Haematology and Leukaemia

Thecommitment of theHaematology and Leukaemia program from University of Liverpoolto cancer research has resulted in the launch of Liverpool Cancer Research UK Centre – an organisation that brings together scientists, clinicians and local stakeholders to lead and deliver cancer research of the highest quality and importance.

The Haematology and Leukaemia program from University of Liverpool is one of Liverpool’s recognised strengths with scientific expertise in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and lymphoproliferative disorders and strong clinical leadership that includes chairmanship of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Haematological Oncology CSG and CML Subgroup and membership of the Lymphoma CSG and Subgroups for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), High Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas (HG-NHL) and Low Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas (LG-NHL).

Research Interests

• Clinical studies conducted with the intent to advance therapies to the clinic or develop principles for application of therapeutics to human disease
• Non-human or non-clinical studies conducted with the intent to advance therapies to the clinic or develop principles for application of therapeutics to human disease
• Investigations in humans which define the biology of disease and provide the scientific foundation for the development of new or improved therapies for human disease
• Any clinical trial of a therapy that was initiated based on the above.

Research themes include:

• In Chronic Lymphocyte Leukeamia (CLL) Protein Kinase C (PKC) and c-abl in B-cell receptor signalling have been found to be important in the selection and perpetuation of the malignant clone

• In hairy cells constitutive PKC-dependent ERK activation has been identified as central to malignant cell survival and oxidant production by NOX-5 has been shown to be of importance in constitutive activation

• Current work is focused on defining CLL subgroups on the basis of signalling profiles, on the control of adhesion-receptor expression in CLL and on the oncogenic origin of the constitutive signals of hairy cells

• Translational work has identified Akt and Hsp90 as worthy molecular targets for novel therapy

• The Clinical Trials Advisory and Awards Committee (CTAAC) -funded PACIFIC [RiChFlo] phase III trial will compare two different induction regimens for follicular lymphoma.