Prof S Janes, Prof B Vanhaesebroeck
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Despite advances in the treatment of lung cancer, it continues to be the major contributor to cancer-related mortality in the UK, accounting for around 22% of cancer-related deaths. Around one third of lung cancer cases are squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC). The natural history of lung SqCC tumours has been mapped at a histological level with initial abnormalities in the respiratory epithelium manifesting as dysplasia of varying grades before the onset of carcinoma in situ, invasive disease, and ultimately metastasis, which is the cause of lung cancer-related death for most patients. Patients are most likely to survive if their tumour is discovered and treated early in its progression. Work in our laboratory is beginning to identify clinically relevant biomarkers of high-risk pre-invasive lung lesions. To be able to discriminate those biomarkers that may not only serve as prognostic tools, but also as therapeutic targets, we require an improved understanding of the molecular and cellular alterations in early lung SqCC.
This PhD studentship will combine major recent technological advances by two leading groups at UCL. It will allow the student the opportunity to examine the functional consequences of some of the very first molecular alterations identified in pre-invasive lung SqCC in physiologically-relevant experimental contexts, and investigate potential strategies for early intervention or prophylactic therapies targeting such changes. In vitro, advances in epithelial cell culture methodologies have allowed the Janes laboratory to establish a collection of primary airway epithelial cell lines from the histologically normal bronchial epithelium of smokers and non-smokers. These cells are genomically stable and can be cultured at clonal density, allowing CRISPR-based approaches for the first time. Our in vivo studies combine murine models developed in the Janes and Vanhaesebroeck laboratories that recapitulate lung SqCC progression and allow expression of wild-type and mutant PI3K subunits within physiologically-relevant expression levels. This work is part of the ongoing effort at the UCL CRUK Lung Cancer Centre.
More detailed information about the research project is available on request from [Email Address Removed].
Funding Notes
Please note students will need a minimum of an upper second class Honours Degree in an associated discipline, or an overseas qualification of equivalent standard, qualify as a UK/EU fee payer and meet UCL general admissions criteria. Please see Personal Specification on the UCL Cancer Institute website for full details.