Anthony Chalmers

Biography

Anthony Chalmers is currently working as a Chair of Clinical Oncology (Clinical Trials Research)

Research Interest

Glioblastoma is the commonest and most aggressive primary brain tumour and is often refractory to conventional cancer treatments. The ultimate aim of our research group is to improve outcomes for patients with these tumours by overcoming their inherent resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Much of our work has focused on the DNA repair protein poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, commonly known as PARP. Drugs that inhibit PARP increase the sensitivity of tumour cells to radiotherapy and to chemotherapy agents such as temozolomide. We are currently developing a series of clinical trials to test whether PARP inhibitors can be safely and effectively combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy in patients with glioblastoma. Current and future work will also investigate the effect of the tumour microenvironment on radiation responses of glioblastoma cells. In order to do this we are developing a novel in vitro cell culture system that recapitulates some of the key features of the glioblastoma microenvironment.