Dual targeting of oncogenic cofactors MYC and histone deacetylase in high-risk childhood brain tumours

Associate Professor Belamy Cheung

University of New South Wales

$448,618.90

2025 - 2028

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The Research

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common cancer of the brain while diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is the most aggressive with no active systemic therapies and a 5-year survival of less than 1%.

High levels of the MYC family proteins have been found in MB and DIPG. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) enzymes are frequently upregulated in MB and DIPG. There is an urgent need to identify drug combinations that not only enhance the effectiveness of HDAC inhibitor (HDACi) therapy but also achieve this efficacy at doses that are non-toxic for children.

Our ground-breaking discovery of small molecule compounds (UNSW-SCs) that enhances the efficacy of HDACi by decreasing MYC protein stability, led to the development of the first-in-class novel MYC inhibitors. Thus, we are in a unique position to advance targeted therapies against the MYC oncogene.

Our objective is to develop an effective MYC and HDAC inhibition strategy for the most aggressive paediatric brain tumours.