Australian cancer breakthru

THE quest for a cancer cure has saved millions of lab mice from scientific sacrifice.

In a world-first from Australian scientists, research labs are now growing cancerous tumours in sponge cultures in the laboratory rather than on mice.

The process, which is faster and cheaper as well as kinder to animals, will also see new treatments for cancer fast tracked.

In ending the traditional time consuming process of growing cancerous tumours on mice, new drugs can be tested quicker to see if they work.

Adelaide University researcher Professor Wayne Tilley, who devised the new research method, is using sponge tumours to find ground breaking new breast and prostate cancer treatments.

The research is funded by men’s health charity Movember and Breast Cancer Network Australia and aims to reprogram the androgen receptors in men and oestrogen receptors in women so they no longer drive cancer growth but instead function normally.

The method slashes the time it takes to test new drugs and is being adopted worldwide to speed up the race to find new medical treatments.

Professor Tilley says the process takes 18 months to two years to grow the tumours on mice, check the cell lines have not been compromised and test the candidate treatment compounds.

Most of the tumours grown in this way are derived from tumour cell lines that are 30 years old, they come from cancers that have spread and they are unlike the early stage cancers detected today.

Prof Tilley can take tumours straight from the operating theatre, grow them on a sponge in a culture and test the treatments in a matter of weeks.

Humane Research Australia reports that over 8 million animals were used in research and teaching in Australia in 2015, including over 1.4 million mice.