Two NCARD-led projects focusing on mesothelioma research have been announced as the recipients of iCare NSW Dust Diseases Board grants for 2023/2024.

iCare NSW Dust Diseases Board grants are awarded to research that investigate the causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of dust diseases.

Dr Jonathan Chee won funding for his project Repurposing anti-copper drugs to improve immunotherapy for mesothelioma. Copper contributes to tumour growth, and help cancers evade the immune response. The team, by using copper chelators, hope to discover the role copper plays in anti-tumour immune responses, and improve immunotherapy outcomes in mesothelioma. Led by Dr Chee, the project will be coordinated by Dr Kofi Stevens. It includes collaboration with A/Prof Orazio Vittorio of the University of New South Wales and the Children’s Cancer Institute, and Prof Delia Nelson and Dr Andrew Crowe of Curtin University.

Dr Tracy Hoang’s project Tracking PD-L1 modulation in mesothelioma using advanced in vivo imaging will develop a new, non-invasive imaging method to understand why some mesothelioma patients respond to immunotherapy and others do not. She aims to track expression of the PD-L1 protein in mice, which is known to help cancer cells escape the immune response, by creating a radioactive tracer that binds to PD-L1. The radiotracer can be visualised with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, which will allow researchers to detect and measure the changes in mesothelioma tumour PD-L1 expression during the course of disease and after treatment with various current cancer therapies. The project will be run as a companion trial to an existing clinical trial led by NCARD. Dr Hoang will be working closely with fellow NCARD researcher Dr Alistair Cook, NCARD Clinical Director A/Prof Ros Francis, the RAPID team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and members of the National Imaging Facility at the University of Western Australia and Australian Cancer Research Foundation Cancer Imaging Facility.

Well done to Jon and Tracy for their accomplishment!