Breast Cancer
Exercise Trial
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The introduction of an appropriate and tailored exercise and physically active program for patients following breast cancer treatment is very important. It can help to improve the well-being, physical functioning and overall quality of life to those people who have received positive outcomes to their treatment.
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Dr. Sandi Hayes
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
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Linking diabetes to an increased risk of breast and prostate cancer
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The project will study how elevated glucose and insulin levels - the primary characteristics of Type 2 diabetes – are linked to increased risk of breast and prostate cancers. Firstly, the project will elucidate novel mechanisms of glucose- and insulin-stimulated glucose supply to and growth of breast and prostate cancer cells. Secondly, an animal models of Type 2 diabetes will be used to study how glucose and insulin promote breast and prostate tumour growth. Traditionally, diabetes and cancer have been viewed and treated as separate entities. Outcomes of the research may thus have significant implications for patient wellbeing.
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Dr Suzanne Rogers PhD
Research Fellow/
Research Group Leader
The University of Melbourne
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Modification of Glycolipids to Provide Th1 Skewing and Anti-tumour Immunity |
The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research (MIMR) cancer vaccine programme involves instructing the patient’s own immune system to selectively recognise and destroy cancer cells whilst leaving normal cells unaffected. This is achieved by isolating cancer and specialised immune cells from the patient, inducing apoptosis (cell death) in the cancer cells, priming (mixing) the isolated immune cells with the dead cancer cells and a glycolipid, then injecting the ‘activated’ immune cells back into the patient. While the dead cancer cells act as the ‘ignition’ by telling the immune system what to recognise, the glycolipid acts as the ‘throttle’ and controls the intensity of the immune response.
Though the MIMR cancer vaccine programme has been successful and is applicable to wide-variety of cancers, including breast-cancer, improvements to the efficacy of the vaccine can be made through the choice of glycolipid used to ‘activate’ the immune system. We are currently synthesising a variety of glycoplipids that we believe will better tailor the immune system towards cancer destruction and thereby lead to more effective cancer therapies.
Researchers Dr. Ian Hermans (MIMR), Dr Mattie Timmer (Victoria University of Wellington), Dr. Bridget Stocker (MIMR), and PhD student Emma Dangerfield.
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