Thrombo-inflammation and clinical outcomes in survivors of childhood cancer
Supervisors:
Dr Alan Stewart, School of Medicine (University of St Andrews)
Prof Ramzi Ajjan, Leeds Institute of Cardiometabolic Medicine (University of Leeds)
Dr Sarah Mills, School of Medicine (University of St Andrews)
Dr Sally Shirran, School of Biology (University of St Andrews)
Summary:
Despite major successes in treating childhood cancer, survivors are at an increased risk of developing endocrine disorders and cardiovascular disease. It is thought that chemotherapy (and other types of cancer treatment) may cause multimorbidity secondary to cardiometabolic derangement. Such conditions result in a reduction of lifespan and quality of life. The molecular changes that occur in childhood cancer survivors that contribute to pathogenesis is an incompletely studied area that requires further attention.
Our hypothesis is that chemotherapy leads to metabolic derangement leading to a thrombo-inflammatory milieu that results in adverse clinical outcomes. The specific objectives of this project are to:
1. Examine thrombo-inflammation in adults who underwent cancer treatment as children at different time points after completion of and compare with the general population.
2. Undertake detailed profiling of the patients with altered thrombo-inflammation profile.
3. Establish the mechanisms behind the observed increased multimorbidity risk using omics-based approaches to examine changes in proteome/metabolome compared to the general population.
Collectively, the outlined objectives will provide important new insight into the molecular mechanisms that contribute to increased health risks in childhood cancer survivors. We anticipate the results will lead to improved treatments and management of thrombo-inflammatory conditions in this cohort.