2020 Collaboration Grant - Dr Ashleigh Poh

Project Summary

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease with a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Most patients either show poor response or do not respond at all to existing drugs, and development of new treatments have been slow. Thus, more effective therapies for pancreatic cancer are urgently required. Hematopoietic Cell Kinase (HCK) is a protein that is found in a type of immune cell known as a macrophage. Our research team has shown that macrophages that have more HCK are better at supporting tumour growth. On the other hand, when mice are given a drug that stops HCK activity in macrophages, these cells lose their ability to promote tumour growth across various cancer models. Importantly, our preclinical data demonstrate that anti-cancer drugs work much better when they are used in combination with drugs that target HCK, suggesting that inhibiting HCK in combination with existing therapies may help improve treatment outcomes for patients across a broad range of solid malignancies. This project will investigate whether anti-HCK drugs can be combined with standard-of-care therapies to boost treatment response in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. If successful, our research has the potential to create new treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients, and lead to better progression free survival with improved quality of life.