Following the outstanding success of the Kiama Auto Expo the Rotary Clubs of Gerringong and Kiama came together for a joint meeting to hear from the PhD student jointly sponsored by the clubs. Sheena Daignault presented to our meeting on her Rotary Health PhD Research into potential novel therapies for melanoma.
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Medical practice today can only treat melanoma successfully if it is detected in the very early stages of development and the entire tumour can be excised. Melanoma remains the most dangerous skin cancer, and impacts more young Australians under 39 years of age than any other cancer.
Sheena shared with the us the fact that exposure to sun is the biggest risk factor, as around 90 per cent of melanomas are UV induced. She also explained that serious skin damage occurs with only 4 minutes of sun exposure, and this could give rise to precursor melanoma cells. The characteristics of melanoma that make it particularly challenging to treat is the speed with which it spreads and the fact that it thrives in hostile environments with limited nutrients and oxygen. Like many cancers the biggest obstacle to treatment is by causing a mutation of the body’s own cells the immune system does not identify the cancer as a pathogen or foreign object and does not mount a full immune response.
Sheena’s ground-breaking research involves removing melanoma cells from the body and killing them with a drug that is known to kill melanoma cells. By killing the cells and exposing internal compartments that the body doesn’t recognise, she hopes to trick the immune system into identifying the cells as foreign invaders so the immune system can respond. Importantly, this drug is already registered with the FDA approval in another cancer type.
When Sheena uses a mouse model to reintroduce the dead mouse melanoma cells back into the mouse, the immune system recognises them as a pathogen and works to attack the living melanoma. Research to date has shown promising results. Sheena expects to finish this research in the next 18 months.
In the meantime, early detection is critical to saving lives particularly of young people. We continue on the local initiative of the Gerringong and Kiama Rotary clubs running free screening programs with the support of local volunteer practitioners. During the Auto Expo we screened 90 participants. Around 28 per cent were referred for further investigation.
We are working with local SLSCs to run screenings in December and January but encourage you to take the opportunity for you and your loved ones to be screened by your GP on a regular basis.
