Research
Monoallelic deletion of the short arm of chromosome 17p (del17p) is a common feature of many cancers, including haematological, pancreatic and colorectal. This chromosomal abnormality has been predominantly studied in haematological malignancies, and the clinical features (rapid disease progression, resistance to therapy, short survival) have to date been primarily linked to loss and/or dysfunction of the tumour suppressor TP53 which is located at 17p13.1. Chromosome 17p also contains over 300 other protein coding genes as well as over 300 non-coding RNAs (miRNA and lncRNA), however the impact of the deletion of these is poorly understood.
In our group, we are interested in how the loss of heterozygosity and resulting haploinsufficiency of these genes may influence cell behaviour, and we are exploring any vulnerabilities that result from this haploinsufficiency that may be exploited therapeutically.