Utilising proteomics-derived data in establishing predictive biomarker signatures to assist therapeutic decision-making in Multiple Myeloma

Dr. Despina Bazou Prof Peter O’Gorman

Dr. Despina Bazou and Prof. Peter O’Gorman received a HRB-HRCI joint Funding Scheme Grant with Breakthrough Cancer Research the charity partner. Their research will focus on Multiple Myeloma (MM). MM is an incurable cancer that originates in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that makes antibodies. MM is the second most common blood cancer with approximately 103,000 newly diagnosed cases per yearworldwide. Treatment of MM has substantially changed over the past decade with the introduction of several classes of effective drugs that have greatly improved response rates.

However, drug resistance to therapy, at diagnosis or during a patient’s treatment is a major problem and ultimately leads in death. Identifying the mechanisms of drug resistance will allow the development of new therapies that can overcome this problem. This research aims to discover unique protein signatures of MM cells and their microenvironment (i.e. bone marrow stromal cells) that will help us understand why such resistance to therapy develops. The identification of these protein signatures will aid in the development of potential biomarkers to improve diagnosis and therapy.

Publications

Kulkarni A, Bazou D, Santos-Martinez MJ. Bleeding and Thrombosis in Multiple Myeloma: Platelets as Key Players during Cell Interactions and Potential Use as Drug Delivery Systems. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Nov 1;24(21):15855. doi: 10.3390/ijms242115855. PMID: 37958838; PMCID: PMC10647631.

Katsenou A, O’Farrell R, Dowling P, Heckman CA, O’Gorman P, Bazou D. Using Proteomics Data to Identify Personalized Treatments in Multiple Myeloma: A Machine Learning Approach. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Oct 25;24(21):15570. doi: 10.3390/ijms242115570. PMID: 37958554; PMCID: PMC10650823.