Boosting the body's immune system to fight cancer

MEDIA RELEASE

08 August 2007

Boosting the body's immune system to fight cancer

Medical researchers at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and Victoria's School of Chemical and Physical Sciences have been awarded $60,000 to develop compounds aimed at boosting the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

The funding from the Cancer Research Charitable Trust will assist the work of Institute scientists Drs Bridget Stocker and Ian Hermans, and Victoria researcher Dr Mattie Timmer, to develop and test synthetic anti-cancer agents.

The three researchers have been working closely to gather evidence that tumour growth can be controlled by the immune system. Dr Stocker says that while the immune responses of cancer patients are typically weakened, and occur too late in the disease’s progression to have any effect, treatment with agents designed to boost immune responses may be an effective cancer therapy.

The research team will focus on a class of molecules called glycolipids that either prompt the immune system to destroy tumours, or inhibit this response, based on their particular molecular structure. The team has identified glycolipid structures they believe will prompt the immune system to destroy cancerous cells.

They will apply their collective expertise in synthetic chemistry and immunology to develop and test glycolipids either as stand-alone therapy or in combination with other treatment regimes.

The Malaghan Institute, based at the University's Kelburn campus, is New Zealand’s leading independent biomedical research facility.

The Cancer Research Charitable Trust is a non-profit organisation that raises funds to support cancer research and prevention, in particular targeting colorectal (bowel) cancer. Established in 2003, the Trust uses funds raised within New Zealand exclusively for New Zealand projects.

ENDS

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