Research & medical

What is the problem and who is affected?

Not all breast cancer tumours respond to available treatment. This means that for some patients, a breast cancer diagnosis is terminal.

What is this research hoping to achieve?

In a recent project funded by BCFNZ, Dr Liu and his team identified a new antibody, a type of drug that attaches to a tumour like a beacon which guides the patient’s own immune system to the tumour so that it can be destroyed. The antibody targets a protein called SHON, which is commonly found in breast tumours.

The next step in Dr Liu’s research is to test whether a newly discovered antibody will inhibit tumor growth in human cancer cells.

If successful, he will then begin running clinical trials of the drug, which could prove to be a new targeted therapy, like Tamoxifen and Herceptin.

“BCFNZ has supported this project for many years,” says Dr Liu. ''It's exciting that, with their help, we're getting closer to testing this new treatment in the patients that need it.''