Dr Claire Perks is an Associate Professor in Tumour Cell Biology in Translational Health Sciences in Bristol Medical School. Her team is based in the Learning and Research Building at Southmead Hospital, which facilitates their collaborations with clinical colleagues that specialise in breast, urological and colorectal cancers. With the increasing prevalence of obesity, patients in Western societies are now likely to present with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes. Dr Perks’ laboratory pursues collaborative multi-disciplinary research projects to delineate the impact of altered metabolic conditions on cancer, to determine ways in which risk and progression can be ameliorated and treatment optimised.

They have a particular interest in insulin-like growth factors that are complex fundamental, nutritionally dependent regulators of growth and metabolism and together with insulin, have been increasingly associated with cancers linked to a Western diet and lifestyle. The team performs mechanistic studies using cell lines to understand the molecular processes underpinning a range of phenotypes important for tumour development including proliferation, survival, migration, and invasion.

The team also plays an integral role in clinical studies, through analysis of human samples, including tissue and blood. Their overall aim is to identify better and more effective ways of treating patients and the work may lead to implementing interventions to prevent the cancer from developing. It is also hoped that this work will highlight the negative impact that obesity/type 2 diabetes can have on how cancers develop and respond to treatment. This
may empower people to take positive approaches to tackling obesity/type 2 diabetes to benefit from the improved health that could be achieved.

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/translational-healthsciences/research/imeg/

Publications:

• Fang S et al. (2023). Association between genetically proxied PCSK9 inhibition and prostate cancer risk: a Mendelian randomization study. PLoS Medicine.
• Mashat RM et al. (2022). A role for ER-beta in the effects of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and 27-hydroxycholesterol on Breast Cancer Progression: involvement of the IGF signalling pathway? Cells. 
• Kingshott G et al. (2021) Alteration of Metabolic Conditions Impacts the Regulation of IGF-II/H19 Imprinting Status in Prostate Cancer. Cancers.