Application of Cancer-Testis Genes/Antigens to Address Major Unmet Clinical Needs in Oncology

Cancer still kills too many people and remains a particular challenge in Wales. Considerable numbers of lives could be saved, and many cancer patients could be alleviated from unnecessary treatments if we can find easy to use, non-invasive and accurate methods to identify cancers earlier. These methodologies can also help inform medical teams of the best pathway of care/treatment for individual patients, further enhancing positive outcomes and enabling more cost-effective resource allocation. Additionally, there are few treatments for some prevalent late-stage cancers, leaving many patients with no effective therapeutic options.

We have pinpointed three areas of the patient care pathway where the identification of factors that are specifically used by cancer cells, but not healthy cells, could provide new interventions to save lives. These factors are often referred to as ‘biomarkers’ and are mostly protein molecules that help the cancer to survive and progress. We have identified a number of these target molecules and have assembled a mixed team of scientists, medical doctors, computational experts and technology partners who will enable us to exploit these. This will provide technologies to diagnose cancer earlier and to develop new therapeutics and methods to direct the most effective individualised care pathway.