Every year in New Zealand, more than 7,000 Kiwis are diagnosed with melanoma and around 300 people die from this cancer. About 20% of patients have melanoma with a particular genetic signature, known as NRAS-mutant melanoma, for which there are few treatments and if these fail there is little hope. 

Associate Professor Stephen Jamieson is focused on changing that. He wants to find a way to stop the interaction of two proteins, SHOC2 and RAS, because when these proteins bind together inside NRAS-mutant melanoma cells they help the cancer cells to grow and survive.

With CRTNZ funding Jamieson’s team set out to create a new drug discovery system to find new potential medicines that stop SHOC2 binding to RAS. A lot of groundwork was needed. First his team created a computer-based screen to rapidly search through millions compounds to predict which compounds might be promising candidates for the design of future medicines. The next step was to set up a laboratory test that can tell the researchers if the computer-predicted compounds actually stop SHOC2 binding within cells. 

Jamieson has been successful in setting up a cutting edge drug discovery programme and is now scaling up his search for new potential treatments.

Cancer Research Trust is proud to help dedicated researchers like Associate Professor Jamieson to embark on ambitious new programmes of research to discover tomorrow’s cancer treatments.