Canada is investing $41 million into cancer prevention and early detection research, a commitment officials are calling the country’s largest single investment focused solely on preventing the disease. The announcement, slated for Thursday at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, will fund 19 studies across the country, according to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Among the projects is a five-year study led by Dr. Steven Chan, a senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, which will investigate whether anti-inflammatory drugs like Ozempic can reduce the risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a blood cancer that becomes more prevalent with age. The study received $2 million in funding and will involve collaboration with Stephanie Xie, also a scientist at Princess Margaret, and Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist known for his work on GLP-1 drugs.
The research comes as generic versions of Ozempic grow available in Canada. Dr. Chan’s team will examine whether the drug’s anti-inflammatory properties can impact mutant blood cells often associated with the early stages of AML.
Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel is scheduled to unveil the full list of funded studies, which also include research into preventing breast cancer in women with the BRCA1 mutation, and exploring the link between ultra-processed foods and colorectal cancer. A collaborative project with the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development will focus on early-onset colorectal and pancreatic cancer.
Three studies specifically focus on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s), the class of drugs that includes semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound). In addition to Dr. Chan’s work, researchers will evaluate the potential of GLP-1s to reduce the risk of pancreatic and postmenopausal breast cancer, and explore the role of incretin mimetics in cancer prevention.
Dr. Fei-Fei Liu, scientific director of the Institute of Cancer Research at CIHR and a radiation oncologist at Princess Margaret, highlighted the potential of GLP-1s, stating the drugs have “completely revolutionized the way that we think about all aspects of diseases.” She cautioned, but, that “the scientific truth on that still remains to be determined.”
Dr. Liu noted that obesity and diabetes are established risk factors for some cancers, but preliminary research suggests GLP-1s may have cancer-reducing effects independent of weight loss and blood-sugar control. Dr. Chan expressed hope that his research will contribute to a better understanding of these effects and potentially lead to fewer cases of age-related cancers like AML. He added that preventing cancers “can really facilitate in decreasing the burden on our health care system.”
The funding commitment includes contributions from the Canadian Cancer Society, the Terry Fox Research Institute, the Cancer Research Society, and BioCanRx, a network of immunotherapy researchers.
