Paediatric Solid Tumour Biology and Therapeutics Group

Professor Louis Chesler’s group is investigating the genetic causes for the childhood cancers, neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. 

Research, projects and publications in this group

Our group's aim is to improve the treatment and survival of children with neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma.

The goal of our laboratory is to improve the treatment and survival of children with neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma, three paediatric solid tumours in which high-risk patient cohorts can be defined by alterations in a single oncogene. We focus on the role of the MYCN oncogene, since aberrant expression of MYCNis very significantly associated with high-risk in all three diseases and implies that they may have a common cell-of-origin.

Elucidating the molecular signalling pathways that control expression of the MYCN oncoprotein and targeting these pathways with novel therapeutics is a major goal of the laboratory. We use a variety of innovative preclinical drug development platforms for this purpose.

Technologically, we focus on genetically engineered cancer models incorporating novel imaging (optical and fluorescent) modalities that can be used as markers to monitor disease progression and therapeutic response.

Our group has several key objectives:

  • Mechanistically dissect the role of the MYCN oncogene, and other key oncogenic driver genes in poor-outcome paediatric solid tumours (neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma).
  • Develop novel therapeutics targeting MYCN oncoproteins and other key oncogenic drivers
  • Develop improved genetic cancer models dually useful for studies of oncogenesis and preclinical development of novel therapeutics.
  • Use such models to develop and functionally validate optical imaging modalities useful as surrogate markers of tumour progression in paediatric cancer.

Professor Louis Chesler

Clinical Senior Lecturer/Group Leader:

Paediatric Solid Tumour Biology and Therapeutics Professor Louis Chesler (Profile pic)

Professor Louis Chesler is working to understand the biology of children’s cancers and use that information to discover and develop new personalised approaches to cancer treatment. His work focuses on improving the understanding of the role of the MYCN oncogene.

Researchers in this group

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Email: [email protected]

Location: Sutton

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Phone: +44 20 3437 6124

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Location: Sutton

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Location: Sutton

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Location: Sutton

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OrcID: 0000-0003-3977-7020

Phone: +44 20 3437 6109

Email: [email protected]

Location: Sutton

I obtained an MSci in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow in 2018. In October 2018 I joined the labs of Dr Michael Hubank and Professor Andrea Sottoriva to investigate the use of liquid biopsy to monitor clonal frequency and emergence of resistance mutations in paediatric cancers.

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Email: [email protected]

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Location: Sutton

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Email: [email protected]

Location: Sutton

Professor Louis Chesler's group have written 113 publications

Most recent new publication 4/2025

See all their publications

Vacancies in this group

Working in this group

Business Development Manager

  • Sutton
  • Business & Innovation Office
  • £61,275 - £74,175
  • Permanent

About the Role We are seeking a Business Development Manager to join The Institute of Cancer Research’s (ICR’s) Business and Innovation Office and contribute to to support a portfolio of academics by protecting and commercialising their research, supporting them in securing translational funding and to highlight to them the benefits of working with industry. The successful candidate will play a key role in strategic project evaluation, stakeholder engagement, IP protection, commercial deal-making (collaborations and licensing), and translational funding support. Key Responsibilities Identify and assess commercially viable research Protect IP and manage confidentiality agreements Draft and negotiate licensing and collaboration contracts Support translational funding applications Drive spinout opportunity management About You We are looking for a proactive, detail-oriented team player. PhD, MBA or equivalent in a relevant field Experience in business development or technology transfer Direct experience of negotiating and closing deals with external partners Strong communication, negotiation, and organizational skills What We Offer • Supportive, collaborative environment • Career development opportunities • Competitive salary and pension Department/Directorate Information The Business and Innovation Office drives commercialisation and strategic partnerships to maximise patient benefit. For more details, please refer to the job pack. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr. Amritha Nair via Email on [email protected]

Higher Scientific Officer - Experimental & Translational Theranostic

  • Sutton
  • Radiotherapy and Imaging
  • Salary Range: £39805- £41900
  • Fixed term

Under the guidance of Dr Kathy Chan, we are seeking to recruit a talented and motivated Higher Scientific Officer to join the Experimental and Translational Theranostic group at the Centre for Cancer Imaging, Sutton. The research focuses on the development of next-generation ‘radiotheranostics’ – whole-body radionuclide-based imaging and therapeutic tools for cancer detection and treatment, and explore biological effects of radionuclide therapy to identify druggable targets and help develop novel therapeutic strategies to fight cancer. This position will provide excellent opportunities to interact within a multidisciplinary environment of staff within imaging, radiotherapy, drug development and molecular pathology, and explore new avenues of research. About you The successful candidate must have a PhD in cancer biology, molecular biology, radiochemistry, medicinal chemistry or a related discipline. A background in in vitro and in vivo radiobiology is essential. Experience in immuno-oncology is desirable. Department/Directorate Information The candidate will work in the Experimental and Translational Theranostic Group within the ICR Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging, which provides an integrated environment for multi-modality pre-clinical imaging, co-locating 7T and 1T MRI systems, a PET/SPECT/CT system, multispectral optoacoustic and ultrasound imaging platforms, bioluminescence imaging systems and micro-CT. What we offer A dynamic and supportive research environment Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development opportunities Collaboration with leading researchers in the field Competitive salary and pension We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr Kathy Chan via Email on [email protected].

