Innovative metabolic mapping to predict and enhance the response of targeted anti-cancer therapies

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Evidence suggests that the way cells consume and process nutrients, collectively known as metabolism, differs between healthy and tumour cells and can even change the way they communicate with adjacent cells, grow, and importantly, respond to therapy. Nutrient availability in the environment where the tumour is growing can also have a fundamental impact on the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapies. This project will draw on the strengths of innovative tools and methods to track the metabolism of breast cancer tumours and pre-clinical models, and identify the metabolic determinants that guide the response to anti-cancer therapies. In this context, it will assist with gaining insight into how certain drugs affect tumour metabolism, and ultimately, how the metabolism of a tumour and its surrounding affect its response to therapy. In the longer term this knowledge will expose weaknesses in the tumour's armour and unveil more effective therapeutic strategies where diet and metabolic targets could help circumvent drug resistance and slow down tumour growth.