect specific proteins involved in DNA repair at telomeres.

Professor Alan Parker and his team research viral immunotherapies. Their research focusses on the development of refined virotherapies able to distinguish between transformed and healthy cells. Upon infection, these precision virotherapies replicate whilst simultaneously overexpressing therapeutic transgenes, typically designed to heighten the immune response against the infected cell and encoded from within the genome of the genetically modified agent. A chemiluminescence system is an essential piece of equipment and critical for the team?s day to day research.

 

Institute of Cancer Research

31/05/21

Institute of Cancer Research

As part of their ongoing research Professor Ros Eeles’ work required a centrifuge. In addition to previous donations Cancer Research Genetics UK were delighted to be able to help with a donation of £10,000. The centrifuge will help with the processing of samples and several other applications within the lab.

Professor Rosalind Eeles is searching for genetic variants that increase a person?s risk of prostate cancer and is currently leading a clinical trial looking into whether regular screening of men with certain genetic mutations leads to earlier diagnosis.

Web link – Scientists Search For Genetic Test To Spot Prostate Cancer

 

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

01/07/20

Cancer Research & Genetics UK have donated £10,000 to the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre at the new Liverpool hospital to buy -86 C freezers for storing tissue samples of patients in cancer research. The work we are supporting will be under the guidance of Dr Maria Maguire, who is researching into the molecular mechanisms of cancer.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK?s leading cancer centres providing highly specialist cancer care to a population of 2.3m people across Cheshire, Merseyside and the surrounding areas including the Isle of Man.

We are a tertiary cancer centre which means we see patients who have already been diagnosed and referred to us by other hospitals. We provide non-surgical cancer care e.g. chemotherapy and radiotherapy for solid tumours and blood cancers.

Website – click here

 

Donation to Cardiff University

27/03/20

Cancer Research & Genetics UK have donated £10k to Professor Andrew Sewell’s work at Cardiff University. His research group is focused on T-cell antigens and the receptors that recognise them. Cancer Research and Genetics UK?s donation will purchase a Leica M60 Stereomicroscope and Thermo BB15 CO2 Incubator. Both of these pieces of equipment will support the research group?s ongoing work looking for potential cancer vaccines, engineering T-cells against cancer and studying T-cells from patients who have undergone successful cancer immunotherapy.

Leica M60 Stereomicroscope

An important part of our work revolves around visualizing the molecular interactions that take place between T-cell receptors and molecular parts of cells infected with viruses or that have become cancerous. It is impossible to ?see? molecules using light, so we use high energy X-rays and a technique called X-ray crystallography. This requires that we crystallize the molecules we want to look at and transport them to Diamond Light Source (the UK’s synchrotron facility) where they are placed in a high energy X-ray beam. The way the atoms in the molecules scatter these X-rays can be used to build up an atomic structure of the molecule. We have produced molecular structures of more than 90 immune molecules and this structural analysis has given us an insight into T-cell function, viral escape mechanisms, mechanisms of autoimmunity, information on potential vaccines and on how the immune system can distinguish healthy cells from cancer cells.

The new microscope will streamline the process of crystal-harvesting. The speed of harvesting is known to impinge on the final resolution of the molecular image that can be obtained. As things stand, most of the crystals we harvest do not produce useful data. This microscope could reduce this failure rate.

Thermo BB15 CO2 Incubator, including a stacking stand

Growing immune cells requires that we mimic the situation inside the body in terms of oxygen:carbon dioxide ration and temperature. A new CO2 Incubator will provide increased capacity in the tissue culture laboratory. Unfortunately, a recent power cut resulted in the malfunction of an old but essential incubator. We do not have the funds to replace this incubator at this time due to the unforeseen nature of the breakdown. The new incubator will allow us to continue working on all our projects to the same capacity without risking adverse events by overloading the existing infrastructure. The stacking stand we will be able to increase the capacity without increasing the footprint of the equipment in the limited space we have available for tissue culture.

