Cancers in bone are incurable. 

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the western world, and 1 in 10 people will die with cancer in their bones. 

Our mission  is to develop new treatments for cancers in bone to improve survival, and one day cure these cancers.

Bone is the primary site of myeloma, the second most common blood cancer worldwide. Chemotherapy is usually effective at reducing tumour, but never fully eradicates all cancer cells, so patients inevitably relapse.

In bone, extrinsic stimuli from the microenvironment control cancer processes, including dormancy, chemotherapy evasion and relapse. This prevents curative treatment for patients, yet, the molecular mechanisms behind this are poorly understood.

The biggest impact for patients is to eradicate remaining cancer cells. To do this, it is essential to identify how bone controls cancer dormancy, and as a consequence promotes chemotherapy resistance and relapse.

The Cancer and Bone Laboratory uses cutting edge models and techniques to identify vulnerabilities of dormant myeloma cells in order to exploit these vulnerabilities therapeutically.