Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Support from ACRF to improve its capability for identifying serum/plasma biomarkers has assisted with early detection, prognosis and treatment of colon cancer. Although the initial applications are directed towards colon cancer, once established, the cancer biomarker capability can be applied to other cancers for monitoring the progress of cancer treatment.
The grant has assisted in the translation of laboratory research expertise in proteomics to a cancer biomarker capability, which enables the detection of serum proteins/peptides associated with cancer. The equipment has allowed the direct identification of low abundance proteins from serum samples, and the newly established bioinformatics and tissue banking capabilities have allowed the linkage and correlation of this protein data with clinical data from patients at many hospitals.
The acquisition of a mass spectrometer configured for direct identification of proteins in complex mixtures formed the technical basis for LICR to establish a dedicated clinical, cancer biomarker capability.
Chief investigators: Professor Tony Burgess (director), Dr Peter Gibbs