Molecular Analysis of Colorectal Cancers and Metastatic Tumours
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Genetic, Molecular and Cellular Analysis of Colorectal Cancers and Their Associated Metastatic Tumours
IRAS ID
127052
Contact name
Andrew Silver
Contact email
Research summary
Bowel or colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer with an estimated 1.24 million new cases diagnosed each year. CRC is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Surgery remains the most effective treatment, but patients may have a local recurrence or develop distant metastases. Metastatic disease often occurs in the liver and lungs and chemotherapy options for advanced CRC remain limited. Patients with advanced cancer have a poor prognosis. Through an improved understanding of the gene mutations that cause CRC and its metastasis, novel drug or drug combinations to treat the disease can be developed. Furthermore, genetic profiling of a patient’s CRC is necessary to target therapies to the patient’s cancer and make tailored therapy a reality. Unfortunately, poor chemotherapeutic delivery, drug resistance and toxicity are serious limitations of current treatments and are often caused by the environment in which the tumour grows. These will remain important issues with newer targeted therapies. We propose to genetically profile CRCs and metastatic disease to identify novel therapies and to test new approaches based on manipulation of the tumour environment to improve drug efficacy. Our studies are designed to make therapy tailored to the patient’s bowel cancer a reality.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/LO/1271
Date of REC Opinion
5 Sep 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion