New EIRAs Platform Predicts Genetic and Non-Genetic Chemotherapy Resistance in Bowel Cancer

New EIRAs Platform Predicts Genetic and Non-Genetic Chemotherapy Resistance in Bowel Cancer

(IN BRIEF) Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research and Queen Mary University have created EIRAs, a computational assay that predicts how bowel cancer cells evolve resistance to chemotherapy. By monitoring cell populations and applying evolutionary models, the tool differentiates genetic from non-genetic resistance mechanisms. This insight will accelerate the development of personalized drugs targeting specific escape routes and optimize dosing regimens of current therapies. With commercial partnerships and patenting underway, EIRAs is poised to become a key component of cancer drug discovery for multiple tumour types.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 20-Jun-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — At the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, we have pioneered a revolutionary method to forecast how colorectal tumours adapt when treated—an advance that will help us design bespoke therapies to keep patients well for longer. In collaboration with our colleagues at Queen Mary University of London, we’ve harnessed evolutionary biology and machine learning to observe the precise evolutionary steps cancer cells take under chemotherapy pressure.

Colorectal cancer is the UK’s fourth most common malignancy, with some 44,100 new cases each year—about 120 every day. Despite decades of research, chemotherapy regimens have scarcely changed in nearly fifty years, and treatment resistance remains the main obstacle for patients with advanced disease.

Resistance emerges through molecular shifts in tumour cells that blunt drug efficacy. Until now, it was extraordinarily difficult to distinguish whether those shifts arose from a rare genetic mutation that expanded as cells divided or from non-genetic adaptations. In our Nature Communications paper, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK, we tracked bowel cancer cells over time during chemotherapy. By applying mathematical models, we pinpointed exactly when resistance developed and identified its origin—genetic or otherwise.

We have distilled this approach into our new Evolutionary Informed Resistance Assays (EIRAs). By implementing EIRAs in drug discovery pipelines, we can guide pharmaceutical partners to create next-generation, personalised treatments that counteract a patient’s tumour-specific resistance route. We’ve already filed a patent and are extending EIRAs to ovarian and breast cancer projects alongside our Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery.

“Just as bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance, cancer cells evolve to evade chemotherapy,” says Professor Trevor Graham, our Director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer. “EIRAs reveal the how and when of this evolution, empowering us to target resistance mechanisms directly and refine dosing to prolong drug effectiveness.”

Dr Freddie Whiting, who spearheaded the computational development, adds, “Integrating EIRAs into drug discovery promises to accelerate the identification of therapies that maintain optimal patient responses.”

“In uniting machine learning, evolutionary theory, and drug discovery expertise, we’re breaking new ground in the fight against treatment resistance,” comments our Chief Executive, Professor Kristian Helin. “We look forward to advancing these insights through collaborations and our Cancer Drug Discovery centre.”

We’re grateful to Professor Richard Nichols at Queen Mary University for highlighting the power of cross-disciplinary innovation—borrowing evolutionary methods from snail shell pattern studies—and to the Wellcome Trust’s Morag Foreman for emphasising the value of tailoring treatments to each patient’s unique resistance profile.

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SOURCE: The Institute of Cancer Research