The increased development of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) in organ transplant patients is a peculiar medical occurrence, in that it’s a disease assisted entirely by human medical intervention.
As Associate Professor Wells explains:
“Organ transplant patients take immunosuppressive medication every day from the moment that they receive their new organ, that medication prevents their immune system from destroying their transplanted organ. But the side effect of those medications is this increase in skin cancer development.”
As far as treatment for this condition goes, the options are quite bleak.
“This particular group of patients, get a lot of these skin cancers and some of the patients here in Brisbane might expect to have ten of them cut out every month.”
“These patients must live in a situation where they're constantly worried about the emergence and spread of skin cancer and it doesn't help that there are no good drug options for them.”
With reliable treatment and quality of life assurances at the forefront of the agenda, Wells has made significant progress in addressing the realities that organ transplant patients and their families are faced with.
This progress takes the form of a drug titled Q2361 – a compound which so far is able to inhibit the pathways that allow tumours to form within immuno-suppressed models.
“It’s been quite exciting actually because in order to prevent SCC’s, you really need to look at how your drug affects your skin cells, because it’s your skin cells that become SCC’s. And the early research is showing that our drug does have an impact on the pathways that lead to SCC development.”
As of this writing, Associate Professor Wells and his collaborators at the Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative (QEDDI), are in the midst of securing funding so that they can further expand the properties, capabilities and clinical viability of this drug.
“The money that we are receiving is specifically funding studies to look at how we can take the compound that we've developed and use it in a different way, which is to use it as a preventative treatment so that patients might be able to, for example, put a cream on their skin every day.”
“We have spoken with some clinicians at the hospital; they tell us that the patients want the cream to be really light. They don't want it to be thick like a sunscreen. So, we're essentially going through that formulation process at the moment, trying to work out one of the best conditions to get the drug into the skin.”
And thanks to the generosity of a former patient, in addition to the support from their family, the Associate Professor’s optimism for a preventative treatment for SCC remains steadfast.
“I'm very lucky to have received a donation from the PA Foundation, which I believe came from the family of a patient who sadly passed away – a transplant patient who had skin cancer.”
“And so, I feel enormously fortunate to receive the funds which allow me to take my research in a new direction to hopefully prevent skin cancer development in transplant patients.”
Through the PA Research Foundation, our generous donors injected $30,000 into the Associate Professor’s utterly transformative work.
“I really hope the (PA Research) Foundation will continue to play a role in my future.”
“They're able to dictate and or demand that there's ongoing research into the particular conditions and diseases that are afflicting patients… So, I think as an organisation they provide critical focus on patient centric outcomes.”
If you wish to contribute a donation to Associate Professor Well’s work or just simply wish to donate, click here.
