Professor Tim Hughes of SAHMRI leads world-first trial in Adelaide of new drug for chronic myeloid leukaemia
Professor Tim Hughes is cancer theme leader at the South Australian Medical and Health Research Institute (SAMHRI).
One hundred cancer sufferers were involved in 2021 in a world-first 12-month $2 million Adelaide-based trial of next-generation drug, asciminib, to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia, a blood cancer that causes bone marrow to produce too many white blood cells.
A leader of the study in Adelaide, professor Tim Hughes thought the asciminib drug being trialled could be a game changer in targeting the chronic myeloid leukaemia cells more directly.
Hughes held senior positions at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Royal Adelaide Hospital and was the Beat Cancer professor at the University of Adelaide.
He became one of the world’s leading experts on chronic myeloid leukaemia, dedicating his career to its study since arriving in Adelaide in 1993. His chairmanship of the International Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Foundation and the prestigious 2017 GSK award for research excellence were testament to Hughes’ global status.
Over 20 years, Hughes saw the change from chronic myeloid leukaemia proving fatal for most people diagnosed to a rise to about 80% survival.
Hughes unlocked one of the most significant discoveries in leukaemia research: the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors. His methods with tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy enabled a system that could measure affected cells in blood more accurately, enabling more detailed analysis of specific cancer-fighting drugs.
While 80% of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia beat the disease, two thirds remained on therapeutic drugs for the rest of their lives but about 30% of patients could finish taking drugs for therapy and remain in remission. Hughes’ team at SAMRHI has pioneered a process to get patients off their tyrosine kinase inhibitors that could have significant adverse side effects.
