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The banner for the Centre for Stress and Age-Related Disease featuring multi-coloured molecular structures
Centre for Stress and Age-Related Disease
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  • Research impact

Our Research and Enterprise Impact

The Centre for Stress and Age-Related Disease is unique in the UK; it has scientific expertise in examining the impact that a range of stressors (psychological, xenobiotic, oxidative and mechanical) have on the initiation and progression of age-related disease.

Research takes advantage of the multi- and inter-disciplinary academic staff, with much of our research being conducted at the biology/chemistry interface, generating novel datasets and attracting significant  funding.

A multidisciplinary approach allows us to not only understand the involvement of a range of stressors in disease initiation and progression but also allows us to develop novel ways of diagnosing and preventing disease.

It’s very exciting to work on (a series of) projects that combine the expertise of laboratory based scientists with that of psycho-oncologists in an innovative area of research likely to produce tangible benefits for patients receiving cancer treatments.

Valerie Jenkins, SHORE-C, Sussex Health Outcomes, Research and Education Group

Psychological Stress in Patients with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common female cancer, affecting one in eight women. Although many risk factors have been associated with the progression of the disease, the effects of psychological stress are just beginning to be recognised. Dr Melanie Flint, Reader in Cancer Biology, is leading research that will help to determine the role that stress hormones play in patients’ responses to treatment.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for approximately 20 per cent of all subtypes of breast cancer. Patients with TNBC are treated with standard chemotherapy treatments, and these patients exhibit shorter disease-free survival, a higher rate of relapse and can develop resistance to standard therapies. Dr Flint’s research examines the impact of stress hormones on the progression of TNBC and patients’ responses to drug treatment. Stress hormones are highly potent and can interact with almost every cell in the body (including normal, cancer and immune cells). Dr Flint’s research has shown that DNA can be damaged as a result of this interaction leading to cell transformation. A diagnosis of breast cancer is a cause of a great deal of stress, which is in itself a signicant reason for stress management to be considered early on.

Dr Flint works with women who have recovered from breast cancer/TNBC and has used this to inform the direction of her research. The period of most stress is different for each woman; it may be from the moment of suspicion of breast cancer to the diagnosis, or following diagnosis. Patients experience stress for a variety of reasons: through knowledge that they are high risk, enduring multiple biopsies, indirect stress of family members, as well as fear of pain, sickness and potential end of life. Some patients seek stress interventions such as exercise and positive reinforcement from medically trained individuals.

Each of the women Dr Flint worked with stated that stress was a major factor during their cancer history, and that they felt stress could play a role even in tumour progression and treatment. Dr Flint’s group is also examining the impact of stress hormones in tumour tissue from women with mutations in Breast Cancer (BRCA) genes (women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer). BRCA proteins help repair damaged DNA, and women with these mutations often develop breast cancer at a younger age and have higher stress levels. Patients with breast cancer considered investigations into mutations in Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) genes would be critical, due to the added stress of thinking that they could pass on their genetic propensity for the disease to family members. Further, the survivors welcomed discussions of stress with their physician and stress management interventions if offered.

Determining the effects of stress on the ef cacy of chemotherapy will have an impact on the potential utility of pharmacological interventions (for example, beta-blockers) or psychological interventions (for example, mindfulness-based stress reduction) and on the correct time point for administration in the disease trajectory for greatest therapeutic effect. The research will impact patients and clinicians, through recognition that stress is a contributing factor for drug resistance in the treatment of breast cancer.

Communicating progress in ageing research 

Ageing is a fundamental social challenge and economic opportunity. By 2050 there will be as many old people as children on Earth. Unfortunately, by the age of 85 essentially no individual is disease free. The result today is that 40% of the total budget of the British National Health Service (£120 billion) is now spent simply combating the consequences of unsuccessful ageing.

But if our knowledge of the biological mechanisms underlying ageing is translated into interventions exceptional sums of money will be saved. Initial calculations for the US healthcare system alone show that savings approximating $7 trillion (1% of total global wealth) could be made by 2050 if a modest translation of healthy lifespan extension is achieved. Ageing is complex but over the last decade several major mechanisms with large effects on mammalian health and longevity have been elucidated, most notably cellular senescence (the deterioration of cells after they have matured). We have identified a new fundamental cause of human ageing and shown that it can be reversed.

Communication of the progress and benefits of ageing research has been a primary objective of those of us with leadership roles in the UK ageing research community and this communication has included our own research. Research activities have included:

2004-2008 Professor Faragher co-directed a multi-research council network of over 30 peer-reviewed small grants. Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research Capacity (SPARC) had a significant outreach and communication role beyond the academic community. Relevant data is archived with the Research Councils and summarized as follows:

  • 46 workshops (25 for ‘all comers’, five for older people, 16 scientific), nine of which were international.
  • Four national showcase events (BA Festival, OPAN Cymru, CARDI, Belfast, Irish Government, Dublin)
  • 3200 individuals attended, of whom approximately 50% were non academic.
  • SPARC Website averaged 4000 hits per day at close of project. Mailing list had several thousand members.

2014 The British Society for Research on Ageing was reorganised as a grant awarding body. It held a special launch meeting at the House of Lords (27 October 2014), which was attended by many non-scientists and funded by the American Federation for Aging Research and the Glenn Foundation (who also donated £45,000 in initial research funding). We scripted the Live Longer Live Well animated guide to the field (costs met by the Glenn Foundation) available free on the internet.

2016 Professor Faragher gave the Dana Foundation public lecture at the Royal Society.

2017 Keynote lecture given by Faragher at Flourishing Lives Conference at Royal Society in London. 'Small molecule modulation of splicing factor expression is associated with rescue from cellular senescence' article published in BMC Cell Biology. (Latorre et al, 2017) At writing the work sits at 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric. It is in the 99th percentile compared to outputs of the same age and top ranked from BMC cell biology. This has resulted in approaches from three separate Venture Capital organisations looking to discuss investment.

Diabetes Research Group - BBC Inside Out

The Diabetes Research Group, along with some of our amazing patients, made a programme for the BBC Inside Out – South East series, detailing the impact of our research on the islet transplantation program in the UK and highlighting the extraordinary impact that cell replacement therapy has had on the lives of people living with Type 1 Diabetes. This programme was originally broadcast on 27 February, 2017.

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