Interrogating Dynamic Transcriptomic Profiles in Serial Rectal Cancer Samples to Identify Biological Drivers of Response to Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy (RT) is standard neoadjuvant treatment in rectal-cancer but there is substantial heterogeneity of treatment response and no predictive biomarkers. Our group has pioneered a prospective serial biopsy protocol during and following RT demonstrating feasibility of multiple analyses including serial multiplex immunofluorescence (MIF) and RNA seq.

Biologies known to influence treatment response can be tracked. This unique protocol has generated a wealth of gene expression and protein level data that, with this PhD studentship, we aim to interrogate in order to establish biological drivers of radiation response and resistance.

It is anticipated this work will generate novel areas for therapeutic development supporting a precision oncology approach in the future. The student will train in bioinformatics to interrogate complex serial transcriptomics datasets. This work will be supplemented by multiplex immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assessments in matched biospecimens.

Finally skills in novel spatial single cell resolution transcriptomics assessments will be developed to test hypotheses generated from bulk transcriptomic data.