Watch Stuart's presentation...
Monday, 6 March 2017
Combination of ground-breaking treatments offer powerful new path for blood cancer therapies
 |
| Associate Professor Jake Shortt, Monash University |
Researchers at Monash University and Peter MacCallum Cancer
Centre have identified for the first time how a new class of epigenetic drug
engages with the immune system to kill off cancer cells, offering powerful new
pathways for enhanced blood cancer therapies.
BET-inhibitors are a relatively new class of drug which work
to ‘switch off’ important cancer-causing genes expressed within tumour cells. International
clinical trials of BET-inhibitors for the treatment of blood cancers, such as
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, are now underway including at Monash and Peter
Mac. However to date, this research has
focused on the direct effects of the drugs in inducing cancer cell death and understanding
how resistance emerges.
In research published last week in Cell Reports, the team at
Peter Mac and Monash have demonstrated the potential for combining
ground-breaking epigenetic and immune-based treatments for more potent results.
Experiments conducted as part of the research, showed that immune-competent
mice with lymphoma had a far greater response to BET-inhibitors than their
immune-deficient counterparts.
In addition to their primary function, the research showed
the BET inhibitors were able to ‘switch off’ a protein called PD-L1, which is
used by tumour cells to hide from the immune system. Through this mechanism,
the BET-inhibitors were making tumour cells more sensitive to attack from the
immune system.
The power of an activated immune system in eliminating
tumour cells has been proven through ‘blockbuster’ drugs such as ‘Keytruda’ and
‘Opdivo’, which also target the PD-L1 pathway. Building on this knowledge, this
research confirmed that the combinations of BET-inhibitor with other immune
therapies work better in lymphoma than either therapy alone.
Based on laboratory research performed at Peter Mac, the
Monash team is currently trialling a combination of a different epigenetic drug
called Dinaciclib with the anti-PD1 therapy, Keytruda in relapsed lymphoma,
myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia with further clinical trials for the
combination therapy likely to emerge as a result of this research.
This research was
supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia;
Victorian Cancer Agency; Cancer Council Victoria; Snowdome Foundation, The Kids
Cancer Project, and Roche. Core technologies enabling the research are
supported by the Australian Cancer Research Foundation and Peter MacCallum
Cancer Foundation.
International Women's Day event at MMC, 8 March
All staff are invited to a special event to
celebrate International Women’s Day and the 2017 theme of ‘Be Bold for
Change’.
Listen to inspiring guest speaker Dr Susan Carland
and join us in acknowledging the extraordinary achievements of Monash Health
women who have been ‘Bold for Change’.
Wednesday 8 March, 1.45pm - 3.30pm. Lecture Theatre 1 at Monash Medical Centre
World Kidney Day, 9 March
is the global awareness campaign that aims at increasing awareness of the importance of our
kidneys to our health and reduce the impact of kidney disease and its associated problems
worldwide.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a non-communicable disease that affects 1 in 10 people
worldwide. While severity can vary, CKD is incurable and causes the patient to need lifelong
care. As the incidence of kidney disease escalates, World Kidney Day plays a crucial al role in educating the public, the medical community and governments and encouraging prevention and early detection of kidney disease.
Join us in our walk - see details HERE.
Walk with MonashHealth Nephrology 9 March - World Kidney Day
You are invited to join the "Walk with MonashHealth Nephrology" at 1pm, Thursday 9 March from the main entrance of Monash Medical Centre, Clayton.
Bring your friends, colleagues and walking shoes. We will walk to the Fregon Reserve and back (total distance 1.5km) as we join in the global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of a healthy lifestyle for healthy kidneys.
All participants will receive a FREE day at Healthwise & Fitness Centre (Clayton, Dandenong or Kingston) during Kidney Week (9-16 March 2017). Collect your free pass on the day!
Did you know?
- 10% of the global population is affected by Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
- 600 million people in the world are affected by obesity, 220 million of whom are schoolaged children.
- Individuals affected by obesity have an 83% increased risk of CKD, compared to individuals with a healthy weight.
- Obesity is a well-established risk factor for developing major precursors to CKD and ESRD, such as diabetes, hypertension and kidney stones
- Strategies to reduce excess weight and prevent the development of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, will reduce the risk of kidney disease
For more information, contact the Department of Nephrology: 9594 3520/3529.
CID Weekly Seminar Series: Presented by Dr Sarah Jones and Dr Poh-Yi Gan, 7 March
Tuesday 7 March, 12:00 - 12:30pm, Seminar Room 1, TRF Building
New directions in GILZ research: shining a light on an
important new target for treatment of autoimmune diseases
Dr Sarah
Jones
Research
Fellow, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases
For years
our group has sought to identify and characterise a safer alternative to
glucocorticoids (“steroids”) for treatment of patients with autoimmune
diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). GILZ has emerged as
a strong candidate, with important roles in regulating activation and effector
function in multiple types of immune cells that contribute to disease
pathogenesis. I will highlight some new directions for our research, and steps
we are taking on the pathway to clinical translation of our work.
Expanding endogenous antigen specific T regulatory
cells as therapy in autoimmune anti-MPO GN
Dr
Poh-Yi Gan
Research
Fellow, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases
Myeloperoxidase
anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antigen associated glomerulonephritis (MPO-ANCA GN)
is a major cause of renal failure. Despite current therapies, this disease has
considerable therapeutic toxicities and a 30% mortality at five years. This
disease has been shown to result from autoimmunity to MPO in neutrophil
lysosomes. Recent advances in the biological manipulation of autoimmunity by
induction of therapeutic regulatory T cells (Tregs) offers more specific,
safer, alternative therapies. An emerging strategy for enhancing
immunomoulation to autoantigens after the development of autoimmunity has been
to re-present the autoantigenic immunodominant peptides into physiological
homeostatic pathways of apoptotic cell clearance.
