A University of Galway doctoral researcher funded by Breakthrough Cancer Research is investigating how colorectal cancer cells use sugar molecules as an invisibility cloak to evade the body’s immune system.
Sugar Molecules Block Immune Cells in Bowel Cancer
PhD researcher Nial O’Reilly is studying why immunotherapy has shown limited benefit for most bowel cancer patients. While immunotherapy has revolutionised treatments for cancers like melanoma and lung cancer, bowel cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide.
Using genetic engineering approaches from his degree in genetics and genomics, O’Reilly’s research focuses on sialic acids. These sugar molecules connect with immune cells and essentially turn them off, making it harder for the immune system to recognise and attack tumours.
“The project is about finding the genes that suppress the immune system. There are many proteins involved in producing a sialic acid, if we can target the specific proteins of interest we can remove the sialic acid invisibility cloak so that the immunity cells can do their job,” O’Reilly explained from his lab at the Lambe Institute for Translational Research.
Breakthrough Funding Supports Galway Research
The four-year doctorate received a €140,000 grant from Breakthrough Cancer Research, a charity that supports projects focused on cancers with poor outcomes. O’Reilly is half-way through the project, which is supervised by Dr Aideen Ryan, Professor in Tumour Immunology at the University of Galway.
O’Reilly moved to Galway from his home in Lyons in 2020. The son of Irish parents who emigrated to France, he studied genetics and genomics before advancing to a doctorate in Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
By uncovering how these cells operate, researchers hope to develop new treatments that combine with existing immunotherapies.
Rising Diagnosis Rates Among Younger Adults
In Ireland, around 2,562 people develop bowel cancer—also known as colon, rectal, or colorectal cancer—each year. Rates of colorectal cancer in adults under 50 have almost doubled in the 25 years leading up to 2019, with one in 10 people diagnosed under age 50.
The Marie Keating Foundation’s support group for late-stage cancer has recorded a significant increase in people under 50 signing up with late-stage diagnoses. Medical professionals advise that individuals experiencing persistent changes should consult a GP.
Common Bowel Cancer Warning Signs
- Changes in stool habits lasting longer than three weeks, including constipation, diarrhoea, or both.
- The feeling of not emptying the bowel completely after a movement.
- Needing to use the bathroom more or less often than usual.
- Blood in the stool, which may appear red or black, or bleeding from the bottom.
- Tummy pain, a lump in the abdomen, unexplained weight loss, extreme fatigue, bloating, or breathlessness.
Questions About Bowel Cancer Research and Screening
What does the €140,000 Breakthrough Cancer Research grant fund?
The funding supports Nial O’Reilly’s four-year PhD research project at the University of Galway, focusing on genetic engineering approaches to target sialic acid sugar molecules used by colorectal cancer cells.
Who supervises the research at the University of Galway?
Dr Aideen Ryan, Professor in Tumour Immunology at the University of Galway, serves as the project supervisor for O’Reilly’s doctorate in Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
How does the national bowel screening programme operate in Ireland?
BowelScreen delivers a free home test kit every two years to people aged 59 to 70. Participants mail back a small stool sample to be tested for traces of blood.
Scientific progress takes time, and advancing current pre-clinical tests to the clinical stage remains a long-term objective.
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