Investigating the role of exosomes in cancer treatment resistance: a personalised medicine approach to improve patient outcomes

Personalised cancer treatment is an emerging method of treating cancer that acknowledges that no two tumours are the same. This aproach aims to identify targetable proteins and predict a patients response to treatment to optimise treatment outcomes. However, additional biomarkers and drug targets need to be discovered to further improve treatment. Exosomes, are small extracellular vesicles, that are secreted by all body cells including tumour cells. These vesicles contain valuable information, some of which can be used as biomarkers to predict the resistance profile of a patient and predict how a patient will respond to a treatment. MicroRNAs, that are present in exosomes, hold particularly valuable information regarding treatment response. However, the microRNAs that confer resistance have not be fully characterised and more research is needed to identify biomarkers. During this project we aim to characterise the resistance profile of cancer patients by assessing the exosome profile of patients. This may lead to the identification of novel biomarkers that can aid to the enhancement of personalised medicine development.

Faculty Supervisor:

Cathie Garnis

Student:

Partner:

Stellenbosch University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: