Our research into drug resistance
Cancer is a complex disease both to understand and to treat. One of the greatest challenges facing scientists and doctors is the problem of ‘drug resistance’.
This is where a person's cancer does not respond to a treatment that works well for others with the same disease. In some cases, people develop resistance during the course of their treatment - the drugs that they were initially prescribed stop working.
Cancer Research UK-funded scientists are leading the world in understanding drug resistance and identifying ways to overcome this hurdle. Importantly, this information could also allow doctors in the future to predict who will and who won’t respond well to particular drugs.
Below are some of the highlights of our drug resistance research portfolio
On this page
Bowel cancer
Prof Caroline Dive
Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Group
Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester
Developing new cancer treatments
Professor Caroline Dive leads the Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Group at the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester. Her team carry out lab studies and early clinical research into new cancer drugs. Professor Dive also carries out important research into drug resistance in bowel cancer.
Prof Paddy Johnston
Cancer Research UK Drug Resistance Group
Queen's University, Belfast
Understanding drug resistance in bowel cancer
Professor Paddy Johnston is Dean of the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen's University, Belfast and is an international leader in bowel cancer research. His team's cutting-edge work is investigating why some bowel cancers develop resistance to chemotherapy. This research will reveal new ways to overcome the problem of resistance and could save many lives in the future.
Breast cancer
Dr Simak Ali
Breast Cancer Research Group
Imperial College School of Medicine, London
Understanding breast cancer resistance to hormone treatments
Dr Simak Ali leads the Breast Cancer Research Group based at the Hammersmith Hospital. The team's research focuses on understanding how and why some breast cancers become resistant to hormone treatments such as tamoxifen and anastrozole.
Dr Jason Carroll
Nuclear Receptor Transcription Laboratory
Cambridge Research Institute, Cambridge
Breast cancer: the yin and yang of oestrogen and tamoxifen
Dr Jason Carroll based at our Cambridge Research Institute is exploring the role of the oestrogen receptor (ER) in breast cancer development and treatment. In particular, he is studying how the hormone oestrogen fuels the growth of breast cancer cells by binding to the ER. And his work is focusing on how tamoxifen, a commonly used breast cancer drug, works by blocking the ER. This pioneering work is providing important insights into how some breast cancers become resistant to treatment.
Prof Charles Swanton
Translational Cancer Therapeutics Laboratory
Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, London
Discovering why some breast cancers are resistant to treatment
Professor Charles Swanton is based at our London Research Institute and is finding out how some cancers become resistant to the drugs used to treat them. In particular, he is looking at why drugs known as taxanes are not always effective in women with breast cancer. Professor Swanton specialises in translational research – using his discoveries in drug resistance to develop new ways to effectively treat cancer.
Lung cancer
Prof Michael Seckl
Department of Medical Oncology
Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals, London
Understanding and improving drug resistance in lung cancer patients
World-class scientist Professor Michael Seckl works at the Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals, part of Imperial College London. He is leading a clinical trial called LungStar, for people with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). He is also investigating how some lung cancers become resistant to chemotherapy. Professor Seckl co-ordinates lab studies into the disease and uses his findings to improve treatments for patients.
Ovarian cancer
Dr James Brenton
Functional Genomics of Ovarian Cancer
Cambridge Research Institute, Cambridge
Finding new ways to overcome drug resistance in ovarian cancer
Dr James Brenton is based at our Cambridge Research Institute. He is studying why cancer treatments work for some people and not others even though they have the same disease. His research particularly focuses on ovarian cancer and understanding why some women respond well to existing chemotherapy drugs while others have tumours that are 'resistant' to treatment.
Prof Robert Brown
Epigenetics Team
Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London
'Epigenetics' and the problem of drug resistance
Professor Robert Brown is currently investigating how some cancers, in particular ovarian cancers, become resistant to chemotherapy. Through this work, he is developing important new ways to overcome this huge problem of drug resistance. Professor Brown leads two research teams based at Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research.
Prof Hani Gabra
Section of Medicine, Department of Oncology
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London
Understanding drug resistance in ovarian cancer
Professor Hani Gabra is head of the Section of Molecular Therapeutics at Imperial College, London. His research focuses on ovarian cancer. He is currently investigating the genes and proteins that cause resistance to chemotherapy drugs such as carboplatin.
Prof Stan Kaye
Section of Medicine
The Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton
Developing new cancer treatments
Professor Stan Kaye is Chairman of the Section of Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). He also leads the Drug Development Unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital. These two roles allow Professor Kaye to take new drugs discovered in the lab and test them in clinical trials in patients. In particular, his research focuses on ovarian cancer.
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