Samra Turajlic

Last updated
Dr Samra Turajlic
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
UCL Medical School
Institute of Cancer Research
Scientific career
FieldsCancer evolution, kidney cancer, melanoma
InstitutionsRoyal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
the Francis Crick Institute
Thesis  (2003)
Doctoral advisor Richard Marais
Other academic advisorsCharles Swanton

Samra Turajlic is a medical oncologist and cancer researcher. She leads the cancer dynamics lab at the Francis Crick Institute in London, which focuses on understanding how cancers evolve, as well as working as an oncologist at the Royal Marsden.

Contents

Her work has revealed that kidney cancers follow a set number of evolutionary paths, each with its own set of genetic changes. [1] This discovery could help to distinguish between aggressive cancers that require treatment and more benign tumours that can be monitored.

Education and early career

Turajlic studied medicine at Oxford University, graduating in 1999 before continuing her medical training at UCL Medical School. She completed her PhD in Richard Marais' lab at the Institute of Cancer Research, where she worked on the first ever targeted treatment for melanoma skin cancer. [2] She then joined Charles Swanton's team as a clinician scientist in 2014, funded by Cancer Research UK. Together, they developed the TRACERx Renal project, which studies how kidney cancer evolves over time. [3] In 2015, she completed her training in medical oncology and became a consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden, specialising in skin and urological cancers. [4]

She went on to form her own lab at the Francis Crick Institute, becoming a group leader in 2019. [4] She divides her time between the clinic and her lab.

She is a Trustee of the Kidney Cancer Support Network and Melanoma Focus, and a senior editor for Macmillan Cancer Support. [4]

Research

Kidney cancer

Turajlic is the Chief Clinical Investigator and Chief Scientific Investigator for the TRACERx Renal, which aims to map how kidney cancer evolves over time. [3] By developing techniques to analyse a cancer's history, her work has revealed that kidney cancers follow a set number of evolutionary paths, each with its own distinct set of genetic changes. Publishing their work in Cell, [1] [5] [6] the team found that kidney cancers could be classified into three broad categories based on changes in their DNA: very aggressive, benign and intermediate. [7] [8] She was awarded a Cancer Research UK Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowship in February 2020 to continue work on kidney cancer evolution. [9]

Melanoma

In April 2020, Turajlic was awarded a grant from the Melanoma Research Alliance to study how melanoma spreads to other parts of the body by metastasis. [10] Working with patients at the Royal Marsden and samples gathered through the Melanoma TRACERx [11] and PEACE [12] programmes, the team are aiming to investigate the timing and pattern of melanoma metastasis. [13]

Von Hippel-Lindau disease

In May 2020, her lab was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to study Von Hippel-Lindau disease. [14] They will be collaborating with the NIH's Marston Lineham to understand why tumours develop in some parts of the body but not others in people with Von-Hippel Lindau disease.

Representative sequencing

In May 2020, she and others at the Francis Crick Institute reported a new way to analyse surgically removed tumours by representative sampling, which gives a more complete picture of the genetic changes within the tumour. [15] Instead of analysing individual samples taken from the tumour, the new technique mixes cells from different areas of the tumour together. The technique, which could help identify changes that can be targeted by treatment, is now being tested at The Royal Marsden. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renal cell carcinoma</span> Medical condition

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a kidney cancer that originates in the lining of the proximal convoluted tubule, a part of the very small tubes in the kidney that transport primary urine. RCC is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults, responsible for approximately 90–95% of cases. It is more common in men. It is most commonly diagnosed in the elderly.

The Institute of Cancer Research is a public research institute and a member institution of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, specialising in oncology. It was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Marsden Hospital and joined the University of London in 2003. It has been responsible for a number of breakthrough discoveries, including that the basic cause of cancer is damage to DNA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birt–Hogg–Dubé syndrome</span> Rare autosomal dominant cancer syndrome

Birt–Hogg–Dubé syndrome (BHD), also Hornstein–Birt–Hogg–Dubé syndrome, Hornstein–Knickenberg syndrome, and fibrofolliculomas with trichodiscomas and acrochordons is a human, adult onset, autosomal dominant genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the folliculin (FLCN) gene. It can cause susceptibility to kidney cancer, renal and pulmonary cysts, and noncancerous tumors of the hair follicles, called fibrofolliculomas. The symptoms seen in each family are unique, and can include any combination of the three symptoms. Fibrofolliculomas are the most common manifestation, found on the face and upper trunk in over 80% of people with BHD over the age of 40. Pulmonary cysts are equally common (84%) and 24% of people with BHD eventually experience a collapsed lung. Kidney tumors, both cancerous and benign, occur in 14–34% of people with BHD; the associated kidney cancers are often rare hybrid tumors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eye neoplasm</span> Medical condition

An eye neoplasm is a tumor of the eye. A rare type of tumor, eye neoplasms can affect all parts of the eye, and can either be benign or malignant (cancerous), in which case it is known as eye cancer. Eye cancers can be primary or metastatic cancer. The two most common cancers that spread to the eye from another organ are breast cancer and lung cancer. Other less common sites of origin include the prostate, kidney, thyroid, skin, colon and blood or bone marrow.

Clear cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK) is an extremely rare type of kidney cancer comprising 3% of all pediatric renal tumours. Clear cell sarcoma of the kidney can spread from the kidney to other organs, most commonly the bone, but also including the lungs, brain, and soft tissues of the body.

The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) is a voluntary scientific organization that provides a forum for collaboration among the world's leading cancer and genomic researchers. The ICGC was launched in 2008 to coordinate large-scale cancer genome studies in tumours from 50 cancer types and/or subtypes that are of main importance across the globe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter J. Ratcliffe</span> British nephrologist (born 1954)

Sir Peter John Ratcliffe, FRS, FMedSci is a British physician-scientist who is trained as a nephrologist. He was a practising clinician at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and Nuffield Professor of Clinical Medicine and head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford from 2004 to 2016. He has been a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford since 2004. In 2016 he became Clinical Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute, retaining a position at Oxford as a member of the Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research and director of the Target Discovery Institute, University of Oxford.

Christopher M. Nutting is a British Professor of Clinical Oncology and medical consultant, specializing in head and neck cancers, who has helped develop Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), an advanced form of Radiation therapy.

Sarah-Jane Dawson is an Australian clinician-scientist. She is a consultant medical oncologist and head of the Molecular Biomarkers and Translational Genomics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Her current research interests are focused on the development of noninvasive blood-based biomarkers for clinical application, including early detection, risk stratification and disease monitoring in cancer management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Little</span> Australian scientist and academic (born 1963)

Melissa Helen Little is an Australian scientist and academic, currently Theme Director of Cell Biology, heading up the Kidney Regeneration laboratory at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She is also a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, and Program Leader of Stem Cells Australia. In January 2022, she became CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine reNEW, an international stem cell research center based at University of Copenhagen, and a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia, and Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Swanton</span> British physician scientist

Robert Charles Swanton is a British physician scientist specialising in oncology and cancer research. Swanton is a senior group leader at London's Francis Crick Institute, Royal Society Napier Professor in Cancer and thoracic medical oncologist at University College London and University College London Hospitals, co-director of the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, and Chief Clinician of Cancer Research UK.

Vivian Li is a Hong Kong-born cell and developmental biologist working in cancer research at London's Francis Crick Institute. She has been researching how stem cells in the human bowel are programmed to ensure a healthy organ and what goes wrong when cancer develops. She is known for her work on the Wnt signalling pathway, discovering a new way that a molecule called Wnt is activated in bowel cancer. She won a Future Leaders in Cancer Research Prize in part for this discovery.

Elizabeth Ruth Plummer is a Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at Newcastle University and an oncologist specialising in treating patients with melanoma. Based in Newcastle, she directs the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, set up by the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation to run early-stage clinical trials.v Plummer and the Newcastle team won a 2010 Translational Cancer Research Prize from Cancer Research UK for work using rucaparib to treat ovarian cancer. Plummer was elected as a fellow of the UK's Academy of Medical Sciences in 2018.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Monje</span> American neurologist and researcher (born 1978)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Coupland</span> Australian clinical pathologist

Sarah Coupland is an Australian-born pathologist and professor who is the George Holt Chair in Pathology at the University of Liverpool. Coupland is an active clinical scientist whose research focuses on the molecular genetics of cancers, with particular interests in uveal melanoma, conjunctival melanoma, intraocular and ocular adnexal lymphomas and CNS lymphoma. Coupland is also an NHS Honorary Consultant Histopathologist at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Since 2006, Coupland has been head of the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Research Group; from which she runs a multidisciplinary oncology research group focussing on Uveal melanoma, based in the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine at the University of Liverpool. Her research laboratory is currently located in the Institute of Translational Medicine From April 2014 to December 2019, Coupland was also Director of the North West Cancer Research Centre, @UoL. In both 2019 and 2020, Coupland was included on the 'Pathology Powerlist' on The Pathologist website.