Industrial partnership opportunities with this group

Opportunity: A novel test for predicting future cancer risk in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Commissioner: Professor Trevor Graham

Recent discoveries from this group

02/04/25

Scientists have unveiled a cutting-edge research platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that will revolutionise cancer research by allowing researchers to integrate and analyse large and complex clinical trial datasets, speeding up the discovery of new cancer biomarkers. 

A team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, demonstrated the game-changing technology, at The Alan Turing Institute’s fifth AI UK conference.  

The first AI models of the POETIC-AI platform, leveraging technology from Palantir’s AI platform Foundry, includes the novel AI tools built by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) team to integrate and analyse patient records, treatment information, blood and tumour tissue samples, genetic profiling data, digital pathology, and medical imaging such as CT and MRI scans.

The development of the new platform was supported in part by funding from the ICR and the joint ICR/The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Integrated Discovery and Diagnostics programme. The POETIC trial was funded by Cancer Research UK.

The team say the POETIC-AI platform will allow cancer researchers around the world to collaborate and access and analyse huge amounts of complex data within a trusted research environment far more quickly than ever before.  

Discovery of new biomarkers

Ultimately, they hope the technology will lead to the discovery of new predictive biomarkers – which can help clinicians tailor a patient’s cancer treatment more precisely to their disease.  

The first AI models on the platform use data from the POETIC trial, a study sponsored by The ICR and managed by the ICR Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU), which was aimed at improving treatment for postmenopausal women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.  

In the POETIC study, the researchers looked at whether giving hormone therapy (aromatase inhibitors) before surgery could help identify which patients would benefit most from additional treatments.  

Patients on the trial received hormone therapy to see how their tumours responded, and this was measured using a biomarker called Ki67, which indicates how quickly cancer cells are growing. Based on the changes in Ki67 levels after the treatment, clinicians could better personalise post-surgical treatments, potentially reducing the risk of their cancer coming back.  

Allowing secure access to the data

ICR data scientists used the patient data from the completed POETIC trial to build the new AI platform to enable new research discoveries. Allowing researchers and clinicians to securely access this data, generate their own hypotheses, and test them in both laboratory and clinical settings could transform the field of emerging therapeutics. 

Dr Maggie Cheang, who leads the ICR-CTSU Integrative Genomic Analysis in Clinical Trials Group at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:  

“We need to develop prognostic and predictive biomarkers that match the complexity of cancer biology. This platform will allow us to move beyond existing methods that rely on a single type of data such as blood or tissue samples. By combining multiple data sources – such as patients’ tumour profiles and medical records – it will provide clearer, more personalised insights to improve diagnosis and treatment.  

"POETIC-AI is not just a data integration platform – it is a step towards accelerating biomarker discovery, reducing bottlenecks in clinical trial analyses and ultimately advancing personalised cancer treatments that allows accessibility and AI-powered analyses. Carrying out translational clinical research of this nature is time-consuming and expensive.  

'What once took years, can now be completed in a matter of months'

“But what once took years can now be completed in a matter of months or even days, allowing researchers to test their hypotheses rapidly and refine predictive models. The revolutionary aspect of this platform is the accessibility and ease of use of the underlying AI-powered analyses. It allows clinicians and scientists to query the wealth of data modalities using plain natural language questions. The ability to combine leading edge AI tools with researcher supervision and interrogation promises to revolutionise integrated discovery and diagnostics.” 

The team at ICR-CTSU plan to expand the technology beyond POETIC-AI, by integrating data from other clinical trials and refining machine-learning models for real-time data analysis.  

They are already planning future research using this platform, including developing novel visualisation and analytical tools to integrate data-rich biological and biomedical research with other data sets derived from the same patients, enabling an interactive AI explorer. This work is spearheaded by Dr Cheang’s PhD student Xixuan Zhu and Dr Ferran Cardo from the Joint ICR/RMH Integrated Pathology Unit, led by Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez.

Dr Cheang added: 

“Our platform will facilitate academic research, and this initiative would establish an unprecedented approach for enabling investigators to securely access and analyse high-quality, biologically rich, clinical trial data.”