The WINDOW* Consortium, a collaboration between researchers in Cambridge and Amsterdam, has won a £1.5 million grant from The Brain Tumour Charity (UK) to research drugs that more effectively target an aggressive brain tumour known as glioblastoma.
Glioblastomas are resistant to treatment, probably because the cells within the tumour are not all of the same type. This is known as ‘heterogeneity’.
Current treatment is surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible followed by chemoradiation, a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But glioblastoma have threadlike tendrils making them difficult to fully remove.
The research, which brings new hope to patients, will analyse how 100 drug combinations, all of which are clinically approved, can be uniquely matched to an individual tumour cells.
Cells from patients will be harvested and prepared in a University of Cambridge laboratory at Addenbrooke's Hospital, overseen by Dr Colin Watts (pictured), a consultant neurosurgeon and clinical scientist. These will be passed to the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam to identify the most effective cancer-busting drug-combinations.
A team led by Emmanouil Metzakopian from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) will use new technology to identify molecular targets contributing to drug resistance.
Data that shows most promise create a Glioblastoma Drug Bank by IOTA Pharmaceuticals, led by David Bailey and Fredrik Svensson in Cambridge, and will be shared worldwide.
The integrated approach will accelerate the development of new combination therapies and development of new molecular approaches to treat glioblastoma.
Dr Watts said: “We are very thankful to the Brain Tumour Charity for this funding. By collaborating with our colleagues in Amsterdam, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and IOTA Pharmaceuticals, we can fast track looking at the efficacy of new drug combinations in treating glioblastoma.
“This will hopefully bring real hope for patients in the future, as at the moment they have very poor outcomes due to how aggressive this brain tumour is.”
Research leader Bart Westerman, of the VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, added: “This grant from the Brain Tumour Charity enables our international team to mount a direct attack on this deadly disease.
“Our strategy will combat this cancer from a cellular point of view. Novel drug therapies coming from specialties such as immuno-oncology will further complement the WINDOW approach.”
Business leader and philanthropist Jack Morris CBE, lost his daughter Emily in January this year, aged just 31, and is a vital supporter of The Brain Tumour Charity.
“Emily’s glioblastoma brain tumour diagnosis was a devastating time in our lives and we were introduced to a world that was completely alien to us,” Mr Morris said.
“Like many other parents in a similar situation, I spent a long time studying the subject that I needed to know about.
“That is why The Brain Tumour Charity’s research funding towards the WINDOW Consortium will be so important, in working to help all those going through similar devastating experiences.”
Mr Morris continued: “We know that brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and people under 40 in the UK and survival rates have not improved significantly over the last 40 years.
“This has to change and The Charity’s partnership with the WINDOW consortium is part of their strategy to make this happen.”
*The acronym "WINDOW" stands for ‘Window for Improvement for Newly Diagnosed patients by Overcoming disease Worsening’.
Further information on WINDOW is available through its website at www.window.net.in, which will be used as an open access portal for sharing data and methods.
Participants
The WINDOW consortium consists of teams led by the Dutch researchers Bart Westerman and Tom Würdinger (VUmc Cancer Centre Amsterdam/Brain Tumour Centre Amsterdam) and the Cambridge, UK, researchers Colin Watts (Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals), Emmanouil Metzakopian (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) and David Bailey and Fredrik Svensson (IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd).
VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam/ Cancer Centre Amsterdam
VU University Medical Centre (VUmc) is the university hospital affiliated with the VU University Amsterdam. The VUmc Cancer Centre Amsterdam (CCA) is a national and international leading centre for cancer research and treatment. At the CCA, 26 disciplines and 500 researchers cooperate to prevent, cure and diagnose cancer. The Brain Tumor Centre Amsterdam is a nationally recognized center of excellence. CCA invests millions of Euros in top research and provides advanced facilities for both researchers and patients. http://www.vumc.nl
Cambridge University Hospitals
Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) is one of the largest and best known hospitals in the UK. As well as delivering care through Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, it is also: (1) a leading national centre for specialist treatment for rare or complex conditions, (2) a government-designated biomedical research centre, (3) one of only five academic health science centres in the UK, (4) a university teaching hospital with a worldwide reputation, and (5) a partner in the development of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. CUH works in partnership with the University of Cambridge to carry out biomedical research. http://www.cuh.org.uk
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk
IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd
IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a specialist drug discovery and development company based in Cambridge (UK). IOTA works in partnership with leading academic and pharmaceutical company scientists to accelerate drug discovery and drug development projects. IOTA's role within the WINDOW Consortium is to design new drugs for Glioblastoma using the data generated by the scientific teams, and to collate and disseminate the findings of the WINDOW project as widely as possible, thereby promoting the global development of new drugs and drug combinations for this aggressive and intransigent cancer. http://www.iotapharma.com