Prof Paul Workman

Paul Workman

Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics
The Institute of Cancer Research
Sutton

Developing targeted cancer treatments

Professor Paul Workman is one of the UK's leading experts in the discovery and development of new cancer drugs. He coordinates teams of chemists, biologists and pharmacologists to take new drugs through into clinical trials. He is Director of the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research, which provides researchers with the very latest technologies for drug discovery.

Watch this short video of Professor Workman talking about some of the new drugs he is working on:

Targeting cancer cells

In recent years, scientists have learnt a great deal about how faulty genes and proteins cause cancer. Professor Workman is designing drugs that specifically block the action of these faulty proteins and the pathways they control in cancer cells.

By targeting these Achilles' heels of cancer, he hopes to develop treatments that effectively kill tumour cells and cause minimal damage to normal cells and tissues. In addition, these 'targeted drugs' may allow doctors to tailor patients' treatment according to the faults found within their cancer cells.

Developing new drugs

Professor Workman's team are particularly interested in 'molecular chaperones' as drug targets. Chaperones act as the protectors of the cell ensuring that proteins function properly. However, in cancer cells, chaperones help many of the faulty proteins to work. Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research have developed drugs targeting the HSP90 chaperone as a means to disrupt many critical pathways in cancer cells. The team has identified a wide range of molecules that interact with HSP90, which could be targeted using new cancer drugs in the future.

Professor Workman's group is also searching for molecules that can block the action of PI3 kinase, a signalling molecule that many cancer cells need to keep them alive.

Through the Institute's close relationship with the Royal Marsden Hospital, Professor Workman has been able to start testing many of these novel drugs in  clinical trials. HSP90 inhibitors have already shown promise for the treatment of melanoma skin cancer.

Professor Workman also works closely with partners in industry to get targeted drugs into trials. These efforts will hopefully lead to the development of more effective, less toxic drugs for a wide range of different cancers.

Listen to an audio package featuring Professor Workman talking about the first steps in the journey to developing new cancer drugs:

And here's an interview with Professor Workman where he talks about the Centre for Cancer Therapeutics, and the new cancer drugs coming through the pipeline:

icon-a-z-20x20

Visit our A-Z topic pages

 

If you want to help support more research like this, please visit our Donate Now page.