| Project title | Delivering the right drug to the right patient: predictive biomarker discovery |
|---|---|
Grant Amount | $118,829 |
Institution | Kolling Institute of Medical Research |
Investigator Team | Principal investigators Dr. Kerrie McDonald with associate investigators |
Grant Type | Equipment Grant |
Years | 2007 – 2010 |
Diffuse infiltrative gliomas are the most common primary tumour of the brain and are associated with a very poor survival.
Generally, glioma patients are administered the ‘one drug fits all’ treatment approach. After surgical removal of the tumour, all patients are treated with radiotherapy and temozolomide chemotherapy. This approach treats large patient populations as identical groups. Almost three out of four patients will fail this first line treatment.
The discovery and development of target biomarkers that can predict how a patient will respond to treatment is critically needed to guide second line therapy decisions, especially considering the short overall survival time in patients diagnosed with glioma.
This grant will fund a microscope and autostainer, which are significant core pieces of equipment that will lead to rapid translation from the bench to the bedside. This project has been specifically designed for improved therapy for patients with high grade gliomas. However, the techniques can be readily adapted to paediatric brain tumour marker discovery and other cancers.