Cancer Biology and Imaging Group

Our laboratory has adopted a multidisciplinary approach to devise a biomarker and model-driven treatment stratification approaches, by bridging the gap between Physics, Biology and Medicine, particularly in the field of translational cancer research. We demonstrated for the first time the mechanism of how intracellular/exosomal PD-L1 trafficking is part of a tightly regulated immune surveillance mechanism linking exosomal measurements in the blood to direct cell-cell immunosuppressive interactions.

For clinical translation, we have pioneered the visualisation of protein interactions and conformational changes that are critical for cancer signalling pathways in preclinical models; as well as in patient-derived cancer tissues for establishing in vitro/companion diagnostics. These molecular and immunological expertise is being applied towards deep profiling of circulating immune cells and exosomes within the EU IMI2 consortium IMMUNAN (Integrated IMMUnoprofiling of large adaptive CANcer pa-tients cohorts).

Members

Paul Barber

Senior Research Fellow

Ali Abdulnabi Mohamed

PhD Student

Julie Nuo En Chan

Research Associate

Gregory Weitsman

Research Fellow

Imaging cancer and immune cell activity at nanoscale

We apply Optical Imaging/Biophysics at a nanoscopic scale (by deploying fluorescence lifetime imaging) to interrogate Cancer biological events including the Immunological synapse protein interactions (Ng T, et al. Imaging protein kinase C activation in cells. Science (1999) 283: 2085-2089 & Carlin LM, et al. Cdc42 activity oscillates during NK cell immune surveillance. Science Signalling 2011 doi 2001729). These techniques are also adapted for use in clinical patient samples.

Systems integration approaches using multiomic assays to stratify patient treatment

We develop and deploy novel multimodal and multiomic assays, enhanced by systems biology/mathematical integration approaches, to dissect tissue based biological parameters, which are combined successfully with the use of clinical imaging to individualise cancer treatment (Barber P, et al. (2019) HER2-HER3 heterodimer quantification by FRET-FLIM and patient subclass analysis of the COIN colorectal trial. J Natl Cancer Inst: 10.1093/jnci/djz2 & Li BT, et al. (2020) HER2-mediated internalization of cytotoxic agents in ERBB2 amplified or mutant lung cancers. Cancer Discovery https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290)

Use of exosomal cargoes to understand anti-tumour immunity and to stratify tumour immunotherapy

We define clinically relevant protein cargoes in circulating exosomes that are oncogenic drivers and/or are important for influencing tumour development via anti-tumour immunity (e.g. exosomal PD-L1 which has been demonstrated to be part of a tightly regulated immune surveillance mechanism) Monypenny J, et al (2018) ALIX Regulates Tumor-Mediated Immunosuppression by Controlling EGFR Activity and PD-L1 Presentation. Cell reports 24: 630-641)

Delivery of innovative clinical trials that incorporate Bayesian based analytic approaches

We deliver and innovate clinical trials that incorporate multimodal and multiomic approaches to personalise rational use of tumour targeted treatment combined with immunotherapies (Ng T, et al. (2018) The use of exosome and immune profiling to analyze a Phase 2 study on the addition of patritumab or placebo to cetuximab and a platinum agent for recurrent / metastatic head and neck cancer (R/M HNSCC) patients. ASCO; Journal of Clinical Oncology 36; Suppl 6043) & https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.22.21263942v1).

