Extending treatment success in pancreatic and bowel cancers
Background
Colorectal (or bowel) and pancreatic cancer are the second and third leading causes of death from cancer in Australia, after lung cancer. Patients with advanced bowel and pancreatic cancers are often treated with drugs that inhibit the activity of a protein (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, or EGFR) that allows cancer cells to communicate with each other, helping them to multiply and spread. This treatment is effective at shrinking tumours and halting cancer spread, but its effectiveness doesn’t last. For many patients, the treatment will eventually begin to fail, and the cancer will begin growing and spreading once again.
The research
A/Prof Griffin and his team have been studying another protein receptor (called interleukin 11 receptor, or IL11R) that they believe works with EGFR to help cancer cells communicate with each other. The team has shown that the presence of IL11 is increased in pancreatic and bowel cancers and that it plays a crucial role in cancer progression and the failure of treatment by EGFR inhibitors.
In this project, the team will test if inhibiting the activity of IL-11R can extend the effectiveness of treatment with EGFR inhibitors for pancreatic and bowel cancers.
The impact
If their pre-clinical testing is successful, the team will have established the basis for much needed, and potentially lifesaving, clinical trials of this new combination treatment for patients with advanced pancreatic and bowel cancers. As EGFR inhibitors are also used in the treatment of other cancers, including lung cancer, A/Prof Griffin hopes their work will help improve quality of life and save even more lives.
In Partnership with Box Rallies
This researcher was proudly funded through our partnership with Box Rallies (Shitbox Rally, Mystery Box Rally and Lunchbox Rally), an incredible organisation that has been raising funds for cancer research since 2009. To learn more or to take part in one of their unforgettable rallies, visit Box Rallies.
Project Update: November 2025
Associate Professor Griffin and his team have established a model for patient ‘avatar’ production in the laboratory, which is now adopted globally. Many patients develop resistance to current ‘standard of care’ therapeutics and these patient ‘avatars’ enable a pre-clinical model system to be studied that is directly relevant to patients. This unique ‘avatar’ model replicates resistance to two common types of cancer treatment in colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients, chemotherapy and EGFR inhibitors, and provides new insights into treatment resistance.
Having a patient avatar produced in the laboratory is the best way to understand how a patient would respond to an anti-cancer drug. The research team has undertaken this research project to help understand whether blocking small signalling proteins, called cytokines, can prevent the communication between cancer cells that leads to drug resistance. This project advances cancer research and brings us closer to Cancer Council priorities by addressing unmet needs and supporting improved patient outcomes.