Understanding treatment resistance in oesophageal cancer Development of a microRNA replacement strategy for sensitising oesophageal tumours to chemoradiotherapy

More than half of people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer will die within one year. Many patients are resistant to conventional chemoradiation therapy, and our research aims to understand the molecular and cellular basis for resistance, as a key to ultimately enhancing tumour sensitivity to treatment.

We are examining the role of dysregulation of the gene-regulatory microRNA compartment in resistance to treatment. We have demonstrated that tumour CRT sensitivity can be modified by specific microRNA manipulation.

Our research asks the questions: Can basic molecular mechanisms underpinning resistance to therapy be comprehensively identified, how are these mechanisms influenced by tumour hypoxia, and can microRNA replacement therapy be used to sensitise tumours to CRT?