Four OICR-funded studies explore transformative approaches in cancer care
· News-MedicalFour new research studies funded by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) will deliver cutting-edge innovations by maximizing the impact of existing research and making the most out of patient contributions.
OICR is supporting the studies through CATALYST, a new funding stream for research that leverages available patient data and donated samples to advance new insights about detecting, diagnosing and treating cancer.
Led by top Ontario researchers, the first four CATALYST studies explore a range of groundbreaking approaches, from a blood test that could predict the chances of head and neck cancers returning, to evaluating whether a common diabetes medication can help prevent blood cancers. All four make use of available datasets, building off existing research to take the next step toward transforming clinical practice.
Dr. David Cescon, Scientific Director of OICR's Clinical Translation research themeIt's important we maximize every opportunity to push new discoveries past the finish line so they can make an impact on the lives of people with cancer. CATALYST was designed to do just that, while also honouring the patients who make research possible."
Cancer patients are critical partners in cancer research, generously donating their time, insights and samples to enable new innovations.
"Patients who take part in research want to know that their participation is making a difference for the future of cancer care, and these studies are doing justice to their contributions," says Vivian Simbul Sim, a cancer survivor and patient partner with Clinical Translation who helped review patient partnership plans for the CATALYST projects.
The first four CATALYST research studies include:
- Dr. Neil Fleshner of University Health Network's (UHN) Princess Margaret Cancer Centre exploring if a common diabetes medication can slow the progression of clonal hematopoiesis, a condition that dramatically increases the risk of blood cancers. Fleshner and others recently showed that a drug called metformin impedes the growth of cells that have a genetic mutation that causes clonal hematopoiesis. The new study will use genetic testing to further explore metformin's potential to prevent blood cancers and other disease.
- Dr. Hon Leong of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Dr. Lillian Siu of UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre are studying whether a new blood test can predict which cancer patients will benefit most from immunotherapy. In a previous study, patients whose tumours had high amounts of genetic material called 'endogenous retrotransposable elements' (ERE) responded better to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Now, Leong and Siu will use the same cohort of patient samples to see if measuring EREs in blood can also predict treatment response.
- Dr. Enrique Sanz Garcia and Dr. Scott Bratman of UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre are exploring if a blood test can help identify patients whose head and neck cancer has a high risk of returning after treatment. The study will build on earlier research by applying more advanced genomic sequencing technology to look for tiny fragments of tumour DNA in blood samples and see whether the presence of those tumour fragments is associated with cancer recurrence.
- Dr. Vikas Gupta of UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer and Dr. James Kennedy of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre are developing a system to predict how patients with rare blood cancer will respond to therapy. Bone marrow transplant is the only curative treatment for myelofibrosis, but it has serious side effects and is only used for high-risk patients. Having already developed a risk scoring tool for myelofibrosis, the research team will reanalyze the data to see if the score can identify which patients are suitable for transplant and at what time during treatment they will benefit most from it.
Each of these projects were rigorously evaluated through an iterative process, and they are poised to rapidly deliver on the study objectives.
"By reanalyzing samples and data that have already been collected using new and innovative methods, these studies are maximizing research efficiency and narrowing the gap between science and clinical practice," says Dr. Lincoln Stein, OICR's Acting Scientific Director. "Their work will make Ontario healthier and make the most of every dollar invested in our province's world class research ecosystem."
"In order to save and improve lives, we need to stay one step ahead of cancer," said Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. "Our government is proud to support the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research and commend their CATALYST program that will drive life-saving discoveries in cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatments."
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