WORLD CLASS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCH

Introduction

Over the last decade, we have made great strides into understanding the biology of melanoma. The BRAF gene is mutated in about half of melanoma cases, and the NRAS gene is mutated in about 20% of cases. These proteins are part of a conserved signalling pathway that regulates cell proliferation and survival, and the mutant proteins drive uncontrolled cell growth and tumour progression.

Our laboratory focuses on melanoma biology, as well as the biology of other cancers, and we use a combination of approaches, including biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, structural biology, transgenic models and next generation signalling.

We are developing new anti-cancer drugs, and are developing precision medicine protocols to tailor treatments to individual patients. In collaboration with Professor Caroline Springer, now Director of our Drug Discovery Unit, we currently have clinical trials with panRAF drugs that overcome resistance in melanoma to BRAF drugs at The Royal Marsden Hospital and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. Working with Professor Caroline Dive, our lab has brought whole exome sequencing of patient melanoma samples, and sequencing of naked DNA in plasma, to the clinic to facilitate a new approach to monitoring of disease and response to therapy.

Our aim is to develop multi-disciplinary teams of scientists and clinicians to develop new diagnostic tools and new treatments for cancer patients. 

Selected Publications

Valpione S, Galvani E, Tweedy J, Mundra PA, Banyard A, Middlehurst P, Barry J, Mills S, Salih Z, Weightman J, Gupta A, Gremel G, Baenke F, Dhomen N, Lorigan PC, Marais R. (2020)
Immune-awakening revealed by peripheral T cell dynamics after once cycle of immunotherapy. 
Nature Cancer 1: 210-221. PubMed abstract

Galvani E, Mundra PA, Valpione S, Garcia-Martinez P, Smith M, Greenall J, Thakur R, Helmink B, Andrews MC, Boon L, Chester C, Gremel G, Hogan K, Mandal A, Zeng K, Banyard A, Ashton G, Cook M, Lorigan P, Wargo JA, Dhomen N, Marais R. (2020)
Stroma remodeling and reduced cell division define durable response to PD-1 blockade in melanoma.
Nature Communications 11: 853. PubMed abstract

Trucco LD, Mundra PA, Hogan K, Garcia-Martinez P, Viros A, Mandal AK, Macagno N, Gaudy-Marqueste C, Allan D, Baenke F, Cook M, McManus C, Sanchez-Laorden B, Dhomen N, Marais R. (2019)
Ultraviolet radiation-induced DNA damage is prognostic for outcome in melanoma.
Nature Medicine 25(2):221-224. PubMed abstract

Lee RJ, Gremel G, Marshall A, Myers KA, Fisher N, Dunn J, Dhomen N, Corrie PG, Middleton MR, Lorigan P, Marais R. (2018)
Circulating tumor DNA predicts survival in patients with resected high risk stage II/III melanoma.
Annals of Oncology 29(2):490-496. PubMed abstract

Tang H, Leung L, Saturno G, Viros A, Smith D, Di Leva G, Morrison E, Niculescu-Duvaz D, Lopes F, Johnson L, Dhomen N, Springer C, Marais R. (2017)
Lysyl oxidase drives tumour progression by trapping EGF receptors at the cell surface.
Nature Communications 8:14909. PubMed abstract

Gremel G, Lee RJ, Girotti MR, Mandal AK, Valpione S, Garner G, Ayub M, Wood S, Rothwell DG, Fusi A, Wallace A, Brady G, Dive C, Dhomen N, Lorigan P, Marais R. (2016)
Distinct subclonal tumour responses to therapy revealed by circulating cell-free DNA.
Annals of Oncology 27(10):1959-65. PubMed abstract

Viros A, Sanchez-Laorden B, Pedersen M, Furney SJ, Rae J, Hogan K, Ejiama S, Girotti MR, Cook M, Dhomen N and Marais R. (2014)
Ultraviolet radiation accelerates BRAF-driven melanomagenesis by targeting TP53. 
Nature 511(7510):478-82. PubMed abstract

Furney SJ, Pedersen M, Gentien D, Dumont AG, Rapinat A, Desjardins L, Turajlic S, Piperno Neumann S, de la Grange P, Roman-Roman S, Stern M.-H., and Marais R. (2013)
SF3B1 mutations are associated with alternative splicing in uveal melanoma.
Cancer Discovery 3(10):1122-9. PubMed abstract

Su F, Viros A, Milagre C, Trunzer K, Bollag C, Spleiss O, Reis-Filho JS, Kong X, Koya RC, Flaherty KT, Chapman PB, Jung Kim M, Hayward F, Martin M, Yang H, Wang Q, Hilton H, Hang JS, Noe J, Lambros M, Geyer F, Dhomen N, Niculescu-Duvaz I, Zambon A, Niculescu-Duvaz D, Preece N, Robert L, Otte NJ, Mok S, Kee D, Ma Y, Zhang C, Habets G, Burton EA, Wong B, Nguyen H, Kockx M, Andries L, Lestini B, Nolop KB, Lee RJ, Joe AK, Troy JL, Gonzalez F, Hutson TE, Puzanov I, Chmielowski B, Springer CJ, McArthur GA, Sosman JA, Lo RS, Ribas A, Marais R. (2012)
RAS mutations in cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas with BRAF inhibitors.
The New England Journal of Medicine 366: 207-215. PubMed abstract

Associate Scientists
Nathalie Dhomen
Valeria Pavet

Postdoctoral Fellows
Daphné Brisard
Pauline Hascoët
Sjors Kas
Patricia Pacios-Centeno

Clinical Scientist
Sara Valpione

Clinical Fellow
Pablo Garcia Martinez

Graduate Student
Luke Chisholm

Scientific Officers
Christopher Chester
Darryl Coles
Megan Grant
Jessica Walker