Download National Research Program

National Research Program
PhD Scholarship
Sponsored by the fundraising of Light the Night ‘Shooting Star’ 2013, Matt Bousejean
Researcher:
Mr Simon Hogg
Institute:
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Project title:
Developing potential new therapies that ‘turn
off’ blood cancer genes while improving anticancer immunity
Disease focus:
Lymphoma and Myeloma
Annual Funding: $40,000
Funding period:
2013-2015
Project summary
Photo
Simon Hogg is working with a new class of drugs, known as bromodomain inhibitors
(BRDi) to develop new treatments for lymphoma and myeloma.
In preclinical research, BRDi have been shown to down-regulate, or ‘turn off’, the activity
of the cancer causing gene, c-Myc*. This gene appears to cause the over-expression of
genes that lead to uncontrolled cell growth—a key factor in cancer development.
c-Myc is associated with several blood cancers, each of which have a poor prognosis,
including Burkitt lymphoma, double-hit Diffuse large B cell lymphoma and late-stage
myeloma.
Simon is continuing BRDi studies by researchers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
“Initial data for using bromodomain inhibitors to treat c-MYC-driven lymphoid
malignancies was very promising but limited, with continued treatment in laboratory
models of lymphoma rapidly leading to secondary resistance and treatment failure,” said
Simon.
“So I’m looking at a several approaches to harness this class of drugs to effectively treat
blood cancers.”
Under the supervision of Professor Ricky Johnstone, Simon is defining how BRDi work to
kill cancer cells—something that is not fully understood. He is also looking at how BRDi
interact with the immune system so that he can modify existing BRDi to enhance their
anti-cancer activity as well as their ability to protect the immune system.
“Ultimately my research should help us identify patients who will benefit from these
drugs as well as giving us a basis for combining the drugs with existing anti-cancer
agents to prevent resistance.
“I’m also hoping to develop new compounds that can be readily tested in the laboratory
and prioritised for clinical trials.”
*
See also the fact sheets on Dr Gareth Gregory and Dr Brandon Aubrey’s projects.