We asked Dr Adam Hurlstone for an update on the project that our supporters have been making donations to.  He told us: 

My graduate student who has generated all the data so far will be defending his thesis on the 17^th December. He is now also putting together a first manuscript on the research.

A second graduate student who will take over the project began in October.

The highlights of the research so far are that:

 

• Chronic exposure of melanoma cells to an inflammatory signal (called interferon gamma)  makes them more resistant to immune attack.

 

• We have discovered a protein in melanoma cells that is switched on by interferon gamma that then reprograms the melanoma cells to become resistant.

 

• One effect of this protein is to reduce the presence of memory T cells in tumours which are so important for eradicating melanoma cells.

 

• We can reverse immune resistance in the melanoma cells by blocking expression of our target protein

 

In future we would be looking to develop drugs against our target protein to give along with immunotherapy.

Thank you for your continued support. If you want to contribute to this project please click Manchester University project