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| Dr Zahra Sabouri-Thompson |
Patients
diagnosed with lymphoma are set to benefit from new research at Monash
University thanks to a Victorian Cancer Agency grant.
Research
fellow Dr Zahra Sabouri-Thompson, Blood Cancer Therapeutics
Laboratory
at the Monash Health Translation Precinct was awarded the highly competitive
Early Career Seed grant worth $150,000 to improve outcomes for patients with
T-cell lymphoma.
Lymphoma
is the fifth most common cancer in Australia, and the most common blood cancer.
Every year more than 7000 new cases are diagnosed, the incidence having more
than doubled in the last 20 years.
Lymphoma is a cancer that develops from either B-cell or
T-cells—different types of blood cells of the immune system.
“Unlike B-cell lymphoma, T-cell lymphoma is much harder to
treat and often becomes resistant to conventional chemotherapy,” Dr
Sabouri-Thompson said.
“Our
team has previously noticed that some of the genes that are mutated
in T-cell lymphoma are also seen in another disease, myelodysplasia, a bone
marrow cancer.”
“This grant enables us to now test an exciting new
myelodysplasia drug, Guadecitabine
in T-cell lymphoma.”
Dr Sabouri-Thompson said this project will lead to a better
understanding of how Guadecitabine
works in T-cell lymphoma, translating to improved outcomes for patients with
the disease.
The Blood Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory is headed by Associate Professor
Jake Shortt, who is also consultant Haematologist at Monash Health.
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