About Prostate Tumour Microenvironment and Therapeutics Laboratory
Metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains incurable and lethal, causing 375,000 deaths worldwide and 4,000 deaths annually in Australia. Improving clinical outcomes demands novel therapies that target the underlying pathogenic biology.
Our laboratory investigates the inflammatory tumour microenvironment (TME) in mCRPC with a translational mission to dismantle immune suppressive circuits that drive progression and therapy resistance. Metastatic prostate cancer is fuelled by persistent inflammatory storms, sustained cytokine signalling, and autocrine/paracrine networks that remodel stromal and immune compartments while promoting metastasis. These networks create formidable barriers to immunotherapy by actively recruiting myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), suppressive macrophages, and regulatory T cells within the TME while simultaneously blocking cytotoxic T cell infiltration.
Clinical Need: Standard therapies ultimately fail as patients acquire resistance, shifting care from disease control to palliation. While we have demonstrated that targeting inflammation is both feasible and clinically beneficial in a subset of mCRPC patients (Guo et al. 2023, Nature), future strategies must achieve broader disruption of the complex inflammatory signalling networks that drive disease progression.
Approach: We integrate patient tissue profiling, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, genetically engineered and humanised mouse models, proteomics/metabolomics, and preclinical therapeutic trials. Our aims are to (a) define immune suppressive networks in metastatic prostate cancer, (b) validate actionable therapeutic targets, and (c) advance translational combination regimens that restore antitumor immunity and improve patient outcomes.
Key capabilities
Defining the immune suppressive networks in prostate cancer.
Validating actionable therapeutic targets.
Advancing translational combination regimens that restore anti-tumour immunity and overcoming resistance.
Deploying advanced patient-derived explant and xenograft models to compare inflammatory pathway inhibition against standard therapies.
Leveraging genomics and multi-omics to comprehensively characterise the immune tumour microenvironment in patient-derived tissues for precision cancer insights.
Explore Prostate Tumour Microenvironment and Therapeutics Laboratory
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Research impacts
Metastatic prostate cancer is driven by a highly immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) whose mechanisms remain incompletely understood. The TME orchestrates an "inflammatory storm" characterised by sustained cytokine signalling and dynamic stromal remodelling that fuels tumour growth, metastatic dissemination, and therapeutic resistance while actively subverting anti-tumour immunity. Our research program systematically interrogates the cellular and molecular circuits that sustain this pro-tumour inflammation, with the goal of identifying druggable targets to dismantle immune suppression and restore durable treatment responses.
The Prostate Tumour Microenvironment and Therapeutics Laboratory (PTMTL) employ cutting-edge approaches including patient-derived explants, humanised and genetically engineered mouse models, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, and integrated proteomics/metabolomics platforms to translate mechanistic discoveries into clinical therapies. By defining actionable therapeutic targets and advancing rational combination regimens that reverse immune suppression, PTMTL seeks to transform metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) care, moving beyond palliation toward prolonged disease control and meaningful survival benefit.
Our research impact is strengthened through long-standing collaborations with clinicians, global research partners, consumer advocates and industry. Beyond advancing scientific discovery, PTMTL is dedicated to training, mentoring, and empowering the next generation of researchers.
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Our people
Laboratory Head
Team Members
Group lead/Senior Postdoctoral Fellow
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Research Assistants
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Current projects
- Targeting the inflammatory and immunosuppressive prostate cancer microenvironment using first-in-class IKKα inhibitors.
- Dual inhibition of CXC-chemokine receptors and myeloperoxidase (MPO) to overcome immune suppression and resistance in prostate cancer
- Hypoxia-driven lactylation and epigenetic reprogramming underpinning resistance to androgen-targeted therapy in prostate cancer.
Contact us
Centre for Cancer Biology
Adelaide University Bradley Building, cnr North Terrace & Morphett St bridge GPO Box 2471 Adelaide SA 5001 | Mailroom IPC: CWE-44
