
Watch A/Prof Rebecca Lim accept the research grant award and hear a bit about the project.
Project Summary:
Nerve cells that transmit balance and hearing information from the inner ear to the brain are protected and insulated by a special type of cell called a Schwann cell, that wrap around nerve cells. Sometimes there is an unrestrained growth of Schwann cells, which results in the growth of a tumour. We call this an acoustic neuroma or vestibular schwannoma. People that develop a vestibular schwannoma may develop hearing loss, ringing in the ear, imbalance, dizziness, and sometimes numbness in the face. Large tumours can also be life-threatening because they can compress important regions of the brain. At present there are no drug therapies to stop or slow the growth of tumours once diagnosed or to prevent tumour regrowth after surgical removal. Our previous funding from the Brain Foundation was integral for our work that identified a TGA- and FDA-approved pharmacotherapeutic for the treatment of vestibular schwannoma.
This pharmacotherapeutic is a drug that may be re-purposed from its original use to also become a treatment for vestibular schwannoma. In this project we are continuing our research using this drug. We will establish the optimal effective dose of the drug to cause schwannoma cell death and determine the specific target(s) of the drug in the schwannoma. Finally, we will determine if the optimal dose of the drug has any negative effects on the critically sensitive sensory systems that are responsible for hearing and balance. These steps are essential before the drug can be re-purposed toward clinical trials for the treatment of vestibular schwannoma.
Thank you to the donors and Brain Foundation for supporting this research.
Previous research
In 2022, A/Prof Rebecca Lim received a Brain Foundation Research Grant for the project ‘Target therapies for the treatment of acoustic neuroma’.
In this project, her team sought to develop a brand new therapy for the treatment of vestibular schwannoma. There are a set of proteins in vestibular schwannoma called proNGF, p75NTR, and sortilin. These proteins are essential for the growth and survival of the tumour and there is a high concentration of these proteins in the tumour. They used new drugs called blocking antibodies to target these proteins.
Their preliminary study identified one very promising inhibitor that stops growth of cultured schwannoma cells. These very exciting results demonstrate for the first time that targeting and inhibiting neurotrophic growth factors can stop the growth and proliferation of vestibular schwannoma cells.
Her 2024 research grant will build upon these initial findings to establish the optimal treatment dose and identify any potential side-effects in non-tumour cells.
Thank you so much to Rebecca Gauci & the Wenty Leagues team and Mr Richard Richards for your generous support, which has allowed us to fund the next phase of A/Prof Lim’s research.