NUS teams up against cancer
Published: 10 Feb 2017
In light of World Cancer Day, NUS cancer researchers have been actively learning more about the disease and conducting groundbreaking work to come up with new treatment solutions.
Adjunct Professor Goh Boon Cher has recently discovered an approach to conquer cancer cells through immunotherapy, using antibodies known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. The inhibitors block the proteins expressed on cancer cells that evade detection and removal by the body’s immune cells, and allowing our immune system to kill cancerous cells. This allows patients to avoid cytotoxic treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Dr Sudhakar Jha from the Department of Biochemistry has found that controlling levels of the TIP60 protein, a tumour suppressor, may lower the spread of breast cancer cells. Another team, led by Dr Ruby Huang from the Department of Anatomy, identified a molecule called AXL which interacts with other proteins to form a cellular pathway for the spread of an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. The findings suggest that blocking AXL could be an effective treatment option for patients.
Read more at NUS Highlights.
