A study funded by the Bone Cancer Research Trust and CCLG: The Children's and Young People's Cancer Association will examine a specific protein and its potential link to the development of osteosarcoma.
This form of primary bone cancer is met with limited treatment options which are reliant on old drugs that, in some cases, may stop working. Recent research has focused on identifying overactive chemical pathways in cancer cells with the aim of developing new drugs that block them.
A team of researchers, led by Professor Plevin at the University of Strathclyde, will explore the role of a potential new target — a protein called inhibitory kappa B kinase alpha (IKKα) — and whether it contributes to the death of osteosarcoma cells.
While little is known about the connection between IKKα and osteosarcoma, new drugs that block or 'inhibit' IKKα have recently been developed. This makes now the ideal time to test whether the enzyme could prove an effective treatment for osteosarcoma patients.
This project will test how well drugs that target this specific enzyme work in two ways:
- The researchers will use a method called RNA sequencing to study the genes in osteosarcoma cells to determine which ones are affected by IKKα inhibitors
- They will connect these results to key cancer traits including how well the cancer cells divide, how fast they grow, and whether the inhibitors could help cancer drugs kill the cells more effectively
Ultimately, the goal of this project is to find out if the inhibitors could prove a promising new treatment for osteosarcoma patients.
Professor Plevin, Head of Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, said:
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive bone cancer with a high rate of resistance to anticancer drugs. By uncovering IKKα's role in osteosarcoma, we hope to provide a new approach to overcoming chemotherapy resistance, ultimately improving patient outcomes and providing new treatment options that are so desperately needed. We are incredibly grateful to the Bone Cancer Research Trust and CCLG for making this research possible.
Will Burchell, CEO at the Bone Cancer Research Trust, added:
We are proud to provide Professor Plevin and his team with the funding required to take their pilot study off the ground. Osteosarcoma patients deserve kinder, more effective treatments that improve their chances of survival, and we hope this study will bring us one step closer to making this a reality.
Victoria James, PPIP member and parent, said:
This is an exciting project as new, more effective and kinder treatments for osteosarcoma are desperately needed. The funding will enable the testing of a recently developed drug molecule on osteosarcoma cells, helping to build understanding of how the cells grow and exploring the drug's potential as a future treatment option for osteosarcoma patients.
Ashley Ball-Gamble, CEO at CCLG, shared:
We're pleased to be able to come together with the Bone Cancer Research Trust to fund this exciting new research. Collaboration is key to developing and understanding the effectiveness of new treatment approaches, and we hope that by partnering to fund this project we can enable Professor Plevin and his team to do so.
Funding for this project has been supported by the Berry family, who run the Little Heroes Fund in memory of their son, Ben.
To learn more about this project, visit the link below: