Deciphering the “Sugar-Code” of Colorectal Cancer

Despite an intense research focus and emergence of novel treatments, the survival rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients remain dishearteningly low. The immune- and cancer-centric sugar-decorated proteins recently discovered at Macquarie University are implicated as players in CRC, but their cancer-promoting roles are still unexplored. This project will map the presence, regulation and biosynthesis of these specific sugar-decorated proteins during CRC onset and progression using novel integrated glycomics and glycoproteomics technologies on biospecimens from patient cohorts. This project will generate previously unattainable knowledge of the aberrant pathways driving CRC and provide new targets for effective anti-tumour therapies.