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next-gen cancer research: canadian cancer society invests in the future of cancer detection and treatment
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a 2023 report from statistics canada estimates that over two in five canadians are likely to develop cancer in their lifetime.
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funding cancer research is critical to improve care and survival, and the canadian cancer society is all about taking big swings to try and hit a few home runs.
“most of the great breakthroughs in science and in health have been either accidents or a serendipitous finding that a researcher might say, ‘oh, that’s not what i was expecting,’ says judith bray, vice president of research at the canadian cancer society. while scientific discovery is never a sure thing, funding work that is innovative and potentially transformative for cancer prevention, detection and treatment could lead to the next nobel prize and change lives for patients and their families, she adds.
the canadian cancer society and the lotte and john hecht memorial foundation recently announced a $3.6 million investment in 15 projects in canada selected by an international panel of experts and patients—who weighed in from a lived experience view on what breakthroughs would have the most impact. these new disruptive innovations research grants provide $250,000 for high-risk, high-reward research that doesn’t typically receive funding from government agencies.
the canadian institutes of health research (cihr), for example, would look to fund more established researchers and projects that already have much of the groundwork complete.
“you basically have to almost have done the work before you get the money, so they need to be reassured that you’ve got piles of preliminary data that this is a slam dunk. they’re not going to waste any government funds because it’s not going to work,” says bray, emphasizing the need for dollars to support novel research. “people should get a chance to prove their ideas.”
bray, who previously worked with cihr, is pleased to have the flexibility to “shake things up” as the largest cancer charity in canada to fund outside-the-box thinking.
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“what we were looking for were those kinds of ideas that all their colleagues thought ‘well, that’s rubbish.’ so, it had to be an idea that if it worked, it would make a huge difference,” she says of the scrutiny of 200 letters of intent whittled down to 35 full applications that were reviewed for the grants. “it creates a possibility for people with really neat ideas to actually test them out.”
applications were judged on innovation and impact, with many of the 15 recipients using new technology and artificial intelligence. here are the recipients of the funding and their cancer research projects:
a faster way to find new immunotherapy drugs using artificial intelligence
ali bashashati, university of british columbia | taha azad, université de sherbrooke
in cancer treatment, precision medicine stimulates the immune system to fight cancer cells, helping patients avoid the harsh side effects of conventional chemotherapy. this project uses a new biosensor that lights up when experimental drugs impact immune system pathways, and brings in artificial intelligence to analyze data and cross-reference it with large datasets to discover potential new drugs. the process is more efficient than existing methods to speed the discovery of new immunotherapy drug candidates that can then be tested in clinical trials.
tracking cancer cell changes in real-time by making them glow
dr. steven chan, princess margaret cancer centre, university health network in toronto
dr. steven chan is developing a new way to study the genetic changes in cancer cells while keeping them alive, improving upon the current method of destroying cancer cells to investigate what’s happening inside them. the new technique makes specific cancer cells glow based on their genetic traits and allows scientists to see how cells react to different treatments in real-time.
sponsored by:
wellspring cancer support
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making lab models of rare tumours to speed up the discovery of new treatments
leo chou and dr. kim tsoi, university of toronto
people with rare or more complex cancers, like soft tissue cancers called sarcomas, are often excluded from clinical trials for new treatments, limiting benefits for these patients. this project addresses this exclusion by designing a method to grow sarcoma tissues outside the body with tissues donated by people with sarcomas. these lab-based 3d sarcoma models can then be used to explore new treatment strategies.
combining immunotherapy drugs with cancer killing viruses for cancer treatment
jean-simon diallo, ottawa hospital research institute
immunotherapy drugs boost the anti-tumour immune response and have benefitted many people with cancer, but they are expensive and may not work for all patients. this research incorporates machine learning to test thousands of potential new drugs using a lab test that lights up when proteins that block anti-tumour immune responses interact. the team will also investigate whether these drugs can work in combination with cancer killing viruses, which help alert the immune system to the presence of cancer.
targeting a newly discovered protein complex to develop innovative cancer treatments
dr. gerardo ferbeyre, université de montréal
genetic changes in cancer cells allow them to evolve and outsmart treatments like chemotherapy, and recent evidence suggests that changes in the cells’ metabolism can also help them survive. this project investigates a protein complex that is elevated in advanced breast and prostate cancers and is linked to cancer spread, aiming to identify how the protein functions in cancer cells and design ways to block it.