Predicting Progression Free Survival after Systemic Therapy in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: Bayesian regression and Model development
Barber, P. R., Mustapha, R., Flores-Borja, F., Alfano, G., Ng, K., Weitsman, G., Dolcetti, L., Mohamed, A., Wong, F., Vicencio Bustamante, J., Galazi, M., Opzoomer, J., Arnold, J., Thavaraj, S., Kordasti, S., Doyle, J., Greenberg, J., Dillon, M., Harrington, K. J., Forster, M., & 2 othersCoolen, A. CC. & Ng, T., 23 Dec 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: eLife. In press Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.73288
The microbiota and radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: What should clinical oncologists know?
Reis Ferreira, M., Pasto, A., Ng, T., Patel, V., Guerrero Urbano, T., Sears, C. & Wade, W., Sep 2022, In: Cancer Treatment Reviews. 109, 102442. Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102442
HER2 Mediates PSMA/mGluR1-Driven Resistance to the DS-7423 Dual PI3K/mTOR Inhibitor in PTEN Wild-type Prostate Cancer Models
Gómez, V., Galazi, M., Weitsman, G., Monypenny, J., Al-Salemee, F., Barber, P. R., Ng, K., Beatson, R., Szokol, B., Orfi, L., Mullen, G., Vanhaesebroeck, B., Chowdhury, S., Leung, H. Y. & Ng, T., 1 Apr 2022, In: Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 21, 4, p. 667-676 10 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-21-0320
Osimertinib and anti-HER3 combination therapy engages immune dependent tumor toxicity via STING activation in trans
Vicencio Bustamante, J., Evans, R., Green, R., An, Z., Deng, J., Treacy, C., Mustapha, R., Monypenny of Pitmilly, J., Costoya, C., Lawler, K., Ng, K., Desouza, K., Coban, O., Gomez, V., Clancy, J., Chen, SH., Chalk, A., Wong, F., Gordon, P., Savage, C., & 20 othersGomes, C., Pan, T., Alfano, G., Dolcetti, L., Chan, J. N. E., Florez-Borja, F., Barber, P., Weitsman, G., Sosnowska, D., Capone, E., Iacobelli, S., Hochhauser, D., Hartley, J., Parsons, M., Arnold, J., Ameer-Beg, S., Quezada, S. A., Yarden, Y., Sala, G. & Ng, T., 28 Mar 2022, In: Cell Death & Disease. 13, 3, 274 . Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-04701-3
HER2 mediates PSMA/mGluR1-driven resistance to the DS-7423 dual 2 PI3K/mTOR inhibitor in PTEN wild-type prostate cancer models: PTEN-wt PCa overcomes PI3K inhibition via mGluR1 signaling
Gómez, V., Galazi, M., Weitsman, G., Monypenny of Pitmilly, J., Al-Salemee, F., Barber, P., Ng, K., Beatson, R., Szokol, B., Orfi, L., Mullen, G., Vanhaesebroeck, B., Chowdhury, S., Leung, H. Y. & Ng, T., 19 Jan 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: MOLECULAR CANCER THERAPEUTICS. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
FDG-PET/CT in colorectal cancer: potential for vascular-metabolic imaging to provide markers of prognosis
Chen, S. H., Miles, K., Taylor, S. A., Ganeshan, B., Rodriquez, M., Fraioli, F., Wan, S., Afaq, A., Shortman, R., Walls, D., Hoy, L., Endozo, R., Bhargava, A., Hanson, M., Huang, J., Raouf, S., Francis, D., Siddiqi, S., Arulampalam, T., Sizer, B., & 5 othersMachesney, M., Reay-Jones, N., Dindyal, S., Ng, T. & Groves, A., Dec 2021, In: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. 49, 1, p. 371-384 14 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-021-05318-y
Drug delivery, biodistribution and anti-EGFR activity: theragnostic nanoparticles for simultaneous in vivo delivery of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and kinase activity biosensors
Bofinger, R., Weitsman, G., Evans, R., Glaser, M., Sander, K., Allan, H., Hochhauser, D., Kalber, T. L., Årstad, E., Hailes, H. C., Ng, T. & Tabor, A. B., 28 Nov 2021, In: Nanoscale. 13, 44, p. 18520-18535 16 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1039/d1nr02770k
Macrophages orchestrate the expansion of a proangiogenic perivascular niche during cancer progression
Opzoomer, J. W., Anstee, J. E., Dean, I., Hill, E. J., Bouybayoune, I., Caron, J., Muliaditan, T., Gordon, P., Sosnowska, D., Nuamah, R., Pinder, S. E., Ng, T., Dazzi, F., Kordasti, S., Withers, D. R., Lawrence, T. & Arnold, J. N., 5 Nov 2021, In: Science Advances. 7, 45, p. eabg9518 eabg9518. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg9518
Macrophages orchestrate the expansion of a pro-angiogenic perivascular niche during cancer progression
Opzoomer, J. W., Anstee, J. E., Dean, I., Hill, E. J., Bouybayoune, I., Caron, J., Muliaditan, T., Gordon, P., Sosnowska, D., Nuamah, R., Pinder, S. E., Ng, T., Dazzi, F., Kordasti, S., Withers, D. R., Lawrence, T. & Arnold, J. N., 3 Nov 2021, In: Science Advances. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Insights Into Unveiling a Potential Role of Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in Metastasis
Mustapha, R., Ng, K., Monypenny, J. & Ng, T., 8 Sep 2021, In: Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. 8, 661516. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2021.661516

