Read press release Alan Melcher
Using viruses to kill cancer cells
University of Leeds
Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre
St. James's University Hospital
Beckett Street
Leeds
LS9 7TF
United Kingdom
Email: a.a.melcher@leeds.ac.uk
Tel: 0113 2067275
Web: Lab website
About Alan Melcher
Professor Alan Melcher and his team at the University of Leeds are developing a new type of cancer therapy based on specially modified viruses. Instead of causing illness, these viruses can kill cancer cells and also trigger the body’s immune system to attack tumours. These viruses are currently being tested in early-stage clinical trials to treat advanced skin and bowel cancers.
Professor Melcher and his team are investigating how to improve the ability of these viruses to kill cancer cells. They are also working on ways of boosting the number of cells in a patient’s blood that can carry the virus to a tumour. Another line of his research is testing the use of cancer-killing viruses in combination with chemotherapy, to see if this approach is more effective at treating the disease.
Using the power of viruses and the immune system to fight cancer could lead to powerful new ways to tackle the disease in the future.
Other research projects by Alan Melcher
Funding period: 01 September 2011 to 31 August 2016
Publications
Differential effects of Paclitaxel on dendritic cell function
BMC Immunol.2010;11 :14
Synergistic effects of oncolytic reovirus and cisplatin chemotherapy in murine malignant melanoma
Clin Cancer Res.2009;15 :6158-6166
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