using blood tests and artificial intelligence to identify young women who have or are at high risk of breast cancer
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dr. saima hassan, centre de recherche du chum in montreal
the research team is integrating laser technology with immune cell profiling to develop an ai-based blood test that can detect breast cancer earlier in younger women and identify those at higher risk of the disease. the project will shine laser light on blood samples to detect cancer and analyze immune cells, then compare samples from young women with and without breast cancer, and use ai to process the data.
identifying new ways to predict response to therapy for people with ovarian cancer
hartland jackson, lunenfeld-tanenbaum research institute in toronto
using lab experiments and samples donated by people with high-grade ovarian cancer, the researchers will test single cells from several different areas of a tumour to see whether they can repair damage to their dna, aiming to have a result within three days. this project could lead to a new, more efficient way to detect dna repair defects in people with ovarian cancer and other cancer types in the future, so they can receive personalized treatments quickly to improve their outcomes.
developing an ultra-sensitive tool to study cancer cell signaling
kian jafari, université de sherbrooke
this project aims to develop a sensor to look at the cell signals cancer uses to survive and grow. by studying the molecules that control these processes, called signaling molecules, researchers can identify which ones may be good targets for treatment. the researchers plan to focus on identifying signals that drive cancer cell reproduction so that treatment can specifically target them, potentially slowing or stopping tumour growth.
new mrna-based treatment strategies for metastatic breast cancer
paul jurasz, university of alberta in edmonton
while mrna vaccines have become well known because of the covid-19 pandemic, researchers can also use this technology to kill breast cancer cells and the blood vessels that support their growth. this project will package cancer-targeting mrna in tiny particles and test them in the lab to see if they can reach and kill tumour cells, potentially offering a treatment for people with breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
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breathing light: a new therapy for lung cancer
lothar lilge, princess margaret cancer centre in toronto
instead of invasive surgeries or long chemotherapy regimens for lung cancer, lothar lilge and his team are developing photodynamic therapy that uses light to activate a cancer-killing chemical agent known as a photosensitizer. patients will breathe in a light-emitting aerosol to activate the agent. the researchers will study whether these aerosols can be inhaled and exhaled safely, and whether they can provide enough light for photodynamic therapy to be effective.
new immune-based therapies for hard-to-treat brain cancer
harinad (hari) maganti, university of ottawa, canadian blood services
this project aims to create a new cellular therapy for people with devastating brain cancers like glioblastoma. the researchers will focus on a type of immune cell called a natural killer cell, which they will produce from donated cord blood stem cells and genetically engineer to target glioblastoma. this will improve on the cost and efficiency of conventional extraction of immune cells from each cancer patient, engineering them to target the tumour and growing large numbers of the cells before treatment begins.
using machine learning to find new drugs for people with cancer
christoph ortner and dr. jörg gsponer, university of british columbia in vancouver
researchers in mathematics and molecular biology are collaborating to use machine learning to study proteins in cancer cells at the molecular level and develop new techniques to discover drugs for precision medicine. the project will focus on proteins that are important in cancer but are difficult to analyze because they constantly change shape, so the new approach will identify specific characteristics of these proteins so that they can be matched with drugs that might work against them in cancer cells.
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developing immune therapies for rare bile duct cancer
mathieu quesnel-vallières and lee-hwa tai, université de sherbrooke
these cancer researchers, along with patient partner julie carignan, are developing lab-based models of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer affecting the bile ducts, and immune therapies for people with this type of cancer. the team is using advanced computer analysis to identify genetic features in cholangiocarcinoma cells, and generate data to design personalized cancer vaccines that can prompt the immune system to attack the tumour without harming the surrounding healthy cells.
a new type of “chemical synthetic” immunotherapy for cancer treatment
anthony rullo, mcmaster university in hamilton
immunotherapy treatments often work by attracting one type of immune cell, a t cell, to find and destroy cancer tumours, but there are other immune cells that can also help with the anti-tumour response. the research team is developing new synthetic molecules to attract immune cells called macrophages and sharpen their ability to recognize tumour cells. the synthetic immunotherapy increases the chances of eradicating the tumour with fewer side effects and a lower chance of relapse.
revolutionizing cellular therapies to target acute myeloid leukemia
juan carlos zúñiga-pflücker, sunnybrook research institute in toronto
this project is testing a system to deliver engineered immune cells that recognize and target genes that are only present in acute myeloid leukemia cells. the genes can be identified as therapeutic targets for treatment before the leukemia is formed and growing, so this could be a huge stride forward in early detection.
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