Welcome to The Christie Research Publications Repository

The repository contains the research outputs from staff and students at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute.

Current Repository Content:

Over 7000 peer reviewed articles, reviews and selected publications from 1933 onwards.

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We upload data monthly to the repository. To find out more about the repository, article submission or for advice on how to search it:

Please contact Kostoris Library on 0161 446 3456/3455.

 

  • Encouraging inclusivity in technology clinical trials: guidance co-developed by patients, members of the public, clinical staff and researchers

    Goodwin, Leanna; Graham, Donna M; Starling, B; Harrigan, K; Keane, A; Frost, Hannah; Mustafa, S; Saeed, Shahfaz; Laverty, L; Experimental Cancer Medicine Team, Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Vocal (The University of Manchester, 2024-02)
    Clinical research is vital to develop and provide safe and effective treatment for patients with illness, with changes to healthcare having global impact. Fortunately, in the UK, many patients are willing to participate in clinical studies with recruitment numbers continuing to increase.
  • The effectiveness and safety of proton beam radiation therapy in children and young adults with central nervous system (CNS) tumours: a systematic review

    Wilson, J. S.; Main, C.; Thorp, Nicky; Taylor, R. E.; Majothi, S.; Kearns, P. R.; English, M.; Dandapani, M.; Phillips, R.; Wheatley, K.; et al. (2024)
    BACKGROUND: Central nervous system (CNS) tumours account for around 25% of childhood neoplasms. With multi-modal therapy, 5-year survival is at around 75% in the UK. Conventional photon radiotherapy has made significant contributions to survival, but can be associated with long-term side effects. Proton beam radiotherapy (PBT) reduces the volume of irradiated tissue outside the tumour target volume which may potentially reduce toxicity. Our aim was to assess the effectiveness and safety of PBT and make recommendations for future research for this evolving treatment. METHODS: A systematic review assessing the effects of PBT for treating CNS tumours in children/young adults was undertaken using methods recommended by Cochrane and reported using PRISMA guidelines. Any study design was included where clinical and toxicity outcomes were reported. Searches were to May 2021, with a narrative synthesis employed. RESULTS: Thirty-one case series studies involving 1731 patients from 10 PBT centres were included. Eleven studies involved children with medulloblastoma / primitive neuroectodermal tumours (n = 712), five ependymoma (n = 398), four atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (n = 72), six craniopharyngioma (n = 272), three low-grade gliomas (n = 233), one germ cell tumours (n = 22) and one pineoblastoma (n = 22). Clinical outcomes were the most frequently reported with overall survival values ranging from 100 to 28% depending on the tumour type. Endocrine outcomes were the most frequently reported toxicity outcomes with quality of life the least reported. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights areas of uncertainty in this research area. A well-defined, well-funded research agenda is needed to best maximise the potential of PBT. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO-CRD42016036802.
  • New EAU/ASCO guideline recommendations on sentinel node biopsy for penile cancer and remaining challenges from a nuclear medicine perspective

    Vreeburg, M. T. A.; Donswijk, M. L.; Albersen, M.; Parnham, Arie; Ayres, B.; Protzel, C.; Pettaway, C.; Spiess, P. E.; Brouwer, O. R.; Department of Urology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK. (2024)
    INTRODUCTION: The European Association of Urology (EAU) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently issued updated guidelines on penile cancer, emphasising dynamic sentinel node biopsy (DSNB) as the preferred method for surgical staging among patients with invasive penile tumours and no palpable inguinal lymphadenopathy. This paper outlines the rationale behind this new recommendation and describes remaining challenges, as well as strategies for promoting DSNB worldwide. MAIN TEXT: DSNB offers high diagnostic accuracy with the lowest postoperative complications compared to open or minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND), prompting its preference in the new guidelines. Nevertheless, despite its advantages, there are challenges hampering the widespread adoption of DSNB. This includes the false-negative rate associated with DSNB and the potential negative impact on patient outcome. To address this issue, improvements should be made in several areas, including refining the timing and interpretation of the lymphoscintigraphy and the single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography images. In addition, the quantity of tracer employed and choice of the injection site for the radiopharmaceutical should be optimised. Finally, limiting the removal of nodes without tracer activity during surgery may help minimise complication rates. CONCLUSION: Over the years, DSNB has evolved significantly, related to the dedicated efforts and innovations in nuclear medicine and subsequent clinical studies validating its efficacy. It is now strongly recommended for surgical staging among selected penile cancer patients. To optimise DSNB further, multidisciplinary collaborative research is required to improve SN identification for better diagnostic accuracy and fewer complications.
  • Protocol to study the inheritance and propagation of non-genetically encoded states using barcode decay lineage tracing

    Shlyakhtina, Yelyzaveta; Bloechl, Bloechl; Moran, Katherine L; Portal, Maximiliano M; Cell Plasticity & Epigenetics Lab, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester M20 4BX, UK; (2024)
    Here, we present a protocol to perform barcode decay lineage tracing followed by single-cell transcriptome analysis (BdLT-Seq). We describe steps for BdLT-Seq experimental design, building barcoded episome reporters, performing episome transfection, and barcode retrieval. We then describe procedures for sequencing library construction while providing options for sample multiplexing and data analysis. This BdLT-Seq technique enables the assessment of clonal evolution in a directional manner while preserving isogeneity, thus allowing the comparison of non-genetic molecular features between isogenic cell lineages. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Shlyakhtina et al. (2023).(1).
  • Scavenging of cation radicals of the visual cycle retinoids by lutein, zeaxanthin, taurine, and melanin

    Rozanowska, M.; Edge, R.; Land, Edward J; Navaratnam, S.; Sarna, T.; Truscott, T. G.; The Paterson Institute, The University of Manchester, Wilmslow Road, Manchester M20 4BX, UK. (2023)
    In the retina, retinoids involved in vision are under constant threat of oxidation, and their oxidation products exhibit deleterious properties. Using pulse radiolysis, this study determined that the bimolecular rate constants of scavenging cation radicals of retinoids by taurine are smaller than 2 x 10(7) M(-1)s(-1) whereas lutein scavenges cation radicals of all three retinoids with the bimolecular rate constants approach the diffusion-controlled limits, while zeaxanthin is only 1.4-1.6-fold less effective. Despite that lutein exhibits greater scavenging rate constants of retinoid cation radicals than other antioxidants, the greater concentrations of ascorbate in the retina suggest that ascorbate may be the main protectant of all visual cycle retinoids from oxidative degradation, while alpha-tocopherol may play a substantial role in the protection of retinaldehyde but is relatively inefficient in the protection of retinol or retinyl palmitate. While the protection of retinoids by lutein and zeaxanthin appears inefficient in the retinal periphery, it can be quite substantial in the macula. Although the determined rate constants of scavenging the cation radicals of retinol and retinaldehyde by dopa-melanin are relatively small, the high concentration of melanin in the RPE melanosomes suggests they can be scavenged if they are in proximity to melanin-containing pigment granules.

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