By working on a possible new cancer treatment, Associate Professor Michelle Wykes is on a mission to beat cancer. Her personal account of the work so far is compelling:
"I simply could not believe what I’d found – could this be cancer’s vulnerability? The discovery came as I investigated how the immune system responded to malaria. I wanted to help the half a million children who die every year from this dreadful illness. I never thought it would lead to new hope for breast and colorectal cancer treatment.
Finding this potential ‘Masterswitch’ which turns on the body’s dendritic cells, central to the body’s immune response, was incredibly exciting. We thought we could use this switch to turn on the body’s fighter T-cells to recognise and attack cancer cells.
The pre-clinical laboratory results were simply breathtaking.
We started with Micro Satellite Stable (MSS) #bowel cancers, responsible for about 80 percent of all bowel cancers. Those who have this type of cancer have very few good treatment options and outcomes sadly reflect this.
It’s the same for people diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. The treatment options are just not good.
To our amazement, results obtained in pre-clinical models showed an 80 percent success rate clearing the cancers!
And after ten months, it hadn’t grown back.
The next step was to see whether results could be repeated in blood samples from metastatic colon cancer patients at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
They showed the same stunning results.
We have found something capable of starting an immune war.
So rather than just depending on drugs for treatment, we hope to train our own immune system to control cancer permanently.
I really feel the frustration of patients I meet. They are desperately seeking a treatment and I think we may have one, but it needs further development.
With your help, we can progress this vital research and other exciting medical breakthroughs, providing real hope to patients and their loved ones," Associate Professor Wykes said.
