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A team of researchers and clinician-scientists from across Canada have discovered a signature of 41 mutations that are common in prostate cancer and will help to prevent patients with non-aggressive disease from being overtreated. Dr. Paul Boutros, a Principal Investigator in OICR’s Informatics and Bio-computing Program and Co-Lead of the Canadian Prostate Cancer Genome Network (CPC-GENE), answered a few questions about how the signature was developed and its potential impact on patients.
Findings published in renowned journal Nature
January 9, 2017 – TORONTO, ON – The Canadian Prostate Cancer Genome Network (CPC-GENE) has published findings from the world’s most comprehensive genetic analysis of prostate cancer tumours in the journal Nature. Led by Drs. Robert Bristow of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Paul Boutros of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, CPC-GENE has uncovered the full set of mutations that can occur in the most common cancer in men. By fully cataloging these mutations, the CPC-GENE team was able to create a new signature that predicts at an early stage whether a prostate cancer tumour will become aggressive or not, allowing for personalized treatment.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults and is one of the most deadly. Although AML is treated as a single disease, patient response to intensive curative-intent chemotherapy varies. It is currently difficult to predict who will do well with standard treatment, and who will not benefit from standard treatment and might do better enrolling in a clinical trial where they may be offered novel therapies.
Dr. Ahmed Aman, Principal Research Scientist and Group Leader, Analytical Chemistry and ADME in OICR’s Drug Discovery Program, recently demonstrated that his commitment to cancer research goes beyond his work in the lab. For the sixth straight year Aman participated in Movember by growing a moustache to raised funds and awareness for men’s health issues, including prostate cancer. This year Aman exceeded his fundraising goal of $500 by collecting $770 in donations and has now raised $3,445 since beginning in 2011.
More information about Movember can be found here: https://ca.movember.com/
The base components of DNA – adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine (commonly referred to as ATCG) are so fundamental to the study of genetics that they are probably familiar to anyone who has taken a high school biology class. Now, one team of researchers has expanded the ‘DNA alphabet’ to help aid in efforts to learn how cancers develop.
The Toronto Bioinformatics User Group (TorBUG) continues on Wednesday, November 30 with another session of leading-edge bioinformatics topics and speakers. TorBUG sessions encourage learning, sharing and networking with colleagues in bioinformatics. All those who are interested are welcome to attend.
On November 16 OICR and the Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network (OMPRN) joined other organizations around the world celebrating International Pathology Day.
Family physicians are often a patient’s first point of contact in the healthcare system. For those patients with cancer, their family physician plays an important role in their care not just at their time of diagnosis, but also throughout their treatment and for the rest of their lives.
Today is International Pathology Day. Around the world and here in Ontario events will be held to raise awareness of the field and its contributions to modern medicine. The work of the Transformative Pathology Program, coupled with the launch of the Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network (OMPRN), has made for a very successful year thus far for OICR’s efforts in pathology research. Here are some of the highlights. (more…)
