Impacts of CIHR-funded research: Cancer
[ Table of Contents ]Go ahead, make a change
Hair dyes pose no cancer risk
Overview
A long-running debate about the use of permanent hair dyes and their possible link to cancer has been resolved by Dr. Mahyar Etminan from the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Dr. Etminan analysed data from 79 scientific studies and found that there is no marked increase in cancer risk with the personal use of hair dyes.
Impact
Dr. Etminan has removed a First Published of concern for the many Canadians who colour their hair.
First Published
CIHR Institute of Cancer Research, Annual Report, 2005-06
Detecting melanoma
Device makes it quick and easy
Overview
Most skin cancers can be cured if caught early. But the majority of melanomas, one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer, arise spontaneously, not from moles, and can be easily missed by a visual inspection. Drs. Harvey Lui and Haishan Zeng of the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have developed an optical device, the Raman Spectrometer, that provides an easy, fast and non-invasive way to detect melanomas.
Impact
The device has been tested in clinical trials and the university has patented the device. The researchers are looking for industrial partners to speed the transfer of the technology to clinical use.
First Published
CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, On the Move, Vol. 5, No. 2, Summer 2007.
Co-opting the common cold
Cold viruses could kill tumours
Overview
The common cold got its name for a reason – cold viruses are found just about everywhere, they stick around for a long time and they invade all kinds of different cells in the body. That makes them good at infecting humans – but also makes them a good weapon in the fight against cancer. Dr. Mary Hitt of the University of Alberta is using cold viruses to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. In preliminary results, the virus she is using has shown an ability to target human breast cancer cells. Another shows potential for making tumour cells self-destruct. Dr. Hitt is also exploring the use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to track the virus after it is administered.
Impact
While not yet ready for testing in humans, if successful, it could lead to an effective, non-toxic form of breast cancer treatment.
First Published
Research profile, October 2007; updated 2009
Ovarian cancer: The search for an early-warning system
Searching for genetic markers
Overview
Ovarian cancer is the second-most common gynaecological cancer in North America. Because there are few warning signs, however, most cases aren't diagnosed until the cancer is quite advanced, leading to high mortality rates. Dr. Anne-Marie Mes-Masson of the University of Montreal has been looking for a way to detect ovarian cancer since 1991, focusing on genetic markers that could be detected in the blood. The closer she and her team get to finding a marker or group of markers that could form the basis of a blood test, the more interest the corporate world is showing in her work.
Impact
Dr. Mes-Masson and her team have submitted patent applications on two of the most promising candidates for markers and are extending their search to other candidates. They plan to validate the markers in a large cohort study of pre- and post-menopausal women, including those with no cancer, with benign ovarian disease, with cancer, at high risk for developing ovarian cancer and with other cancers, such as breast cancer. While the commercial potential is high, the technology's ability to save lives is even greater.
First Published
Research profile, September 2008; updated 2009
An exercise in survival
Physical activity an important part of health after breast cancer
Overview
The good news is that survival rates for breast cancer now hover around 85%. The bad news is that breast cancer survivors are at risk of other long-term, life-threatening illnesses, especially if they fit the profile of a breast cancer survivor – over 50 and overweight. Regular exercise is part of the prescription for staying healthy, but it can be difficult for breast cancer survivors. Dr. Catherine Sabiston of McGill University is investigating ways that breast cancer survivors can incorporate exercise into their daily lives, helping them regain the sense of control they lost when they were diagnosed with cancer.
Impact
Helping women integrate exercise into their daily lives will reduce their risk of other long-term health problems like heart disease or osteoporosis.
First Published
Research profile, April 2009
Preventing unnecessary treatment… and side effects
Not all prostate cancer needs treatment
Overview
The majority of men with prostate cancer will die with the disease, not of it. The trick is telling whose disease will progress slowly and not cause trouble and whose disease is more aggressive and needs treatment. The price of unnecessary treatment is high – both to the health-care system and to the individual who is treated and who may suffer side effects such as impotence and incontinence. Dr. Marianne Sadar of the British Columbia Cancer Agency has found novel gene sequences that are associated with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and is testing to see whether the presence of these gene sequences indicate a need for treatment. Her work has provided hope that there are prognostic markers that can distinguish aggressive disease. If this is the case, the markers will be able to be detected with simple blood or urine tests, making them easy to find and easy to follow.
Impact
Developing specific markers for aggressive prostate cancer could lead to the possibility of new testing technology with commercial potential.
First Published
Research profile September 2008; updated 2009
Age poses no barrier
Treating prostate cancer benefits men of all ages
Overview
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in Canadian men. Now, a landmark study by Dr. Shabbir Alibhai of the University Health Network and University of Toronto has found that there is no reason to deny aggressive treatment men over the age of 65 with prostate cancer because of their age. His study counters perceptions that older men won't benefit from treatments such as radical prostatectomy or radiation treatment.
Impact
Previous studies have shown that older patients often don't receive potentially life-prolonging surgery and radiation treatment. Now, physicians can recommend treatment for these patients, knowing that they will benefit.
First Published
CIHR Institute of Cancer Research, Annual Report, 2003-04
Some are more aggressive than others
Distinguishing one ovarian cancer from another
Overview
Ovarian cancer affects about one in 70 Canadian women and, because it is usually detected in later stages, it is a particularly deadly disease. Dr. Mario Filion from the University of Montreal leads a team that has identified genes whose presence may signal that the cancer is more or less aggressive and distinguish cancerous tissue from normal ovarian tissue. He is using these "candidate" genes, as they are known, to screen drugs as potential treatments. Dr. Filion and his team have developed therapeutic monoclonal antibodies against the best targets and are testing them in animal models.
Impact
Dr. Filion's research could lead to new treatment strategies for ovarian cancer. Clinical trials are expected to begin by 2011 for the most advanced therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in combination with chemotherapy. Dr. Filion is the founder of Alethia Biotherapeutics, a Montreal company focusing on developing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to treat ovarian cancer, as well as metastatic cancer and the bone loss that accompanies metastatic cancer.
First Published
CIHR Institute of Cancer Research, Annual Report 2004-05; updated 2009.
New cervical cancer screening tool
Simple diagnostic tool differentiates strains of HPV
Overview
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for the majority of cervical cancers – but only some strains of the virus actually cause the cancer. Dr. Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal and Hopital Sainte-Justine Research Centre has developed a low-cost and convenient HPV diagnostic kit that can discriminate between 39 different types of HPV.
Impact
Univalor, the technology transfer body of the University of Montreal and its affiliated schools and hospitals, has made Dr. Labuda's technology available for licensing to a partner who will commercialize this technology.
First Published
CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity, Microcosm III (newsletter), Winter 2008
New uses for common drugs
Antibiotic can fight cancer
Overview
Ninety per cent of the time, people who die of cancer are killed when the cancer spreads beyond its original site. So researchers are focussed on finding ways to prevent cancer from spreading. Dr. Gurmit Singh of McMaster University has found that tetracycline – a common and inexpensive antibiotic most commonly used to treat acne – can prevent breast and prostate cancer tumours from spreading to the bone. The drug works by preventing an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinase from attacking bone tissue and allowing the tumours to spread.
Impact
Dr. Singh has started a small clinical trial in Hamilton. Patients have shown no adverse effects and there has been some evidence that the markers of bone metastasis were lowered. However, a large clinical trial is needed before the drug can be adopted clinically. Dr. Singh hopes to conduct the trial in a developing country, where there is less access to more expensive drugs.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2003-04; updated 2009
New hope for leukemia treatment
Gene is essential for proliferation of stem cells
Overview
In recent years, growing attention has been paid to the role of stem cells in the proliferation of cancer cells. Dr. Guy Sauvageau of the University of Montreal has identified a gene called Bmi-1 that is essential for the proliferation of stem cells involved in leukemia.
Impact
Dr. Sauvageau and his team are finalizing an assay, or test, that will allow them to screen for compounds that will inhibit Bmi-1.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2003-04; updated 2009
Attacking cancer with a virus
Technique leaves healthy tissue alone
Overview
Cancer treatment can be effective, but its side effects can be difficult, mainly because chemotherapy and radiation attack all tissue, not only the tumour cells. Dr. John Bell of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute has been working for several years on viruses that kill cancer cells by growing inside the tumour cells and killing them, while leaving healthy cells alone. The viruses also express additional genes that stimulate the body's own immune system to fight the cancer cells. Among the challenges has been the development of a manufacturing process to ensure high-purity viruses that can be injected into patients.
Impact
Dr. Bell is working with Ottawa biotechnology company Jennerex, which he co-founded, to test the virus in humans as a necessary step to making the virus clinically available to treat various forms of cancer. His group has developed a manufacturing process that can be scaled to the commercial level and is currently preparing viruses that can be used to treat patients. Dr. Bell also founded the Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium, which brings together researchers across Canada who are developing cancer-killing, or oncolytic, viruses.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2003-04; CIHR Annual Report, 2003-04; updated 2009
Fighting multi-drug resistance
Resistance a serious impediment to cancer treatment
Overview
Whether it happens right from the start or only after initial treatment, some cancer tumours are inherently resistant to drug treatment. Often, the culprit is a family of proteins, called Multidrug Resistance Proteins, or MRPs, that pump chemotherapy drugs out of cancer cells. Drs. Roger Deeley and Susan Cole of Queen's University led a team that discovered the first of these proteins. He has since developed antibodies that can inhibit MRP activity, as well as MRP materials that can be used in the process of developing drugs that can circumvent the problem of multidrug resistance.
Impact
The antibodies and assays are available for licensing or purchase through Queen's University technology transfer office.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results 2003-04; updated 2009
Drug combination works where single drugs don't
Montreal researcher combines chemotherapy drug with antibiotic
Overview
Chemotherapy can be effective – but only up to a point. Many patients' tumours stop responding to standard chemotherapy drugs after initiating treatment. Dr. Jerry Pelletier of McGill University has found that combining an antibiotic and a chemotherapy drug, in a compound called silvestrol, resulted in tumours in mice going into long-term remission.
Impact
Silvestrol has been shown to be effective against different cancer, including breast, prostate and leukemia. Dr. Pelletier is working with colleagues to create a synthetic version of the compound so that it can be available in large enough quantities to test in humans. He has also filed for patent protection on the compound and is working with the government of Malaysia, which holds the main patent on the compound. While basic research continues, Dr. Pelletier would like to involve a biotech company to help commercialize the compound.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2004-05; updated 2009
New hope for deadly form of brain cancer
Discovery is first advance in 30 years
Overview
Glioblastoma is the most common and the deadliest form of brain cancer. More than 1,100 Canadians are diagnosed with glioblastoma every year; most die within nine-to-twelve months of diagnosis. Dr. Greg Cairncross of the University of Calgary led the Canadian arm of an international study that found a new drug called temozolomide may prolong the lives of some people with glioblastoma, with patients surviving an average of 15 months.
Impact
The discovery of the benefits of temozolomide is the first advance in managing glioblastoma in 30 years. In 2006, Health Canada approved the drug for use in combination with radiotherapy for adults with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, under the name TEMODAL®. The drug is now used world-wide in the initial treatment of glioblastoma in patients aged 18-70. Follow-up clinical trials are underway to explore expanded indications for its use, including in less aggressive brain cancers and in elderly patients with glioblastoma. The trial for elderly patients, using temozolomide in combination with radiotherapy, is being led from Canada.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2004-05; updated 2009
New insights into cancer development
New function for old protein contributes to cancer development
Overview
It's been known for some time that the overproduction of a protein known as c-Myc plays a key role in the development of cancer. Dr. Sabine Mai of the University of Manitoba has taken that knowledge a step further. She has demonstrated that, when c-Myc is present at a certain level, the ends of chromosomes become "sticky" and join together. When the cell divides, these conjoined chromosomes break apart, but at a different location. The cycle continues, as these altered chromosomes continue to attract new chromosomes, with whom they will fuse and then break in new locations when the cells divide. This creates genetic instability and leads to uncontrolled growth of cells – in other words, cancer.
Impact
Dr. Mai and her team have discovered that a part of the protein, Myc box II, appears to be necessary for the development of this cycle of genetic instability and tumour growth. They are now pursuing research based on understanding and inhibiting the initiation of tumour growth. They also hope their research will lead to the development of a diagnostic tool to determine who is at risk of cancer and monitor the progress of the disease.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2005-06; updated 2009
Safe, inexpensive drug may be a cancer killer
Attacks lung, breast and brain cancer cells, leaves healthy cells alone
Overview
A drug used for decades to treat metabolic disorders has been found to kill lung, breast and brain cancer cells – but not healthy cells. Dr. Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta has shown that dichloroacetate (DCA) shrinks tumours, using both animal and human tissue. DCA has numerous advantages: it can reach areas in the body that other drugs cannot and, since it is not patented, it would likely be an inexpensive drug to administer.
Impact
While it is too early to say definitively that DCA is a treatment for cancer, Dr. Michelakis continues to assess its safety and efficacy in treating cancer, with two early-phase clinical trials now ongoing.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results 2006-07; updated 2009
Blocking premature cell death
Protein promotes, inhibits apoptosis
Overview
Programmed cell death, also called apoptosis, is an important function in the body, one that is shared by all cells. The process is useful in eliminating cancerous cells, for instance, but it can also result in cells dying prematurely, as happens to neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Peter Greer of Queen's University has found a protein called calpain that can both promote and inhibit apoptosis. He has found that blocking calpain harms the efforts of breast cancer cells to grow. Dr. Greer and his team are now investigating whether calpain deficiency can reduce metastasis, which is most often the cause of death in patients with breast cancer. Other researchers have also found that mice bred to not have calpain are resistant to neuron death under conditions that mimic Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (Dr. F. David Park, University of Ottawa) and that these "knock-out" mice also are defective at releasing infectious malaria-related parasites, pointing to an exciting new target in malaria.
Impact
Dr. Greer and his team have found evidence that chemotherapy drugs work better in calpain-deficient tumours, boding well for combining calpain inhibitors with currently used chemotherapy drugs.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2005-06; updated 2009
Physical activity reduces risk of breast cancer
30-40% reduction for post-menopause women
Overview
Physical activity may reduce the risk of breast cancer by 30-40% in post-menopausal women, according to research conducted by Dr. Christine Friedenreich of Albert Health Services. Additional research conducted by Dr. Friedenreich has shown that exercise influences breast cancer risk by decreasing endogenous estrogen levels, decreasing body fat levels and improving insulin resistance. She is now continuing this research to examine exactly what dose of exercise is needed to have the most impact on these mechanisms.
Impact
This research has been used in developing physical activity guidelines for cancer prevention published in 2007 by the American Institute of Cancer Research/World Cancer Research Fund.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2003-04; updated 2009
Virus targets cancer cells
Clinical trials underway in U.S., U.K.
Overview
The potential of viruses to target cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone holds out hope for new and innovative cancer treatments. Dr. Patrick Lee of Dalhousie University has developed a virus called a reovirus that shrinks cancer tumours. He has developed a drug called Reolysin that can be used in human cancers, avoiding the traumatic side effects of chemotherapy. Recent research has found that reovirus is effective against breast cancer stem cells.
Impact
Reosylin is currently being tested in seven phase I/II and phase II clinical trials in the United States and United Kingdom by Calgary-based Oncolytics Biotech Inc. and the company is getting ready to launch phase III trials.
First Published
CIHR Health Research Results, 2003-04; updated 2009