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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.