Cancer

Cells that reside in the epidermis can develop into cancerous growth. Defined by cell of origin, skin cancer mainly includes basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma. The main cause of skin cancer is UV exposure and there are also congenital conditions in which patients are predisposed to develop skin cancer. All types of skin cancers, if diagnosed early have high survival rates through surgical removal of cancerous tissue, however, if diagnosed is late it can be lethal, 5 year survival rate of stage 4 melanoma is only 30%. Key to reduce skin cancer related mortality is early diagnosis. Novel therapeutics focus on prevention and elimination of metastatic growth are required to treat late-stage skin cancer.

Key themes include

• Adhesion network signalling and the tumour microenvironment in regulation of tumour growth and metastasis (Brunton).
• Using zebrafish transgenic models and a variety of genetic tools for in vivo live imaging studies of pre-neoplastic development in larval skin tissue, with an emphasis on the role of inflammatory cells (Feng, Elliot).
• Investigating pathology and tumour genomics of skin cancers in the MRC-funded DERMATLAS project (Arends).
• Using keratinocyte monolayer and skin organoid culture model to investigate early keratinocyte tumorigenesis (Earp).
• Understanding the mechanisms by which apoptotic tumour cells condition the tumour micro-environment (Gregory).
• Developing and applying the latest advances in image-based high content cell screening technologies together with high throughput protein microarray and NanoString profiling at pathway network level to innovate drug discovery across cancers of unmet need. This includes cell-based screening technologies, biomarker discovery and drug MOA studies (Carragher).

Brunton Lab

Carragher Lab

Feng Lab