Analyzing low-oxygen areas in deadly brain tumours to counter treatment resistance
Aperçu du projet
Shreya Gandhi is studying how oxygen-deprived areas of deadly brain tumours called glioblastoma (GBM) contribute to treatment resistance to improve treatment options and outcomes for people with this type of cancer. Glioblastoma (GBM) is a fatal brain tumour that currently has no effective curative therapies. Despite surgical removal of the tumour, and therapy with radiation and chemotherapy slowing the progression of the disease, GBM tumours quickly regrow. The rapid growth of this tumour means that some areas of it receive very little oxygen and nutrients, known as hypoxic regions, rendering these cells slower to divide and more resistant to drugs and radiation. Finding ways to target these slow-growing cells in hypoxic regions could improve treatments for GBM. With funding from the Canadian Cancer Society, Shreya is researching how proteins in hypoxic regions of the tumour change in response to chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Using both preclinical models and working with patient’s GBM samples, the research team will tag hypoxic cells and compare proteins in both treated and untreated GBM cells to find out which proteins might influence response and resistance to treatments. If successful, this project could lead to identifying proteins that could be targeted to sensitize areas of GBM tumours to existing therapies, thereby improving outcomes for people with GBM.
Chef d'équipe
Shreya Gandhi , Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Partenaire et Donateurs
Canadian Cancer Society