Research Output
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Publication
Understanding and Attitudes toward Cancer Clinical Trials among Patients with a Cancer Diagnosis: National Study through Cancer Trials Ireland
2020-07-16, Kearns, Cathriona, Feighery, Ronan, Mc Caffrey, John, Higgins, Michaela, Smith, Martina, Gallagher, William M., Kelly, Ciara, Kelly, Catherine M., et al.
Cancer clinical trials (CCTs) are critical to translation and development of better therapies to improve outcomes. CCTs require adequate patient involvement but accrual rates are low globally. Several known barriers impede participation and knowing how subpopulations differ in understanding of CCTs can foster targeted approaches to aid accrual and advance cancer treatments. We conducted the first nationwide survey of 1089 patients attending 14 Irish cancer centres, assessing understanding of fundamental concepts in CCT methodology and factors that influence participation, to help tailor patient support for accrual to CCTs. Two-thirds (66%) of patients reported never having been offered a CCT and only 5% of those not offered asked to participate. Misunderstanding of clinical equipoise was prevalent. There were differences in understanding of randomisation of treatment by age (p < 0.0001), ethnicity (p = 0.035) and marital status (p = 0.013), and 58% of patients and 61% previous CCT participants thought that their doctor would ensure better treatment in CCTs. Females were slightly more risk averse. Males indicated a greater willingness to participate in novel drug trials (p = 0.001, p = 0.003). The study identified disparities in several demographics; older, widowed, living in provincial small towns and fewer years-educated patients had generally poorer understanding of CCTs, highlighting requirements for targeted support in these groups.
Publication
HGF induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition by modulating the mammalian Hippo/MST2 and ISG15 pathways
2014-06-06, Farrell, Jennifer, Kelly, Ciara, Rauch, Jens, Kida, Katarzyna, Garcia Munoz, Amaya, Monsefi, Naser, Turriziani, Benedetta, Doherty, Carolanne, Mehta, J. P., Matallanas, David, Simpson, Jeremy C., Kolch, Walter, Kriegsheim, Alexander von
Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fundamental cell differentiation/dedifferentiation process which is associated with dramatic morphological changes. Formerly polarized and immobile epithelial cells which form cell junctions and cobblestone-like cell sheets undergo a transition into highly motile, elongated, mesenchymal cells lacking cell-to-cell adhesions. To explore how the proteome is affected during EMT we profiled protein expression and tracked cell biological markers in Madin-Darby kidney epithelial cells undergoing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) induced EMT. We were able to identify and quantify over 4000 proteins by mass spectrometry. Enrichment analysis of this revealed that expression of proteins associated with the ubiquitination machinery was induced, whereas expression of proteins regulating apoptotic pathways was suppressed. We show that both the mammalian Hippo/MST2 and the ISG15 pathways are regulated at the protein level by ubiquitin ligases. Inhibition of the Hippo pathway by overexpression of either ITCH or A-Raf promotes HGF-induced EMT. Conversely, ISG15 overexpression is sufficient to induce cell scattering and an elongated morphology without external stimuli. Thus, we demonstrate for the first time that the Hippo/MST2 and ISG15 pathways are regulated during growth-factor induced EMT.