UK. The Moodie Davitt Report is continuing its support of ground-breaking and life-saving cancer research and treatments at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital.
Its latest donation of £35,000 (US$50,000) is part of a five-year, £175,000 (US$250,000) commitment to fund various projects through The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
The Moodie Davitt Report launched the EGB Cancer Research Fellowship in 2017, just four years after The Moodie Report Foundation donated US$202,000 to fund a vital Royal Marsden research study into genetic sequencing.
As reported, Dr Katharina von Loga is the recipient of EGB research bursary at The Royal Marsden Hospital. The pathologist is heading a team within the Centre for Molecular Pathology (CMP) to investigate how immunotherapy drugs work at a cellular level.
The CMP team’s aim is to improve cancer diagnosis so that patients can be given the most appropriate treatment as early as possible. Dr von Loga’s work has progressed to focus on personalising cancer treatment using digital pathology and artificial intelligence.
The Royal Marsden Hospital Head of Trusts, Stewardship and Philanthropy Communications Nemone Warner said research, which has been made possible thanks to the EGB Fellowship, “has the potential to save many thousands of lives”.
The Moodie Davitt Report’s support has “enabled the creation of new research that could change the way that cancers of all types are diagnosed and treated on a global scale”, she added.
“The Moodie Davitt Report’s support has enabled the creation of new research that could change the way that cancers of all types are diagnosed and treated on a global scale”
The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie, who was successfully treated by The Royal Marsden in 2010 and 2011 for stomach cancer, commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic has placed much pressure on our business in common with all others in the travel retail channel. But equally it has squeezed vital charities all around the world and few rank as more vital in our view than The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, whose ground-breaking research work has led to numerous advances in cancer treatment and saved many lives at home and abroad.
“As such, my business partner Dermot Davitt and I believe it essential to keep championing this outstanding organisation and its extraordinary work.”
The Royal Marsden Hospital highlighted the role pathology plays in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and prediction. It is one of the few services that stays with a cancer patient throughout the full course of their treatment. “Our understanding of cancer has improved significantly in recent years, allowing for greater personalisation of treatments,” it said. “If we are able to identify each patient’s specific cancer sub-type at diagnosis, then we can often tailor their treatment to one that will work more effectively for them.” The Royal Marsden pointed out that alongside standard pathology, researchers at the hospital and other leading cancer centres have begun sequencing DNA from patients in order to isolate cancer-causing genetic mutations. However, the extent to which cancer treatment can be personalised has remained limited. Pathology techniques can only identify the presence of cancer and are not capable of providing the in-depth information required for the development of personalised medicine. |
Dr von Loga started her work at CMP using a technique called multiplex immunohistochemistry to investigate how immune checkpoint inhibitors (a type of immunotherapy treatment) work at a cellular level.
In conventional pathology, cells are stained with one or two colours and it is not possible to differentiate between cell types. Using this new technique, Dr von Loga can use up to seven colours to identify a range of relevant cells and display more complex cellular patterns and interactions.
“This is of particular importance when studying immunotherapies, which target cells in the immune system that cannot be identified using traditional pathology techniques,” Warner said.
“This project has helped to shed light on the way in which immune checkpoint inhibitors affect the immune system, helping us to move closer to understanding why these treatments only work for some patients.
“In addition, by using this new technique to successfully deliver her work, Dr von Loga has paved the way for a new chapter of pathology research to be undertaken at The Royal Marsden.”
Dr von Loga and her team use multiplex immunohistochemistry to investigate the way in which more cancer treatments work. She has been joined by Scientific Lead Dr Tom Lund, who will explore how digital technology and artificial intelligence can be used to improve pathology research even further.
With Dr Lund’s support, the team is now using a digital brightfield scanning microscope to digitise pathology slides. This ensures more available information and easy sharing across the world for research purposes.
The initials EGB in The Moodie Davitt EGB Cancer Research Fellowship honour loved ones of past and present members of the Moodie Davitt team who have been lost to the disease: Emma, sister to Chief Administration Officer Victoria Willey; Gary, father to former Brands Editor Helen Pawson (now with FILTR.QINGWA); and Brendan, husband of former Advertising Director Connie Magner. |
“This new way of working is therefore enabling a new era of collaborative pathology research. Once digital, the team can use each pixel in the images to isolate each cell of a tumour contained within the image,” Warner explained.
Analysis of this vast amount of digital information requires a large amount of computational power. Using a technique called spatially constrained neural networking – a form of artificial intelligence (AI) – the team plan to develop new algorithms which can be trained to analyse patient samples automatically. This data can then be used to inform future diagnoses so that patients can be matched to the most effective treatments using pathology samples alone.
According to Warner, Dr von Loga and Dr Lund’s long-term vision is to bring AI-supported digital pathology techniques into standard NHS practice for cancer diagnosis. Initially using seven-colour images, the team hope to train AI programmes that will become so effective that they can also adapt to the analysis of two-coloured slides.
This would open up the possibility of using these techniques to deliver personalised treatment options for all cancer patients at the point of diagnosis without requiring other centres to invest in their own multiplex immunohistochemistry equipment.
“The team now have a number of exciting research projects underway which will prove new algorithms while also expanding our knowledge of how cancer treatments work. This work has huge potential to provide patients with the most effective treatments much sooner than would otherwise be possible,” Warner added.
“Donations from the Moodie Davitt ECB Cancer Research Fellowship have funded Dr von Loga’s position, allowing her to establish a new digital pathology laboratory at The Royal Marsden. Her team is using new technology to accelerate research using an innovative and replicable model.
“[The Moodie Davitt Report’s] support has therefore enabled the creation of new research that could change the way that cancers of all types are diagnosed and treated on a global scale.”