News

Together with other Beatson scientists, Joseph Hodgson and Jean-Philippe Parvy added to the expanding field of cancer cachexia [Drosophila Larval Models of Invasive Tumorigenesis for In Vivo Studies on Tumour/Peripheral Host Tissue Interactions during Cancer Cachexia]. In fly larvae models, they showed that cancer-associated tissue wasting was unrelated to food intake and tumour size, but instead was dependent on the genetic make-up of the tumour. Their findings led them to develop a new model system for cachexia where tumour and muscle can be manipulated separately. This will aid further insights into tissue interactions.

Neutrophils – which are associated with poor outcomes in cancer – come in many different types. Reliable cell surface markers are needed to distinguish and study these different populations of neutrophils. In a study released in bioRxiv (Maturation, developmental site, and pathology dictate murine neutrophil function), Postdoc John Mackey identified a protein called Ly6G as one such marker. Importantly, having an abundance of cells expressing medium levels of Ly6G was associated with higher rates of metastasis. The team also identified that the site where neutrophils develop – either the bone marrow or the spleen – affects the genes they express and their functional capacity.

The CRUK Beatson Institute is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within our community. We value equity in our actions and deeds, diversity and inclusion within our workforce and collaborators, and the diversity of thought this brings. Read more about our vision and aims for EDI here, including our leading family friendly policies on maternity and shared parental leave.

31st July 2021

We would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who made our 2021 virtual conference 'The Cartography of Cancer: Mapping Tumours in 3D' a great success. We had a series of fantastic talks covering areas from the tumour microenvironment to immunology, mutation and metabolic mapping.

28th July 2021

Cancer Research UK has deepened its commitment to good research practice by becoming a signatory of the Concordat to Support Research Integrity. In their recent blog post, they speak two Research Integrity Advisers - Dr Catherine Winchester, CRUK Beatson Institute and Dr Andrew Porter, CRUK Manchester Institute - to find out why supporting scientists to be the best they can be is the only way to ensure quality research...

06th July 2021

Sitryx, a biopharmaceutical company focused on immunometabolism, has entered into a license agreement with Cancer Research UK to develop IP from the Beatson Institute's Drug Discovery Unit relating to small molecule inhibitors of a target kinase, which plays a critical role in a metabolic pathway of emerging importance in immune cells and inflammatory processes: https://www.sitryx.com/news/sitryx-licenses-intellectual-property-rights-for-inhibitors-of-a-new-target-in-immunometabolism-from-cancer-research-uk-in-exclusive-worldwide-agreement

05th July 2021

This month, we were delighted to see the translation of doctoral research into three outstanding scientific publications.

30th June 2021

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, for example it affects 1 in 10 men in Scotland. Glasgow-based scientist Dr Kirsteen Campbell, from the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, has just received a major award of £273,534 from the charity Prostate Cancer Research (PCR) to investigate if a protein called MCL-1 could lead to new treatment options.

Patient advocate Helen Matthews met with Owen Sansom to discuss the latest findings of the Cancer Grand Challenge project SPECIFICANCER, which aims to understand why mutations in certain genes only cause cancer in specific parts of the body.

21st June 2021

Congratulations to David Lewis for being shortlisted for the next Cancer Grand Challenges funding.

Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the standard of care for the treatment prostate cancer that cannot be removed by surgery. ADT is highly effective; however, many patients go on to relapse. Here, recent PhD graduate Rafael Sanchez Martinez and co-authors have used a proteomic analysis of prostate cancer models to reveal that distinct molecular mechanisms, include amino acid and fatty acid metabolism, affect the way tumours respond to ADT (SLFN5 regulates LAT1-mediated mTOR activation in castration-resistant prostate cancer).

In April, we shared the story of a paper from Dr Payam Gammage, shedding light on the role of mitochondrial DNA mutations in cancer. Here, Payam explains in his own words the importance of mitochondria in cancer and the impact this could one day have on cancer care.

13th May 2021

Cordero Julia Máté Pálfy, Features & Reviews Editor at the Journal of Cell Science, caught up with Dr Julia Cordero to find out about her academic journey, from an undergraduate degree in Argentina, to a PhD in the United States, to a postdoc and starting her own group in Glasgow. Click here to read the interview.

Follow the link to read more about Julia's research: Local and Systemic Functions of the Intestine in Health and Disease

27th April 2021

Efforts to elucidate how mutations in a cell's DNA cause cancer have overwhelmingly focused on the DNA within the nucleus, but a new study published Nature Metabolism highlights the exciting potential of also looking at the genome of the cell's energy factories: the mitochondrial genome.

This month’s publications highlight the collaborative science that the Beatson regularly participates in both in the UK and around the world.

2nd April 2021

A new study has shown that the rate of people dying from liver cancer in Scotland has doubled over the past two decades. The study also showed that over the same period Scotland has had the highest number of confirmed deaths from liver cancer per head of population out of any of the four UK nations.

1st April 2021

A study - led by Kirsteen Campbell, Stephen Tait and Karen Blyth and funded by Breast Cancer Now - has shown that a protein called MCL-1 helps breast cancer cells survive and replicate by blocking apoptosis (cell death), and that tumours rely on it to grow more aggressively.

24th March 2021

Many congratulations to Christos Kiourtis who has been awarded the Institute's JP Award for best student presentation. Christos is a final-year PhD student in Dr Tom Bird's group, who work on liver disease and regeneration. Christos gave a fantastic talk on the role of the systemic effects of hepatocellular senescence.

8th March 2021

Today is International Women's Day! Since the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February, we've been highlighting many of our female scientists on twitter. Click 'read more' for a roundup!

2 March 2021

Several of our scientists and staff have pledged to walk 10,000 steps a day in March for Cancer Research UK's Walk All Over Cancer campaign. One of those making the commitment is Dr Amy Tibbo. Amy is a postdoc here who's studying why some prostate cancers return despite surgery. She's inspired to take on the challenge by her own gran's experience with breast cancer.