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Staff

Giovanna Alfano - Postdoctoral Fellow

James Monypenny - Research Fellow

Karen DeSouza - Clinical Research Fellow

Luigi Dolcetti - Postdoctoral Fellow

Rami Mustapha - Postdoctoral Fellow

Jose Miguel Vicencio Bustamante - Postdoctoral Fellow

Anna Pasto - Postdoctoral Fellow

Caitlin McCarthy - Postdoctoral Fellow

Courtney Savage - Research Assistant

Camila Gomes - Research Assistant

PhD Students

Mohamed Ali

Muhith Md Abdul

Som Soamopriva

Jinhai Deng

Group lead

Professor Tony Ng

Richard Dimbleby Professor of Cancer Research

Contact us

tony.ng@kcl.ac.uk

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Cancer Biology and Imaging Group

Members

Paul Barber

Ali Abdulnabi Mohamed

Julie Nuo En Chan

Gregory Weitsman

Imaging cancer and immune cell activity at nanoscale

Systems integration approaches using multiomic assays to stratify patient treatment

Use of exosomal cargoes to understand anti-tumour immunity and to stratify tumour immunotherapy

Delivery of innovative clinical trials that incorporate Bayesian based analytic approaches

Predicting Progression Free Survival after Systemic Therapy in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: Bayesian regression and Model development

The microbiota and radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: What should clinical oncologists know?

HER2 Mediates PSMA/mGluR1-Driven Resistance to the DS-7423 Dual PI3K/mTOR Inhibitor in PTEN Wild-type Prostate Cancer Models

Osimertinib and anti-HER3 combination therapy engages immune dependent tumor toxicity via STING activation in trans

HER2 mediates PSMA/mGluR1-driven resistance to the DS-7423 dual 2 PI3K/mTOR inhibitor in PTEN wild-type prostate cancer models: PTEN-wt PCa overcomes PI3K inhibition via mGluR1 signaling

FDG-PET/CT in colorectal cancer: potential for vascular-metabolic imaging to provide markers of prognosis

Drug delivery, biodistribution and anti-EGFR activity: theragnostic nanoparticles for simultaneous in vivo delivery of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and kinase activity biosensors

Macrophages orchestrate the expansion of a proangiogenic perivascular niche during cancer progression

Macrophages orchestrate the expansion of a pro-angiogenic perivascular niche during cancer progression

Insights Into Unveiling a Potential Role of Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in Metastasis

Group lead

Professor Tony Ng

Contact us

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Cancer Biology and Imaging Group

Members

Imaging cancer and immune cell activity at nanoscale

Systems integration approaches using multiomic assays to stratify patient treatment

Use of exosomal cargoes to understand anti-tumour immunity and to stratify tumour immunotherapy

Delivery of innovative clinical trials that incorporate Bayesian based analytic approaches

Group lead

Contact us

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