Source: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
Written by: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

For the first time, a team of international experts came to the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) to work in the research facilities. From June 29 to July 17, 2015, Prof. Isolda Romero Canelon from the department of chemistry of the University of Warwick, and her PhD student, George Hughes, were welcomed to SYSUCC by Prof. Zeng Mu Sheng, who lended them his lab and equipment to experiment on nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The Sadler Group at the University of Warwick, UK has developed metal-based complexes that have shown potent antiproliferative activity towards cancer cell lines, particularly ovarian, lung, breast, colorectal and prostate. The team from Warwick wanted to expand the research and use these metal-based complexes for the treatment of Epstein Barr Virus, EBV, related cancers, and in particular nasopharyngeal carcinomas.

The ongoing collaborations between Prof. Peter J. Sadler, Prof. Lawrence S. Young, University of Warwick, UK and Prof. Zeng Mu Sheng, SYSUCC, have secured an International Partnership Award from the University of Warwick which allowed Prof. Romero Isolda Canelon and her PhD student George Hughes to visit SYSUCC for three weeks. During that time they were able to run preliminary screenings to determine the anticancer activity of the metal-based complexes developed in the Sadler Group in nasopharyngeal cell lines. This screening will be very important as the collaboration is moving forward as the teams can now choose the optimum compounds to develop for this type of EBV related cancer.
Prof. Romero Isolda Canelon sent a statement afterwards, showing her great interest for our cancer center and research, as well as her wish to come back:

"The visit to Guangzhou and SYSUCC was my first visit to China and I was amazed by the city, the hospital and indeed by the friendliness of all staff and students at SYSUCC. Prof. Zeng’s laboratories are well equipped and have all the facilities to encourage pioneering research. I believe the collaboration between the Sadler and the Zeng’s laboratories will be very fruitful. Our expertise in chemical development and the Zeng’s lab knowledge in nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a perfect mixture to carry out cutting edge experiments.
I am looking forward to coming back to SYSUCC next year and to advancing in the collaborations between our research groups.”

Prof. Isolda Romero Canelon is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Warwick. Initially a chemist, she is now doing cellular biology and working in particular on the mechanism of action of metal-based drugs for anticancer treatments in the team of Prof. Peter J. Sadler. Through the years, she has gained numerous awards for excellence and has been published consequently, in particular in Nature Communications or PNAS.