Final presentation for Communication for Research Scientists explaining my research on identifying genes involved in metastasis in colorectal cancer

1. Identifying genes
that spread
killer cancer
Luke Zappia
@_lazappi_

2. Cancer is
BAD21% of deaths worldwide
(WHO Mortality Database, 2010)
30% of deaths in Australia
(ABS Causes of Death, Australia, 2012)

3. COLORECTAL
Cancer is
REALLY Bad
Second worst cancer
Seventh biggest cause of death
(ABS Causes of Death, Australia, 2012)

4. LATE STAGE
Colorectal Cancer is
really, REALLY bad
5 year survival
Early stage: 90%
Mid Stage: 70%
Late Stage: 13%!
(ACS, Cancer Facts and Figures 2014)

5. Why?

6. Colorectal Cancer: Tumor Sizes
For the National Cancer Institute ©2005 Terese Winslow, U.S. Govt. has certain rights

7. How?

8. Labwork by Fanny Grillet, Jean-Marc Pascussi, Julie Pannequin
(CNRS Institute of Functional Genomics, Montpellier)
Our Data

9. Our Data

10. RNA-Seq
ALIGNMENT
COUNTING
EXPRESSION
PATHWAYS
Millions of short reads
- Where?
- How Many?
- On/off?
- Effects?

11. Colorectal cancer is bad
Metastasis is the killer
How do cancer cells
spread?

12. Acknowledgements
Supervisors
Arthur Hsu, Fred Hollande
Members of the Taylor lab and Department of Pathology
Collaborators
Fanny Grillet, Jean-Marc Pascussi, Julie Pannequin
CNRS Institute of Functional Genomics, Montpellier
Images
Hepatocellular Carcinoma, FNA Pathological and histological images courtesy of Ed Uthman at
flickr, via Wikimedia Commons
Micrograph showing tumour budding in colorectal carcinoma, H&E stain By Nephron (Own
work), via Wikimedia Commons