WEHI Wednesday Seminar hosted by Professor John Silke

Dr Lorraine O’Reilly

Senior Scientist – Silke Laboratory, Inflammation division – Infection, Inflammation & Immunity Theme, WEHI

Watch Your Mouth: New Approaches to Detection and Treatment in Oral Cancer

 

Davis Auditorium

Join via SLIDO enter code #WEHIWednesday

Including Q&A session
 

The most common subtype of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). OSCC is increasing in incidence world-wide, particularly in young ‘never smokers’ and females. Despite improvements, the approximately 50%, 5-year overall survival rate for advanced disease has not improved for over 30 years. The reasons for this dismal statistic are two-fold: lack of accurate and timely early diagnostics and lack of combinative targeted and personalised treatments. Due to the physical and psychologically sensitive location of these tumours, early treatment not only increases survival it also substantially increases quality of life post therapy. Advances in these areas would therefore be expected to improve both survival and quality of life for OSCC patients.

To address these issues, we tested and developed an image guided virtual biopsy. Images obtained from an oral cancer model employing a handheld confocal endo-microscope coupled with topically applied fluorophores enabled the development of an AI oral cancer prediction model. Complementary and parallel human clinical studies support the continued development of these technologies as an early OSCC screening platform. In a recent clinical trial, smac-mimetics showed impressive efficacy in treating HNSCC and molecular alterations in the TNF cell death signalling pathway suggest a cohort of oral cancer patients may be similarly responsive to smac-mimetic therapy. We are therefore using murine models with genetic alterations in the TNF signalling pathway and human OSCC organoids to identify biomarkers and improve smac-mimetic treatment approaches. These experiments are anticipated to improve OSCC patient outcomes for this promising new treatment.

All welcome!