“Diversity of thinking brings innovation”: Will discovery research lead to new cancer treatments? |Pioneering cancer research

Imagine being able to harness the power of people's immune systems to find and destroy cancer cells. Thanks to the work of pioneering researchers, immunotherapy has become a viable treatment for some patients.

But this innovative new approach won't work for everyone. So to realize its full potential, researchers need to figure out why it works better for some people and cancers than others. This is where discovery research comes into play.

Simply put, discovery research is the study of fundamental cancer biology, from the processes involved in controlling cell division to how cancer evolves, adapts, and interacts with the immune system. It's about discovering clues that can lead to the development of innovative new cancer treatments. They span a wide range of disciplines, including biology, chemistry, and data science, bringing different perspectives to overcome difficult problems.

This research is primarily done in the laboratory and typically uses cells or model systems such as yeast, fruit flies, worms, and mice. Promising results can be further developed through translational research, which turns insights from the discovery stage into something actionable, such as a new drug. Clinical research, the final stage of cancer research, involves determining the safety and benefits of new treatments and testing them in people through clinical trials.

However, there are still many unanswered questions about cancer, and attractive new cancer treatments rely on strong research during the discovery phase that will ultimately lead to solutions. “There's still a lot of discovery work to be done,” says Dr Lynn Turner, director of research at the UK-based charity Worldwide Cancer Research. “Without that, we won't have the knowledge and breakthroughs we need.”

funding treatments
Given the importance of discovery research and the rising incidence of cancer worldwide, the lack of funding for it is concerning. Globally, it has declined by 25% since 2006. Part of the reason is that it's difficult to predict which projects will transform cancer care and which will hit a wall. Therefore, many governments and charities prefer to fund clinical studies that produce clearly identifiable results, often related to one type of cancer. However, endorsing only “safe” ideas can leave out other ideas that have real potential to become innovative cancer interventions.

Worldwide Cancer Research takes a different approach, focusing on discovery research across all types of cancer. “Our scientists are asking big questions,” Turner said. “They are confident that their ideas will lead to new ways to diagnose, prevent and treat cancer.” It comes with it,” she added. Nevertheless, great intellectual risks can also lead to unexpected discoveries that save lives.

But why is cancer so difficult to cure in the first place? First of all, because “cancer” is actually an umbrella term for more than 200 different diseases. Each broad cancer type has many subtypes, and each subtype differs at the genetic and molecular level. In fact, there are countless genetic mutations that change how cancer forms, grows, and spreads.

Treatment may destroy all of one type of cell in a tumor, but resistant cells may survive and grow again. These genetic mutations are also the reason why cancer can spread to other places in the body if not detected early. New mutations give new lines of cancer cells the ability to survive in the bloodstream and migrate elsewhere.

“Even if two people have the same type of cancer, the cancer can behave very differently in their bodies,” Turner says. “Patient responses to treatment can also vary widely, so unfortunately a drug that works for one person may not work for another.”

think outside the box
Cancer cells are difficult to kill, but breakthrough discoveries that lead to treatments can come from anywhere. “We strongly believe that diversity of thought leads to more innovation,” says Turner. “What we often receive is [funding] We also receive applications from researchers without specialized knowledge of cancer. ”

Worldwide Cancer Research funds discovery research in the UK and around the world. “Cancer is a global problem… [and] Our charity’s ethos from the beginning has been to fund the best and most innovative research, wherever it comes from,” says Turner. “And that’s what we continue to do today.”

Since its establishment in 1979, the charity has £200m invested in over 2,000 projects across 35 countries. All projects receiving funding must demonstrate a “clear logic,” but many are highly creative and original, Turner says.

one team of researchers For example, understanding how our heart beats help make cancer in this organ so rare and developing wearable devices that mimic this process to stop the spread of cancer. I'm currently trying to do that. Professor Turner said lead researcher Dr Selena Zacchinha had developed some promising preliminary data showing that the heart's constant pumping action “means the cells don't develop into cancer cells”.

Funding applications focused on the relationship between the human microbiome and cancer are also increasing. “We know very little about what's going on in the microbiome of healthy people,” Turner said. So research exploring how the microbiome affects cancer “could potentially be very interesting,” he said.

Research is also underway that may help develop new cancer immunotherapies. one teamA research team led by Professor David Withers has developed an innovative new method to track the movement of immune cells inside and outside tumors and between different tissues in the body. They are using this approach to better understand the cells that orchestrate anti-tumor responses. “Normally cancers manage to dampen the activity of those cells, but he's looking at how cancers can be reactivated,” Turner says. Further research could improve current immunotherapies and make them effective for even more patients.

Treatments are desperately needed to stop cancer from shortening lives, but this can only be achieved by funding discovery research that leads to further breakthroughs. “We understand cancer better,” Turner says. “But there is still much to discover.”

Supporting the search for new treatments
Find out more about the search for new treatments funded by Worldwide Cancer Research and how you can support the charity's work. worldcancerresearch.org/donate