A new way of treating poor prognosis Wilms’ tumour

Wilms’ tumour is the most common type of kidney cancer in children. Unfortunately, not all children with this cancer are currently able to be successfully treated, and so more research is needed to find better treatment options for those who are at higher risk of relapse following initial treatment.  

Many cancers occur because they contain excessive growth-promoting proteins, or ‘oncoproteins’. Dr Malik believes it may be possible to effectively treat cancers with drugs that eliminate oncoproteins. The team think that growth of Wilms’ tumours may depend on one particular oncoprotein that is capable of switching on and off the production of other proteins. This protein, belonging to a class of proteins known as methyltransferases, can be stopped from working with drugs that have recently been discovered. However, we don’t yet know whether these drugs could be used as a novel treatment for the highest risk forms of Wilms’ tumour.

Dr Malik’s team plans to collect research evidence to help validate the use of these novel targeted therapeutics for Wilms’ tumour patients with poorer prognosis. The project will use Wilms’ tumour models to understand the biological influences of the methyltransferase protein in kidney and Wilms’ tumour cells. It will evaluate drugs that will target this protein, to ultimately inhibit the growth or bring about the death of the cancerous Wilms’ tumour cells.