Taher Saif Receives CCIL Seed Grant to Study Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Taher Saif (M-CELS/RBTE), Professor of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, received Cancer Center at Illinois seed grant funding to enhance the treatment for pancreatic cancer through his research. CCIL seed grants provide funding that enables faculty teams to develop noble cancer research ideas, collect preliminary data and attract external funding.
Taher’s project “A High Throughput Stiffness Sensor for Testing Efficacy of Chemo and CAR-T Cell Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer” focuses on understanding and manipulating the tumour microenvironment to improve the efficacy of pancreatic cancer treatment. The research examines the mechanical stiffness of the cells in the tumour microenvironment. Taher explains that normally in the cancer microenvironments, the chemotherapy drugs are less effective due to the stiffness of the cancer associated fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are the cells surrounding the tumour which creates a stiff structure around the tumour.
This stiffness prevents the chemotherapy drugs from reaching the tumour effectively and eliminating the cancer cells. Hence the end goal is to soften the fibroblasts cells to increase the efficacy of the chemotherapy drugs. “This softening made the chemotherapy significantly more effective in targeting cancer cells,” said Taher.
Taher’s team is responsible for developing the advanced instrumentation required for the study and conducting the research. They utilize patient driven tumour organoids to replicate the tumour environment in vitro dishes. The team then tests the efficacy of the chemotherapy drugs to assess the tumour stiffness under different drugs.
“By relaxing the stiffness of the tumour microenvironment, we’ve observed a remarkable increase in drug efficacy,” Taher said. “This approach not only improves treatment outcomes but also paves the way for more personalized cancer therapies.”
In the short term, this research benefits pancreatic cancer patients and doctors. Over the long term, the findings and methodologies of this study have benefits beyond pancreatic cancer. The methods adopted in this study could be adapted to other solid tumours exhibiting stiffness related drug resistance.
“If we can predict which drug combinations are most effective for individual patients, we can significantly improve personalized treatment strategies,” said Taher.
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This research is reported in the paper, “Nuclear deformation regulates YAP dynamics in cancer associated fibroblasts,” and is available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2023.11.015
Taher Saif is a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering and a member of Cancer Center at Illinois.