 |  |  | | | CARDIFF CANS £30,000 FOR RESEARCH INTO LYMPHOMA | | | | |
| |  Professor Martin Rowe.
Release Date: 3rd September 2002
Cardiff scientists have been awarded £30,000 by the Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF) for research into a virus linked to the cancer lymphoma.
The LRF team at University of Wales College of Medicine (UWCM) is looking at the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a common human virus from the herpes group, which is known to cause glandular fever. A small number of people with the virus will develop lymphoma, a blood cancer related to leukaemia which affects nearly 8,000 people in the UK each year.
Dr Paul Brennan and Professor Martin Rowe, at the University's unit of Infection and Immunity, are particularly interested in a gene which codes for latent membrane protein-1 (LMP1) _ which is found in EBV infected blood cells. They believe it may have a key role in EBV-related lymphoma.
Dr Brennan said: "Our group have a good track record in Epstein-Barr virus research. We suspect that LMP1 may sabotage natural cell death, the mechanism by which our body regulates the growth of unwanted cells. Cells that avoid this suicide mechanism are implicated in many cancers.
"This research should provide the answers to some very important questions," he adds, "particularly in relation to how EBV interacts with the patient's body and how the virus is able to help cells to survive in the development of disease. We can then go onto investigate if we can block the negative effects of LMP1. "
Dr David Grant, Scientific Director of the Leukaemia Research Fund, said: "This is an important investigation into how LMP1 changes the complex network of genetic signals controlling blood cell growth and division. Changes to these signals cause cells to multiply unnecessarily. By preventing this we may find new approaches to treat this form of lymphoma."
|
|
|
|
|
