How do tumours compete for resources to grow?

Project Details

Rasv12DlgRNAi tumours (green) causes muscle detachment (zasp-GFP) and adipose tissue (fat body) breakdown (red)

Cachexia, the wasting syndrome commonly observed in advanced cancer patients, affects approximately eight million people worldwide, and accounts for up to one third of cancer related mortalities. Due to its yet unknown aetiology, there is no clear gold standard therapy for cachexia. We are interested in exploring how tumour-muscle-fat communicate in the context of cancer cachexia, where we hypothesise that tumour sends signals to break down muscle and fat in order to fuel its own growth. There are several ongoing and unpublished projects entered around this in the project.

Researchers

Dr Sofya Golenkina, Post Doctoral Scientist

Dr Callum Dark, Post Doctoral Scientist

Collaborators

Dr Kelly Rogers, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI)

Dr Ben Parker, University of Melbourne

Dr Liz Christie, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute

Research Publications

Research Group

Cheng laboratory: Stem cell and organ size control regulation



Faculty Research Themes

Neuroscience, Cancer

School Research Themes

Biomedical Neuroscience, Cancer in Biomedicine, Systems Biology, Molecular Mechanisms of Disease



Key Contact

For further information about this research, please contact the research group leader.

Department / Centre

Anatomy and Physiology

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