Tumour Microenvironment in Cancer Metastasis and Therapy Resistance Image Dr Bin-Zhi Qian - Reader, Principal Investigator, Chancellor’s Fellow & CRUK Career Development Fellow Research in a Nutshell Metastatic disease, spread of tumour cells from the primary tumour into other organs of the body, remains the number one threat of patients of breast and prostate cancer despite great improvement in early diagnosis and surgical removal. Thus, our long term research goal is to understand the mechanism of cancer metastasis and develop effective therapeutic approaches. Our specific focus is on interactions between metastatic tumour cells and associated host cell types which has been largely overlooked in the past. To this end, we have developed a series of new in vivo models, novel imaging technologies and in vitro and in vivo function assays. There are currently three major areas of research: Further understand the mechanism of host cells promotion of cancer metastasis with a focus on myeloid cells and mesenchymal stem cells. Develop novel therapeutic strategies against metastatic disease by targeting host-derived factors. Further understand the role of tumour microenvironment in drug resistance. Translate our findings into humanized models and patient derived samples in collaboration with clinicians. Our objective is to provide novel insights into the disease mechanism and develop novel therapeutic approaches for effective treatment of metastatic disease. Research Programme Opportunities People Bin-Zhi Qian Principal Investigator, CRUK Career Development Fellow and UoE Chancellor’s Fellow Galadrielle Biver Postdoctoral Research Fellow Ashley Dorning Laboratory Manager Ruoyu Ma PhD student Nikki Graham PhD student Xue-Feng Li Postdotoral Research Fellow Alex Williamson Master student Shuiqing Wu Visiting Scientist Alumni Heyuan Li Master student Jian Cao Visiting Scientist Meghan Maslen Master student Jiali Zhang Visiting Scientist Contact binzhi.qian@ed.ac.uk HTML Collaborations Professor David Cameron, University of Edinburgh Professor Margaret Frame, University of Edinburgh Dr Larry Hayward and Dr Jeremy Thomas, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh Professor Jeffrey W. Pollard, University of Edinburgh Dr Charles L. Sawyers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York Dr Brett S. Carver, Weill Cornell Medical College and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York Partners and Funders Cancer Research UK/Career Development Fellowship/2015-2021/£1.5million European Research Council Starting Grant/2017-2022/€1.5million Scientific Themes Tumour microenvironment, bone metastasis, therapy resistance Technology Expertise Metastasis, intra-vital imaging, macrophages, breast cancer, prostate cancer, mesenchymal cell This article was published on 2024-09-23