Serena Nik-Zainal is a British-Malaysian clinician who is a consultant in clinical genetics and Cancer Research UK advanced clinician scientist at the University of Cambridge. She makes use of genomics for clinical applications. She was awarded the Crick Lecture by the Royal Society in 2021. Serena Nik-Zainal was also recognized as one of the 100 Influential Women in Oncology by OncoDaily.

Elizabeth R. Plimack is an American medical oncologist. She is a professor in the Department of Hematology/Oncology and Chief of the Division of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. In these roles, she researches the treatment of genitourinary malignancies with a focus on bladder and kidney cancers.

References

  1. 1 2 Mitchell, Thomas J.; Turajlic, Samra; Rowan, Andrew; Nicol, David; Farmery, James H.R.; O’Brien, Tim; Martincorena, Inigo; Tarpey, Patrick; Angelopoulos, Nicos; Yates, Lucy R.; Butler, Adam P. (2018-04-19). "Timing the Landmark Events in the Evolution of Clear Cell Renal Cell Cancer: TRACERx Renal". Cell. 173 (3): 611–623.e17. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.02.020. ISSN   0092-8674. PMC   5927631 . PMID   29656891.
  2. ↑ "Introducing Samra Turajlic, clinician scientist". Crick. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  3. 1 2 "Renal | TracerX" . Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  4. 1 2 3 "Samra Turajlic". Crick. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  5. ↑ Turajlic, Samra; Xu, Hang; Litchfield, Kevin; Rowan, Andrew; Horswell, Stuart; Chambers, Tim; O'Brien, Tim; Lopez, Jose I.; Watkins, Thomas B. K.; Nicol, David; Stares, Mark (19 April 2018). "Deterministic Evolutionary Trajectories Influence Primary Tumor Growth: TRACERx Renal". Cell. 173 (3): 595–610.e11. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.043. ISSN   1097-4172. PMC   5938372 . PMID   29656894.
  6. ↑ Turajlic, Samra; Xu, Hang; Litchfield, Kevin; Rowan, Andrew; Chambers, Tim; Lopez, Jose I.; Nicol, David; O’Brien, Tim; Larkin, James; Horswell, Stuart; Stares, Mark (2018-04-19). "Tracking Cancer Evolution Reveals Constrained Routes to Metastases: TRACERx Renal". Cell. 173 (3): 581–594.e12. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.057. ISSN   0092-8674. PMC   5938365 . PMID   29656895.
  7. ↑ Gallagher, James (2018-04-12). "Why some cancers are 'born to be bad'". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  8. ↑ "Piecing together kidney cancer evolution". Cancer Research UK - Science blog. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  9. ↑ "Crick clinician scientists awarded new fellowships". Crick. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  10. ↑ "Melanoma Research Alliance Announces $11 Million for 26 Grant Awards to Advance Melanoma Research". www.businesswire.com. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  11. ↑ "Melanoma | TracerX" . Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  12. ↑ "The PEACE (Posthumous Evaluation of Advanced Cancer Environment) Study - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov". clinicaltrials.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  13. ↑ "Samra Turajlic awarded over £2.3million for cancer research at the Crick". Crick. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  14. ↑ "Samra Turajlic awarded over £2.3million for cancer research at the Crick". Crick. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  15. ↑ Litchfield, Kevin; Stanislaw, Stacey; Spain, Lavinia; Gallegos, Lisa L.; Rowan, Andrew; Schnidrig, Desiree; Rosenbaum, Heidi; Harle, Alexandre; Au, Lewis; Hill, Samantha M.; Tippu, Zayd (2020-05-05). "Representative Sequencing: Unbiased Sampling of Solid Tumor Tissue". Cell Reports. 31 (5): 107550. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107550 . hdl: 20.500.11820/fc5fb24a-cf07-481a-9f6f-dba214678131 . ISSN   2211-1247. PMID   32375028.
  16. ↑ "Tumour analysis technique offers the prospect of personalised cancer care". inews.co.uk. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
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