| Auckland | 4 |
| Wellington | 4 |
| Hawkes Bay | 1 |
| Christchurch | 1 |
| Dunedin | 5 |
Novel approaches to the treatment of diffuse gastric cancer.
Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer is a disease caused predominantly by inherited mutations in the CDH1-gene, leading to a high risk for development of stomach and breast cancer. In NZ, Māori are disproportionately affected. Our ability to monitor and detect this disease before it becomes advanced is imperfect; once advanced, survival is poor. Consequently, the only way to reliably prevent stomach cancer in carriers, is for their entire stomach to be removed. One promising alternative is chemoprevention, an approach in which drugs are used to prevent cancer development. This research focuses on using novel preclinical models to test candidate chemoprevention drugs.
Development and implementation of liquid biopsy tools for lung cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Groups around the world are starting to include blood-based genomic tests into routine cancer care. These minimally invasive tests can identify tumour-released DNA in fluid samples (e.g. blood or sputum). They can provide valuable information to patients and clinicians to guide more informed clinical decisions, such as improving treatment selection. In NZ, such tests could be invaluable for lung cancer, where clinicians currently test biopsies of lung tissue, which, unlike a simple blood test, cannot always be collected. This research will focus on developing and trialling new blood-based genomic to help NZ lung cancer patients.
Understanding value in molecular testing in cancer in Aotearoa.
Healthcare funding is constrained so health services, including diagnostic tests, must deliver value-for-money. Understanding what ‘value’ is, and how to measure it informs decision-makers' choices. Measuring value in diagnostic tests is difficult without useful tools. This research will explore the definition of value and understand what is valued in molecular testing in cancer (where tissue/blood are tested to look for genes/proteins) by patients (Māori and non-Māori), whānau, clinicians, funders and funding decision-makers in Aotearoa. These views will be used to develop a tool to measure the value of molecular testing in cancer - a crucial step to support patient-centered precision oncology.
* Dr Minhinnick accepted a Clinical Research Training Fellowship from the Health Research Council.
Understanding value in molecular testing in cancer in Aotearoa.
Healthcare funding is constrained so health services, including diagnostic tests, must deliver value-for-money. Understanding what ‘value’ is, and how to measure it informs decision-makers' choices. Measuring value in diagnostic tests is difficult without useful tools. This research will explore the definition of value and understand what is valued in molecular testing in cancer (where tissue/blood are tested to look for genes/proteins) by patients (Māori and non-Māori), whānau, clinicians, funders and funding decision-makers in Aotearoa. These views will be used to develop a tool to measure the value of molecular testing in cancer - a crucial step to support patient-centered precision oncology.
* Dr Minhinnick accepted a Clinical Research Training Fellowship from the Health Research Council.
Functional impact of a TACI polymorphism on myeloma biology.
About 20 genetic variants increase the risk of the blood cancer, myeloma. One specific variant carries a strong effect, it directly affects a protein on the cancerous myeloma cells, and it is common in Pasifika. Yet we have no idea how this variant increases the risk of myeloma. We will study the affected protein (called TACI) using human cells. We will create forms of the protein with and without the variant and determine how the difference affects the way they bind to other proteins, thereby affecting activity within the cell.
Medical history has repeatedly informed us that knowledge of the mechanisms of cancer is key to the development of prevention and treatment strategies. Whilst we can’t guarantee that our research will lead to new treatments, the central role of this protein in the biology of myeloma indicates that what we learn will be important in understanding this incurable disease.
Identifying genome-scale cell free tumour DNA methylation patterns in colorectal cancer.
New Zealand has some of the highest incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the world, along with a consistent increase in incidence over the last 20 years, particularly amongst the younger population and Māori patients. Therefore, developing new markers that are accessible and easily clinically deployable for tumour detection and treatment monitoring is of critical importance. We aim to generate the first NZ genome-wide DNA methylation profiles from circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) of both early and late-stage CRC patients and non-malignant controls. This research will have short and long-term applications in two critical areas: i) DNA methylation markers have the potential to improve early detection and cost effectiveness of screening, ii) Once treatment is underway, methylation markers could have a role as biomarkers for monitoring disease response and the detection of disease recurrence.
Functional impact of a TACI polymorphism on myeloma biology.
About 20 genetic variants increase the risk of the blood cancer, myeloma. One specific variant carries a strong effect, it directly affects a protein on the cancerous myeloma cells, and it is common in Pasifika. Yet we have no idea how this variant increases the risk of myeloma. We will study the affected protein (called TACI) using human cells. We will create forms of the protein with and without the variant and determine how the difference affects the way they bind to other proteins, thereby affecting activity within the cell.
Medical history has repeatedly informed us that knowledge of the mechanisms of cancer is key to the development of prevention and treatment strategies. Whilst we can’t guarantee that our research will lead to new treatments, the central role of this protein in the biology of myeloma indicates that what we learn will be important in understanding this incurable disease.
Bringing Clarity to Variants of Uncertain Significance in Cancer.
Precision oncology aims to improve outcomes for cancer patients by tailoring their treatment and management to the underlying biology of their individual tumour. However, this can only be delivered with a solid understanding of the biological effects caused by the genetic changes that occur in the tumour. Unfortunately, up to 40% of genomic alterations found in cancer are variants of uncertain significance (VUS), genomic changes for which little or no functional data exists. VUS are a major challenge to the delivery of precision oncology and there is a real and tangible need to address the biological uncertainty surrounding them. This project aims to address this need by developing standardised tests, reagents and tools to aid in the reclassification of VUS. Through this, we hope to have a positive impact on patient care either by removing uncertainty associated with benign variants or confirming the disease association of oncogenic ones, potentially opening up new treatment options where they exist.
Attendance at the 5th Global Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Congress, California June 2023.
Attendance at the British Gynaecological Cancer Society Annual Scientific Meeting 2023.
Attendance at Current Issues and Future Direction: Preventing Cervical Cancer 2022.
Attendance at the Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) 2022 annual meeting in Spokane, Washington, USA.
PhD student to attend and present at the International Society of Extracellular Vesicles Annual Meeting in Seattle in 2023.
Travel to attend CYTO conference and visit Laboratories in Canada.
The impact of rare copy number variants as modifiers of BRCA1 associated breast cancer risk.
Women at high-risk of breast cancer are in need of new and effective prevention strategies. Traditional options for breast cancer prevention include risk-reducing surgery, however this strategy is unwanted by many women due to a variety of reasons, such as fertility and menopause concerns. Providing doctors with a non-invasive and easily accessible preventative therapy for women at high risk of developing breast cancer would have numerous benefits for the health system, and for the patients and their whānau. Based on our recent genetic discovery, we aim to investigate whether a drug used in oral contraceptives (ethinylestradiol) can be repurposed as a novel preventative therapy for women at high-risk of breast cancer. This innovative and potentially transformative study is a vital step towards the development of a personalised preventative treatment that lowers the risk of breast cancer in high-risk individuals, resulting in fewer breast cancer diagnoses.
