Celebrity supports non-animal cancer research
Press release: 27 October 2009
Television presenter Wendy Turner Webster is to visit The University of Manchester today (Tuesday) to find out about cancer research that manages to avoid animal testing.
The former Pet Rescue host will meet husband and wife scientists Ian and Lynne Hampson to learn about exciting new findings that could lead to a new approach to treating early-stage cancers.
Wendy, who is married to actor Gary Webster and whose sister is fellow television presenter Anthea Turner, is a patron of the Humane Research Trust, a charity based in Bramhall, Cheshire, that funds non-animal scientific and medical research.
Drs Ian and Lynne Hampson, who are part of the University’s School of Cancer and Imaging Sciences, have recently identified a group of chemicals that allow healthy cells to take charge of cancerous cells and stop them developing into tumours.
When added to a mixture of healthy and cancerous cells in a flask, the chemicals – a special type of ‘kinase inhibitors’ – opened up communication channels on the surface of cells that enabled healthy cells to ‘talk’ to the cancer cells.
Further tests revealed that the chemicals helped the cancer cells form connections with surrounding healthy cells that allowed these normal cells to take charge of the mechanism by which cancer cells divide and grow out of control.
Cell division occurs naturally and continuously in human organs and tissue as part of the body’s normal repair processes to combat wear and tear but in cancer the cells divide in an uncontrolled way.
Dr Ian Hampson says the findings, published recently in the British Journal of Cancer, are all the more exciting because the chemicals appear to be relatively non-toxic and the positive effect on the cancer cells persists even when the chemicals are withdrawn.
“When the chemicals were added to a culture containing just cancer cells they had little effect,” said Dr Hampson, whose laboratory is based at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester. “It was only when we added the chemicals to a mixture of cancer cells and normal cells – similar to how you would find them in the body – that growth was suppressed.
“Intriguingly, the connections that allowed the healthy cells to communicate with the cancer cells stayed open even when the kinase inhibitors were removed indicating that a potential drug based on these chemicals could be given as a short course of treatment.
“Furthermore, the chemicals are non-poisonous and do not actually kill cells like conventional cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, so if we were able to develop a drug it is likely to have far fewer side-effects.”
Wendy will hear how the next stage of the research will be to find out exactly how the chemicals are able to increase the number of connections between cancer and normal cells. Once this is known, it should be possible to produce a drug based on these chemicals that could hopefully be used in humans.
The Hampsons’ research is part-funded by The Humane Research Trust, together with the Association for International Cancer Research, The Caring Cancer Research Trust, Kidscan and the Cancer Prevention Research Trust.
Ends
Notes for editors:
The chemicals that have been developed are a type of kinase inhibitor. Kinases are a specific form of enzyme that uses a phosphate molecule to speed up biological processes in the body. Chemicals that block the actions of kinases are known as kinase inhibitors.
Photo opportunities and interviews can be arranged through the University of Manchester press office.
Further information
Aeron Haworth
Media Relations
Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester
Tel: +44 (0)161 275 8383
Mob: +44 (0)7717 881563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk