Cancer Research UK funded Clinical Research Fellowship: The molecular basis of exceptional survivorship in stage 4 colorectal cancer

Our Cancer Research UK funded Clinical Research Fellowship provides up to 3 years’ support for clinically qualified professionals to undertake research training within Barts Cancer Institute.

This training programme, part of a multimillion pound award from CRUK, aims to develop a cohort of medically qualified scientists equipped both intellectually and technically to conduct the highest quality research on cancer.

The scheme is designed to accommodate the dual clinical-research training career path by allowing fellows to spend a portion of their time on NHS sessions, as appropriate.

Fellows will be appointed as a Clinical Research Fellow with the Institute and will be required to register for a PhD, based on research undertaken during the fellowship.

This fellowship is open to applicants:
- With a medical degree from a recognised institution.
- At specialty registrar (StR) grade or below.
- With full GMC registration and license to practice.
- With a minimum IELTS score of 6.5, or equivalent (if applicable)

The application deadline is 19 November 2017.

Project Outline:
Despite even the very best treatments, once a colon cancer has metastasised to distant areas of the body it is usually fatal. In very rare cases however, standard treatment (cytotoxic chemotherapy) can cause what appears to be a miraculous cure. Why these few patients can be cured is entirely unknown, and it is our hypothesis that understanding the reason for their exceptional response to treatment could offer new insight into how to more effectively treat all colon cancers.

We have collected samples of cancer tissue (primary and metastasis sites) from a unique group of patients with colon cancers that had spread to other organs of the body (liver, lungs and brain) who all showed exceptional responses to treatment and subsequently have lived for many years. In this PhD project, we will perform a comprehensive molecular characterisation (genome, transcriptome, methylome and chromatin conformation) of the tumours from these ‘exceptional survivor’ patients, and compare these features to those from typical colon cancers that do not show an exceptional response to treatment. The comparison should offer clues as to why some patients can be cured with existing treatments, and we hope will suggest a new route for effectively treating all colon cancers.

For more information, including details on how to apply, please see the Barts Cancer Institute website:
https://www.bci.qmul.ac.uk/study-with-us/postgraduate-research/cruk-clinical-research-fellowships-2018-19