Edwards Group | Bone Oncology
We aim to identify the mechanisms contributing to bone disease caused by cancer and develop new treatments for these conditions.
Metastasis of cancers to bone
Cancer-induced bone disease is a characteristic feature of several types of cancer, including the hematological malignancy multiple myeloma, and other tumors that metastasise to bone such as breast, prostate and lung. In addition to the development of debilitating skeletal complications, the bone marrow provides a unique hospitable microenvironment, and once tumors become established in bone, they are largely unresponsive to treatment.
The overall goal of our research is to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to disease pathogenesis, and so identify and validate novel therapeutic approaches. Our focus is on the role of the tumor microenvironment and tumor-host interactions.
Major Themes
- Obesity and adipokines in cancer-induced bone disease
- MMPs in myeloma bone disease
- miRNA in prostate cancer bone metastases
- Bone marrow stromal cells in the pathogenesis of cancer-induced bone disease
Our team
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Claire Edwards
Associate Professor of Bone Oncology
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Emma Morris
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
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Siobhan Webb
Researcher
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Sam Olechnowicz
Postdoctoral Research Associate
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Christina Turner
DPhil Student
Funding
- Bloodwise
- Oxford Cancer Research Centre
- National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute
- Prostate Cancer UK
- FP7 – Marie Curie Career Integration Grant
Collaborators
- Prof. Freddie Hamdy
- Dr. James Edwards
- Dr. Hal Drakesmith
- Dr. Karthik Ramasamy
- Prof. Alison Banham
- Dr. Isabel Orriss (Royal Veterinary College, London)
- Dr. Conor Lynch (Moffit Cancer Center, Florida, USA)
- Dr. Matthew Drake (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA)