Synthesis and Evaluation of Phenothiazinyl Chalcones as Agents to target Rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the third most prevalent children’s cancer and approximately 3% of children’s cancers are rhabdomyosarcomas with 250 US  and 60 UK children diagnosed a year (Ognjanovic et al., 2009; Macmillan Cancer Support, 2018). A recent paper (Do et al., 2016) has identified several phenothiazinyl chalcones which are cytotoxic to rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Previous work (Ducki et al., 1998) has shown that modifications to the double bond of chalcones can markedly improve (20x) the cytotoxic action of chalcones to cancer cell lines. This project aims to similarly modify the phenothiazinyl derived chalcones and identify a suitable candidate for pre-clinical evaluation as an agent to combat rhabdomyosarcoma.

Grant Award – Kidscan Student Placement (2018 – 2019)

Funding Award – £1000.00

Funding Awarded to – Dr John Hadfield

Research Location – University of Salford

Lead Researcher – Dr John Hadfield