Background to Research Project
Platelets are a component of blood that plays a role in stopping the body from continuously bleeding, and act in helping the body heal in a process called inflammation. When a person has cancer, platelets have been shown to help the cancer spread to other parts of the body which can lead to poor outcomes for patients. Platelets help the cancer spread by allowing it to escape the immune system which usually helps the body fight any infections/diseases. Specifically, it has been shown that platelets suppress the function of a specific immune cell called the Natural Killer cell whose function is to limit the spread of harmful cells.
One of the ways in which platelets help cancer cells escape our immune system is by forming a cloak around cancer cells that help in their shielding from immune cells. This cloak of platelets surrounding cancer cells also interacts with specific immune cells called monocytes and neutrophils. Contact between platelets and these immune cells can result in a phenomenon that can be described as a re-education of the monocytes and neutrophils so that they do not recognise the harmful cancer cell anymore.
Research Objectives
This project aims to confirm the presence of markers that confirm this re-education of monocytes and neutrophils in an environment where cancer cells are grown with platelets. Additionally, the project aims to confirm that it is in fact the platelets which possess the instructions to inactivate the cancer-fighting functions of monocytes and neutrophils.