Pre-clinical target validation work for a cancer drug target

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Pre-clinical work using human samples to aid target validation and disease positioning of an immunology target in oncology research

  • IRAS ID

    246390

  • Contact name

    Stuart Farrow

  • Contact email

    Stuart.Farrow@cancer.org.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    CRUK-TDL

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    4 years, 11 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    CRUK-TDL are investigating a novel drug target for cancer therapy. Access to human tissue will help us to investigate the potential of targeting this protein and to determine which cancers may be suitable for treatment with agents targeting this protein.

    In recent years, the therapeutic potential of modulating the immune system in the treatment of cancer has been recognized and we are investigating a novel approach in this area. The ability to perform experiments on human immune cells, for example isolated from peripheral blood, will help us to progress this work. In addition, the function of the protein on immune cells isolated from the tumour can be assessed in the laboratory to further our understanding of the biology underlying the planned therapy.

    There is a need to understand which cells of the immune system express the drug target and if it is found in other tissues, both tumour and healthy human tissues. This is important because if a drug is developed for this target, we need to understand where in the body it could function.

    We intend to access samples of human tumours, healthy tissues and peripheral blood which have been obtained by academic collaborators, commercial suppliers or the NHS-BT. The samples will be entirely anonymous so that the donors will not be identifiable to us.

  • REC name

    East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    18/EE/0411

  • Date of REC Opinion

    21 Jan 2019

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion