This text is part of the special Health Innovation section
“Of course, the pandemic has had an effect on research. We had to adapt to certain financial constraints and be innovative, ”says Diego Mena, Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives, Mission and Commitment at the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). Despite everything, research continued, and COVID-19 even made it possible to put in place some major innovations, including a clinical trial funded, among others, by the CCS to reduce the symptoms and cases of COVID-19 in people on active cancer treatment. “Despite this context of crisis, the means to protect these patients, who are already vulnerable, were quickly made available to them,” he explains.
Better diagnose, better treat
Research on cancer treatments is manifold. From improving diagnosis to new pharmaceutical treatments, including complementary therapies to promote the well-being of patients, there are many areas of research.
Accurate diagnosis, made at the right time, is crucial to treating patients well. One of the CCS-funded research tackles non-invasive breast cancer. “At this time, it’s impossible to predict whether the cancer will be stable or if it will progress,” notes Mena. So patients receive treatments that they may not need. The Dr Luke McCaffrey of McGill University is working on the development of a new tool to diagnose and predict risk more accurately.
In February 2021, the CCS also announced a major clinical trial to diagnose prostate cancer. The diagnosis, at present, is invasive, carried out by biopsy taken rectally. The study of Dr Laurence Klotz instead uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to check for the presence of prostate cancer. This better cancer detection accuracy helps prevent unnecessary biopsies. “Basically, fewer people will see their quality of life reduced due to unnecessary or invasive treatments,” says Mena.
Another imaging technique could be used for the treatment of prostate cancer. The Dre Cynthia Ménard, from the CHUM Research Center, is leading the project funded by the SCC and the Movember Foundation. This seeks to improve the current treatment of metastatic cancer, by determining the secondary foci where the cancer is lodged.
Researchers are also working to understand the biology of cancer and how it develops, to better predict the risk of progression or to target genetic factors of less frequent cancers to slow their growth or prolong the life of patients. In addition to these medical and pharmaceutical treatments, research is devoted to improving the overall health of patients, for example the practice of tai chi to reduce anxiety and promote well-being before and after surgery.
Fight refractory cancers
Despite surgery, first, second and third line treatments, some cancers remain refractory. Professor Borhane Annabi, from UQAM, and Quebec biotech Theratechnologies are targeting precisely these within the framework of research funded by the SCC and the Quebec government, through the Quebec Consortium on Discovery of the drug. The first clinical trials on patients will start shortly to test a whole new therapeutic platform that would make chemotherapy agents used in current treatments more effective and safer.
“Some cancer cells express different surface receptors from normal cells, because there have been mutations,” explains Christian Marsolais, senior vice-president and chief medical officer at Theratechnologies. These biomarkers are present in advanced cancers of the endometrium, ovary, colon, pancreas and triple negative breast and can be exploited by researchers. “We identified a lock and developed a key to open this lock and get chemotherapy agents inside the cell,” says Annabi.
This targeted therapy can only treat cancer cells. The researchers mimicked biology, attaching a chemotherapy agent that only penetrates cancer cells (not healthy cells), thus avoiding devastating side effects for patients.
All these advances in recent decades have made it possible to improve the precision of treatments, the survival rate of patients and their quality of life. “It shows the importance of research and investment,” says Mena.
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