 

Cardiff University

22/2/19

This important donation from Cancer Research & Genetics UK will help support our preclinical studies, investigating how we can improve the efficacy of targeted therapeutic agents to treat prostate cancer and advance our understanding of how this disease develops therapeutic resistance. This donation will facilitate the purchase of a tissue slicer, that can be used to generate thin sections of prostate cancer specimens for culture in plastic dishes. By taking this approach, we can rapidly determine the initial response of prostate tumours to therapeutic interventions ex vivo, yet advantageously in the context of an intact tumour microenvironment. By establishing the therapeutic responses of prostate cancer cells and their surrounding microenvironment to new therapeutic strategies, we hope to preclinically test/validate new therapeutic approaches to inform the design of future clinical trials that can benefit patients with prostate cancer.

– Dr Helen Pearson, Cardiff University

 

Donations

12/2/19

Support from Cancer Research & Genetics UK in 2018 has now been used to purchase an embedding machine for the immunohistochemistry facility, which is currently in development.

The Institute would like to thank Cancer Research Genetics UK for their donations in recent years.

A donation in 2019 would be used to purchase two items of equipment for a new gene editing (CRISPR-Cas9-rAAV) facility:

-86°C Upright Freezer

    This will provide energy-efficient refrigeration, an intelligent data-logging interface, uniform sample storage, and comprehensive, easy monitoring.

Cell line storage vessel

This dedicated facility will allow the University to work at the forefront of gene editing. The facility will be led by:

    Professor David MacEwan. (Chair, Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology; research addresses chemotherapy-resistant cancer patients and hard to treat cancers.)
    Dr John Woolly. (Focuses on cancer biology, including acute myeloid leukaemia and chronic myeloid leukaemia.)
    Professor Ian Prior (NWCR Professor of Molecular Oncology; approaches to cancer-causing cell signalling networks has included research into leukaemia and breast cancer.)
    Dr Joseph Slupsky (Research areas include chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and other B cell lymphomas.)

Gene (and Genome) editing is revolutionising molecular biology and translational research. For the first time, we have the ability to carry out wide-ranging genetic manipulation in mammalian systems. This gives us the ability to understand how genes function and interact in models of human disease with the potential to transform how we understand and treat patients. The best way to investigate the function of a gene is to (1) knockdown/overexpress it in cells or (2) modify its DNA sequence in the genome of a cell line to imitate the effect of known mutations associated with the disease.

 

Cardiff University

2/2/19

Cardiff University have used our donation towards purchasing a Vibratome. Which is a Leica microtome that enables researchers to section up tumour samples for culturing slices of tissue in plastic dishes. Dr Helen Pearson has a number of prostate cancer tumour models she would like to culture using this technique, as it enables us to measure short term drug responses ex vivo, with an intact microenvironment.

 

Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine

5/9/18

Cancer Research and Genetics UK’s donation will fund the purchase of equipment for an immunohistochemistry facility within the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine at the University of Liverpool.

This new facility will also be available to other departments within the Institute of Translational Medicine at the University, where the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine is a key component of the North West Cancer Research Centre. Research areas include pancreas cancer research, ocular oncology, lung cancer, head and neck cancer research, haemato-oncology, academic medical oncology and early drug development, clinical trials and palliative care.

More information – click here.

 

Dr Helen Pearson

1/9/2018

Cancer Research & Genetics UK are donating £10,000 to purchase equipment for Dr Helen Pearsons Research into prostate cancer genetics and treatments at Cardiff Universitiy European Cancer Stem Cell Research.

New research has uncovered insights into the mechanisms that underlie prostate cancer, providing potential targets for new cancer therapies. There is more information online here and you can watch a video of Dr Helen Pearson explaining the research here.

Our donation will help support the University’s research into understanding how genetic alterations contribute to prostate cancer growth and will gain further insight into how prostate cancer develops resistance to current treatments. This contribution will enable the University to purchase an essential piece of equipment to rapidly and efficiently homogenise prostate tissue samples, which is necessary for isolating genomic material for analysis. Once isolated, we can measure if genes are up regulated or down regulated in response to a genetic alteration or treatment. By identifying changes in the genome of prostate tumours, we hope to discover new therapeutic strategies and biomarkers that will ultimately improve our management of patients with prostate cancer.

 

University of Glasgow

6/6/2018

Cancer Research & Genetics UK are donating £10,000 to Glasgow University in Scotland to buy a Luminescence Plate Reader – for the Institute of Cancer Sciences department. Dr Fiona Thomson has provided some information about this equipment and how the donation will help:

“Our research aims to develop novel anti-cancer agents through clinical trials in patients and this donation will help support our efforts to develop better cancer treatments. Specifically, the funds will contribute towards the purchase of a piece of equipment, called a luminescence plate reader, that will be used to help measure the effectiveness of novel drugs which are being testing in pancreatic cancer patients. We are hoping that this new drug, when used alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy, will improve the care and treatment of pancreatic cancer patients.”

 

X-CLARITY Tissue Clearing system

1/6/2018

Cancer Research & Genetics UK have donated £10,000 to purchase Imaging equipment in the X- Clarity Tissue Clearing System at Cardiff University. The research is led by Professor Matt Smalley at the European Cancer Stem Cell Research based at the University.

X-CLARITY Tissue Clearing system. Revealing tumour composition, architecture and underlying mechanisms in 3D

Tumours are heterogeneous complex environments composed of multiple cell types and matrix proteins. How cells interact and organize within a tumour often hint at the underlying biology that governs tumour development and malignancy. Equally, by monitoring expression levels, activity or localisation of specific proteins within cells also informs on mechanisms and may identify new therapeutic targets. Traditionally, we have relied on immunofluorescence methods to label cells within slices of fixed tissue and then retrospectively build 3D maps of the tissue using specialised confocal microscopy and image analysis tools. This traditional approach requires specialised training and expertise, and is also time consuming.

Recent advances in tissue imaging have led to the development of the CLARITY method (Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide-hybridised Rigid Imaging/Immunostaining/In situ-hybridisation-compatible Tissue-hYdrogel). This method clears or removes masking lipids from whole tissues to make them transparent, exposing the remaining protein and DNA in cells. Because the tissue is fixed in a hydrogel scaffold, this method allows us to examine proteins and therefore cellular structures within preserved 3D tissue architecture. We propose to purchase the X-CLARITY tissue clearing system from Labtech. This equipment provides an all-in-one automated, rapid and efficient tissue clearing protocol, without exposing the user to toxic chemicals or extended incubation steps. Therefore, the protocol is standardised, which saves time and increases robustness. The stained tissue is then imaged in a specialised microscope called a Light sheet (Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy; SPIM, in house at the School of Biosciences). Light sheet microscopy is a time efficient way to rapidly image 3D systems. Together, this approach will allow us to build 3D maps of increasing complexity that reflect the subcellular and cellular networks of a tumour. The CLARITY method can be applied to any solid tumour, including pancreas, breast, brain and bone. This will give us a better understanding of the biology underlying tumour development and help us to identify rare metastatic lesions in secondary organs.

 

Department of Molecular and Clinical and Cancer Medicine

28/9/17

Cancer Research & Genetics Uk have donated £10,000 to purchase equipment for Proffesors Andrew Pettit and Sarah Coupland and Mark Boyds research at Liverpool University. The Researches are based in the Universities Department of Molecular and Clinical and Cancer Medicine which specialises in Blood, Eyes and Head and Neck Cancers respectively.

The Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine provides a vibrant home to approximately 200 staff including 30 principle investigators who collectively lead a comprehensive programme of basic, translational and clinical cancer research. Clinical focus areas include pancreas cancer, ocular oncology, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, haematological oncology, urological cancer and breast cancer while areas of particular scientific strength include DNA repair, p53 biology and tumour microenvironment.