Morag Taylor

University of Leeds · Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology

Background The microbiome is implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Whether a distinct microbiome profile is associated with the reporting of IBS-type symptoms in IBD patients is uncertain. We aimed to resolve this issue using a cross-sectional study design. Methods Using clinical dis...

We studied the progression from dysplasia to invasive carcinoma and subsequent second primaries or locoregional recurrences in 11 patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Between one and six samples were sequenced/patient. DNA samples were prepared, and libraries multiplexed to between 40 and 80 samples/lane of an Illumina HiSeq 3000...

Background The importance of accurate and affordable mutation calling in fixed pathology samples is becoming increasingly important as we move into the era of personalised medicine. The Affymetrix OncoScan® Array platform is designed to produce actionable mutation calls in archival material. Methods We compared calls made using the OncoScan platfor...

Introduction: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the commonest oral malignancy. Due to the ease of access, the progression from dysplasia to invasive carcinoma and subsequent second primaries or locoregional recurrences, can be extensively studied. Methods: Patients with recurrent disease were included. Samples were sequenced, between one and six per...

Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of nosocomial diarrhea associated with antimicrobial-mediated dysbiosis. Dysbiosis may be perpetuated by antibiotic (AB) CDI therapy, leading to recurrent CDI. Ridinilazole (RIDI) has very narrow activity against certain clostridia. We measured faecal microbiomes of Phase 2 subjects...

Background: Whilst RAS mutations predict which aCRC patients (pts) will not benefit from anti-EGFR agents, RAS-wt status does not reliably predict who will. Several studies report that high EGFR ligand expression (EREG/AREG) is predictive of anti-EGFR agent benefit but progression towards clinical utility is limited by lack of consensus on a clinic...

Background: The influence of EGFR pathway mutations on cetuximab-containing rectal cancer preoperative chemoradiation (CRT) is uncertain. Methods: In a prospective phase II trial (EXCITE), patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined non-metastatic rectal adenocarinoma threatening/involving the surgical resection plane received pelvic...

Objective Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have anticolorectal cancer (CRC) activity. The intestinal microbiota has been implicated in colorectal carcinogenesis. Dietary omega-3 PUFAs alter the mouse intestinal microbiome compatible with antineoplastic activity. Therefore, we investigated the effect of omega-3 PUFA supplements on the fae...

Aims With a growing interest in the influence the gut microbiome has on the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), we investigated the feasibility and stability of isolating and typing microbial DNA from guaiac faecal occult blood test (gFOBt) cards. This has the future potential to screen the microbial populations present in confirmed colorectal...

Purpose of the study The human gut microbiome has been linked to many human diseases, with a growing interest in the influence it might have on the development of colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the National Health Service Bowel Screening Programme (NHSBCSP) guaiac faecal occult blood test (gFOBt...

HER2-overexpression/amplification is linked to trastuzumab response in breast/gastric cancers. One suggested anti-EGFR resistance mechanism in colorectal cancer (CRC) is aberrant MEK/AKT-pathway activation through HER2 up-regulation. We assessed HER2-amplification/overexpression in stage II-III and IV CRC patients, assessing relationships to KRAS/B...

Adoption of new technology in both basic research and clinical settings requires rigorous validation of analytical performance. The OncoScan® FFPE Assay is a multiplexing tool that offers genome-wide copy number and loss of heterozygosity detection, as well as identification of frequently tested somatic mutations. In this study, 162 formalin fixed...

Pre-operative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with anti-EGFR antibodies may change the status of EGFR pathway mutations. We assessed the mutational status of a number of EGFR pathway genes before and after CRT in the NWCOG EXCITE trial. Patients with MRI-threatened surgical margins were given pelvic radiotherapy (45Gy) with capecitabine, irinotecan and cet...

Next-generation sequencing technologies (e.g. 16S profiling) are increasingly used to investigate complex bacterial communities. They have advantages over classical methods, as a significant proportion of bacteria are ‘non-culturable’. However, they do not distinguish ‘viable’ and ‘non-viable’ populations, which may skew results, particularly follo...

Purpose: Research into the faecal microbiome has shown a diverse population with a high level of variability between individuals. Altered faecal microbiomes are present in a range of diseases but work remains to understand their role in gastrointestinal disease. Current research into the microbiome makes use of fresh or frozen faecal samples. This...

Treatment for advanced colorectal cancer is moving to combination therapies, targeting multiple signalling pathways. Indeed, MRC FOCUS4 has been designed to assess this. We determined pTEN protein expression, and assessed this in relation to other biomarkers associated with signalling downstream of the epidermal growth factor receptor. Tissue micro...

Tumour heterogeneity is central to chemotherapy resistance and disease progression in advanced malignancy. This heterogeneity arises due to the evolution of clones within the tumour cell population; the advent of high throughput sequencing has allowed the detection of different tumour cell clones within and between primary tumours and their metasta...

Objectives Copy number (CN) and somatic mutation (SM) analysis in tumors is rapidly gaining importance in cancer management as a tool for differential diagnosis, determination of prognosis, and selection of therapeutic. Genome-wide copy number and LOH detection as well as a panel of frequently tested somatic mutations can be detected with OncoScan®...