Six stellar TFRI research teams will use $27.3 million to engineer precision medicine across a range of cancers

Attention Editors:

• The Terry Fox Run is being held on Sunday, Sept. 18^th
• The brain cancer project will focus on new treatments for glioblastoma (The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie announced in May he has this cancer)
• Researcher stories and photos are available via embedded links below

VANCOUVER, Sept. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - Six outstanding Canadian research teams will use $27.3 million in new funding to engineer precision medicines for patients whose cancer has relapsed or for whom current treatments are ineffective or non-existent.

The Terry Fox Research Institute teams are conducting research into brain, colorectal, prostate, breast and ovarian cancers and lymphoma at research centres and hospitals across the country. Some studies will include undertaking trials for immunotherapy -- using the body's immune system to kill cancer cells.

The majority of the funding ($26.1 million) is being provided by The Terry Fox Foundation through funds raised annually from the Terry Fox Run. National funding partner, The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is contributing $1.2 million to co-invest in the project with the goal of finding more effective treatment for a hard-to-treat breast cancer called triple negative breast cancer.

"We thank The Terry Fox Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for making these investments possible.  Our shared goal is to provide cancer patients with the right remedy for the right cancer at the right time – so precision medicine will help us to find more cures for cancer.  The projects being funded today are judged by international experts as being excellent, leading-edge and having the best potential for us to achieve this goal," says Dr. Victor Ling, TFRI president and scientific director.

"We are delighted to see our supporter funds invested across such a range of cancers since Terry Fox believed in funding all types of cancer research. We hope Canadians will continue to show their support for Terry's cause and cancer research on Sunday, September 18 by participating in and donating to a Terry Fox Run in their community," said Terry Fox Foundation executive director Britt Andersen. The Terry Fox Run will be held on Sunday, September 18.

The Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants (PPGs) and Translational Research Programs are highly competitive. Following international peer review, funds are awarded annually to teams of investigators to support breakthrough and transformative biomedical research which may form the basis for innovative cancer prevention, diagnosis and/or treatment. See below the investment breakdown by project and province:

PAN CANADIAN (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta)
Dr. Pamela Ohashi, director, immune therapy program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network (UHN), and colleagues will develop immunotherapies and undertake clinical trials through The Immunotherapy Network to improve survival for women diagnosed with high-grade serous ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the ovarian cancers. (Award: $5.41M over 5 years)

ONTARIO
Awards of  $2.25 M each over 3 years: 

• Dr. Mathieu Lupien, senior scientist and oncologist and colleagues at UHN (Toronto), will focus on effective therapies, including immunotherapy, to improve treatments available to women with triple negative breast cancer. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is funding 50 per cent of this award.
  
  
• Dr. Sheila Singh, pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster University (Hamilton), and colleagues at the University of Toronto, will study glioblastoma multiforme (brain cancer) in its recurrent and relapsed form, rather than the original tumour (s), to develop new and effective treatments to improve survival
  
  
• Dr. Jeff Wrana, senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System and co-investigators there and at the U of T (Toronto), will study how an important body mechanism, the Hippo Pathway, is inactivated, thus enabling abnormal tissue growth, and ways to reactivate it. Their work will focus on colorectal cancer using unique "mini-gut" models

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Awards of $7.5 M each over 5 years:

• Dr. Joseph Connors, clinical director at the Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, BC Cancer Agency (Vancouver), and colleagues (University of British Columbia, BC Cancer Agency, and Simon Fraser University ) will continue novel and innovative research in lymphoma and related cancers to provide new tests and treatments that will benefit those patients
  
  
• Dr. Martin Gleave, executive director, Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC), and team members (VPC, UBC, and SFU), to continue world-class research to provide new treatments for men whose prostate cancer has become resistant to current therapies.

Quotes from Funding Partners
"CIHR is pleased to partner with the Terry Fox Research Institute and Terry Fox Foundation and support Dr. Mathieu Lupien and his team at the University Health Network. Dr. Lupien's research project showcases Canadian leadership in immunology, genomics and epigenetics and, ultimately, will lead to new treatments to extend survival and quality of life for women diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer," said Dr. Stephen Robbins, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research.

About TFRI
Launched in October 2007, The Terry Fox Research Institute is the brainchild of The Terry Fox Foundation and today functions as its research arm. TFRI seeks to improve significantly the outcomes of cancer research for the patient through a highly collaborative, team-oriented, milestone-based approach to research that will enable discoveries to translate quickly into practical solutions for cancer patients worldwide. TFRI collaborates with over 70 cancer hospitals and research organizations across Canada. TFRI headquarters are in Vancouver, BC. www.tfri.ca

About CIHR 
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system for Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/

SOURCE Terry Fox Research Institute

Kelly Curwin, Chief Communications Officer, Terry Fox Research Institute, Vancouver BC, Office: 604-675-8223, Cell: 778-237-8158, [email protected]