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Review of Activities, Achievements and Future Plans 2022.
Following the lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, our research at St George’s University of London, recommenced in February 2021. During the lockdowns, our research team did what they could to keep the research moving, by analysing data and carrying out mini projects on cancer cells, which meant they were able to pick up their research without delay.
Our research had previously shown that treating pancreatic cancer cells with a combination of gemcitabine (the usual treatment) and the cytokine, TRAIL, significantly reduced both cell viability and survival.
During the year, the team examined the effects of this combination over varying treatment times. Three cell lines were established and all three demonstrated different responses over a six-hour period of treatment with the cytokine.
At a treatment time of four hours, one cell line indicated a survival rate of around 41%, a significant improvement over the six-hour treatment. Other lines indicated a minimum of approximately 49%.
This was an encouraging sign and in July 2022, a paper detailing the research and the results was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, a highly respected, peer-reviewed, open access journal published online.
Donations, although slower than we would have liked at the beginning of the year, picked up later on and with continuing tight cost control at St George’s, we feel able to continue this important research.
