Pancreatic cancer: using viruses to treat the disease
Last updated: 20/03/2012
What’s this project about?
Each year, more than 7,600 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Sadly, the disease is very difficult to treat and survival rates are poor.
Dr Crispin Hiley is a Research Fellow in Professor Nick Lemoine’s lab at Queen Mary University in London. The aim of his work is to manipulate viruses to specifically infect and destroy pancreatic cancer cells. His ultimate goal is to develop new treatments to improve the outlook for people with the disease.
Watch this video to learn more about Dr Hiley's work.
Supporting this project
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sammyann donated
£0.34
To make sure the project re...
To make sure the project reaches its target! 
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sammyann donated
£32.00
from the Cancer Research UK...
from the Cancer Research UK - Cambridge Terrace first floor bake-off. Excited to help this project reach its target
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Anonymous donated
£1,351.00
For the memory of my dear w...
For the memory of my dear wife Dorothy who passed away last year
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william donated
£15.00
Project update - fundraising target reached!
Thanks to the great work of MyProjects supporters, we are excited to report that the first project target has been reached!
Dr. Crispin Hiley sent a special message to all who have supported the project through donations, Giving Groups, and by spreading the word to others:
I was very pleased, as I am sure you were, to see the target reached for this research through the MyProjects website. You all have many different and personal reasons for donating to Cancer Research UK and I am grateful that you have given so much time and effort to raise money and are helping to improve the outlook for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the future.
We have achieved a lot of our objectives in this project, including using viruses to target the areas inside tumours that have a poor supply of oxygen and are therefore difficult to treat. We have made a vaccinia virus that produces light when there is a lack of oxygen in the tumour, so we know it’s targeting the right places.
Read the rest of Crispin's message >
The next challenge is to take this concept and use it to arm viruses with additional treatments that will kill these cancer cells more effectively. I really hope that the results from these experiments in Professor Lemoine’s lab will ultimately lead to effective new treatments that help improve survival for patients with pancreatic cancer.
I think it is worth remembering that whilst your donation is restricted to this project, the impact you’ve had will stretch even further. The people involved, like me, will take the experience we gain whilst working with Cancer Research UK forward with us during the rest of our working lives making us better scientists and better doctors.
If you're interested in supporting more research into pancreatic cancer, have a look at a new trial that is hoping to improve treatment into the disease.
What is the science behind the project?
As part of their life-cycle, viruses infect cells and use them as ‘factories’ to make new viruses. These then burst out of the cell and infect new cells - and so on. Harnessing this ‘cell busting’ power could be a useful weapon for treating cancer.
The team are currently working with a virus called vaccinia - a form of which was once used in the vaccine that helped to eradicate smallpox.
Read more about this project >
By modifying the vaccinia virus, they can improve its ability to target and destroy pancreatic cancer cells. For example, they are adding genes to encourage the virus to target the parts of tumours that have very low oxygen levels. These regions are particularly resistant to conventional treatments.
The researchers are currently testing this approach in the lab, with the aim of taking it into clinical trials.
Project update
Professor Lemoine and his team shared that they’ve manipulated the virus and tested it on pancreatic cancer cells grown in the lab. They found it kills even those cancer cells that are usually the most difficult to treat. This may lead to improved treatments with fewer side effects for pancreatic cancer patients in the future.
For more information about pancreatic cancer you can visit the CancerHelp UK website pancreatic cancer pages.
The difference you've made
Pancreatic cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the UK. The people behind this research are committed to finding new ways to tackle pancreatic cancer.
MyProjects supporters helped to raise £20,000 to help fund the laboratory running costs for Dr Crispin Hiley’s pioneering project in Professor Lemoine’s lab for a year.
Cancer Research UK’s groundbreaking research is funded entirely by people like you. While we have made real strides in improving the outlook for many types of cancer, progress in pancreatic cancer has been limited and survival rates remain low. Cancer Research UK is committed to boosting research to find new ways of tackling this disease. This pioneering project has the potential to make a significant impact on survival rates for pancreatic cancer in the future.
If you'd like to continue supporting research into pancreatic cancer, there's another important project that needs your help: Professor John Neoptolemos' ESPAC-4 clinical trial, which hopes improve treatment for people with the pancreatic cancer.
If you have set up a Giving Group for this project, you can pledge any future donations to a new project by logging in to the "MyProfile" area in MyProjects and clicking on the "Edit My Group"’ option. Visit the FAQs to find out more.
Dr. Crispin Hiley runs the marathon
Crispin Hiley is the Research Fellow leading the pancreatic cancer project. He ran the New York Marathon on Sunday 1 November 2009 to raise money for Cancer Research UK, and completed the race in 3:37.39.
As a medical doctor pursuing a Ph.D. and a career in research, Crispin believes in setting goals to work towards — something that motivated him to sign up for the marathon.
Read more about Dr. Hiley's marathon >
As a researcher for Cancer Research UK, Crispin also recognises the effort that so many supporters put in to fund projects like his.
"We need lots of new and innovative ways of treating cancer, which requires money and takes time. I’m grateful that people have run and climbed mountains to raise money so that I could do what I do, and I wanted to join them in helping fund more research."
While he found the long solo training runs difficult, Crispin enjoyed the opportunity to see the city in a range of settings. ”You get to see London at dusk and sunset, and changing through the seasons, which has been quite nice.”
Overall, Crispin was very impressed that so many people made the effort to come to New York and run for Cancer Research UK. He was pleased to be passed by only one of his fellow CR-UK participants: "He was going way too fast for me to keep up, but it did put a smile on my face!"
Meet Margaret and Yasmin
Margaret lost her husband to pancreatic cancer last year and now finds that there are lots of new challenges in day-to-day life.
You can hear more about Margaret, her daughter Yasmin, and their life now, as they share some of their special memories in the video above.
