Dr Brooke Pereira is a Cancer Institute NSW Fellow and researcher at The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, where her research focuses on understanding and overcoming treatment resistance in pancreatic cancer.
Pankind has been supporting Dr Brooke Pereira's research for a number of years, including a grant in 2021 and most recently with the 2024 New Treatment grant to support her research into targeted cancer treatments.
Dr Pereira's research led her to being awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship in the United States where she spent a year at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia working with Professor Edna (Eti) Cukierman, a global expert in the pancreatic tumour microenvironment.
Dr Pereira is now back in Australia at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, where she is continuing to focus on one of the most challenging hurdles in oncology, making resistant tumour responsive to therapy.
"Australia does amazing research, but we are very isolated. I think that the quality of the work that comes out of Australia is amazing, but we just need to continue to connect with other people in other countries as well."
- Dr Brooke Pereira, on the importance of international collaboration during her Fulbright Scholarship at Fox Chase Cancer Center
Targeting the "master regulator"
Drug resistance is a major obstacle in pancreatic cancer treatment. The core of Brooke's research involves KRAS inhibitors, an important new type of targeted cancer treatment that still faces the obstacle of drug resistance. The culprit is often fibrosis, a dense, scar-like tissue that acts as a physical and chemical shield for the tumour.
By targeting a specific molecule called thrombospondin-1, the team hopes to dismantle this shield.
My hypothesis is that thrombospondin-1 acts as a master regulator of the fibrotic response. By targeting and reducing it, we might be able to enhance the response to KRAS-targeted therapy
While in the United States, the project evolved in unexpected ways. By studying fibroblasts. the “support cells” that encourage cancer to grow, Dr Pereira discovered that KRAS inhibitors may also affect these cells, not just the cancer cells themselves and that modern drugs might be doing more than originally thought.
KRAS inhibitors might actually have a role on the fibroblasts as well, the interactions with the drugs (are) not necessarily only affecting the cancer cells, but also the fibroblasts themselves.
The Road Ahead
Now back at the Garvan Institute, the focus has shifted to sophisticated real-time monitoring using intravital imaging. This allows the team to observe how tumours in live models respond to treatment over time, rather than only seeing the results at the endpoint.
With Pankind's support serving as a catalyst, Brooke has secured a further three-year fellowship to continue advancing this research.
"There is a lot of optimisation along the way. All the signs are there. We just need to do the work".