The Ritchie Centre Special Seminar: Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy and Intrinsic Vulnerability, 7 March
 |
| Professor Hannah Kinney |
Presented by Professor Hannah Kinney MD, Professor of Pathology and Assistant Professor Richard Goldstein MD, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Hannah's research is directed at defining the causes of SIDS. Hannah and her team are testing the idea that SIDS, or a subset of SIDS, is due to a developmental brainstem defect in autonomic and/or respiratory control during sleep. Focusing specifically on the arcuate nucleus in the ventral medulla area of the brainstem -- important in the detection of carbon dioxide and other respiratory and blood pressure responses -- her team has identified abnormalities that put an infant at risk for sudden death during sleep.
Hannah's studies have led to an expanded
hypothesis concerning the role of the developing ventral medulla in SIDS: SIDS,
or a subset of SIDS, is due to a developmental abnormality in a ventral network
composed of rhombic-lip derived, serotonergic neurons, and that this
abnormality results in a failure of protective responses to life-threatening
challenges (e.g., asphyxia, hypoxia, hypercapnia) during sleep. She has published over 160 peer reviewed manuscripts from her work, including her
seminal 1994 paper on “The Triple Risk Model” which is still used to define our
basic understanding of SIDS mechanisms.
Richard is the
Director of Robert's program - a service which provides support to families who
have lost a child under 3 years of age.
There will be opportunities to speak with Hannah and
Rick on the day - please contact Rosemary Horne (Rosemary.Horne@monash.edu) if you would like to make a time.
Department of Immunology seminar series: Infection-Induced Tertiary Germinal Centres, 7 March
Group Leader, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
Tuesday 7 March, 11am-12pm, Lecture Theatre, Level 5, Alfred Centre
Michelle Linterman is a group leader at Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK. Her principle research focus is on how different cell types collaborate in the
germinal centre to generate a robust antibody response following vaccination.
Michelle received her PhD in Immunology from the Australian National University in Canberra, where she investigated a novel mechanism of immunological tolerance with Prof. Carola Vinuesa. Michelle did a post-doc with Prof. Ken Smith at the University of Cambridge, where she described a population of regulatory T cells within the germinal centre.
Germinal centre-like structures can form in nonlymphoid tissues following infection, but the requirements for their formation and function are not well characterized; in particular how peripheral tissues are remodeled by infection to facilitate the recruitment of lymphocytes and establish de novo a stromal network. This seminar will focus on how influenza-induced lung germinal centres are formed, and whether these structures follow the same rules as their counterparts in secondary lymphoid tissues.
PhD confirmation milestone, Sarah Moody, 16 March
All staff and students are invited to Sarah Moody's confirmation milestone.16 March at 10am, Hudson Institute Level 2 meeting room.
Title: Investigating the effects of TGFBeta
signalling on epigenetic regulation of germ cells during fetal development
Synopsis: Fetal germ cell development is a
complex process which includes epigenetic reprogramming. The PIWI/piRNA
pathway is crucial for the repression of transposable elements during this
time, and little is known about how methylation is controlled. TGFbeta
signalling is an important pathway involved in testis development and my
project will test the hypothesis that changes in TGFbeta signalling will alter
PIWI/piRNA machinery synthesis.
Supervisors: Prof. Kate Loveland and Dr Patrick
Western
"Euglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus;The Achilles Heel Of The SGLT2 Inhibitors?", 9th March
The talk presented at the Diabetes Unit Educational
Meeting on 9th March will be by Dr Shamil Cooray, Diabetes and Female Reproductive
Fellow at MMC.
This year he will be exploring the interface between Diabetes,
the Metabolic Syndrome, and Pregnancy.
9 March, 8am-9am, Diabetes Centre, Special Medicine Building
“Animal Use in Research & Teaching” – Friday 31 March
Monash University requires that:
• All new
research staff and students using live animals complete the
information session “Animal Use in Research and
Teaching”.
• Researchers,
Teachers and students must have attended or enrolled
in the next available session to be named on an animal
ethics application.
Date: Friday 31 March 2017
Time: 10am – 12:30pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre S10, 16 Rainforest Walk, Clayton
Campus
Register on-line -
Call for Applications - Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund Round 1
The Victorian Medical
Research Acceleration Fund aims to support those in the early stages of health
and medical research to translate their work into health and economic
outcomes. The Victorian Cancer Agency is pleased to pass on a call for applications to the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund.
Please visit www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/clinical-trials-and-research/health-and-medical-research/victorian-medical-research-acceleration-fund for more details.
Please note this is not a Victorian Cancer Agency funded initiative.
House sitter required for 1 week in April 2017
Graham Jenkin (OBG/ Ritchie
Centre) is looking for a house sitter(s) to take care of his home in
Mount Waverley in Early April for a week. This includes looking after Graham's 14 month old Golden Retriever, Tess, and dark tabby cat, Jazz, while he visits Vietnam for a week. Tess needs walking every day by an experienced dog
walker; Jazz just needs food and a cuddle.The house backs onto a reserve, providing a great outlook and an interesting place to walk the dog. The garden, heated pool and spa will need minimal care for that period.
The house is a short walk to shops, Mount Waverley train station and bus services direct to Monash and MMC.
Please contact graham.jenkin@monash.edu or visit
him at The Ritchie Centre, Level 5 TRF if you are interested.
Sex Differences in Long-Term Mortality After Stroke in the INSTRUCT (INternational STRoke oUtComes sTudy): A Meta-Analysis of Individual Participant Data
Amanda Thrift, Dominique Cadilhac et al. published in Circulation. Cardiovascular and Quality Outcomes.Read article here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)