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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. Through CIHR, the Government of Canada invested approximately $105 million in 2004-05 in cancer research across Canada.
Canadians are at the forefront of research that will lead to the development of new and improved ways to control cancer. Some examples are:
As our aging population continues to grow and modern medicine provides the means to prolong the life of many people, our society struggles with the ethical and legal issues around the 'appropriate' use of health care resources, and with quality of care toward and at the end of life. The CIHR Institute of Cancer Research has identified palliative and end-of-life care as a major health research priority, not only for cancer research but across a wide range of health research disciplines. The Institute is building partnerships to collaborate with these other disciplines. Among the health research projects being funded are:
Dr. Bill Muller: Turning off cancer
Imagine being able to turn off cancer at the flip of a switch.
In August 2004 Dr. Bill Muller made headlines with a discovery that could eventually do just that.
A full professor at McGill University and member of the Molecular Oncology Group at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital, Dr. Muller and his research group found a way to 'turn off' a gene called beta-1 integrin in mice. Beta-1 integrin is a potential proto-oncogene, a gene that activates another gene that causes cancer. In lab experiments, Dr. Muller determined that without interaction with Beta-1 integrin, the cancer-causing gene, called erbB2, could not function. When Beta-1 integrin was 'turned off,' breast cancer tumours regressed and were no longer detected on scans.
"This is a really promising target," says Dr. Muller, a Canada Research Chair holder in cancer research who now wants to understand the whole network of interactions between the beta-1 integrin gene and the erbB2 gene.
The next step is to see if this kind of gene interaction occurs in humans. If all goes well, Dr. Muller anticipates that, as a result of his discovery, a new breast cancer treatment could come about in approximately 5-10 years. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in Canada.
In 1994, Dr. Muller found similar success with the discovery of the C-Src gene, which is critical for tumour progression and was one of the first genes ever described. His discovery has resulted in a better understanding of how breast cancer starts, and in better prognoses for patients with certain forms of the disease.
Dr. Muller's goal is to develop models that could explain how cancer-causing genes affect cells that cover the internal and external surfaces of the breast. Multidisciplinary research is the key to achieving his goal, by helping him construct effective animal models for diseases.
For instance, in the case of the model he developed for mice and breast cancer, structural biologists helped him to create 'crystal' representations of genes. These representations serve as models to help other scientists develop new treatments to battle tumour progression in breast cancer.
"I think it's a good point to embrace multidisciplinary science," Dr. Muller says. "Science by nature is a collaborative process."
CIHR's Institute of Cancer Research, under the leadership of Scientific Director Dr. Philip Branton, supports health research to reduce the burden of cancer on individuals and families. Its goals are to help prevent and treat cancer while improving the health and quality of life of people with the disease. The Institute, in consultation with its partners, has identified seven health research priorities: palliative and end-of-life care, molecular profiling of tumours, early detection, functional and molecular imaging, risk behaviour and prevention, clinical trials and access to quality cancer care. Other priorities include capacity building and training in cancer research and the promotion of translational research on promising new therapies.
The Institute of Cancer Research was instrumental in the establishment of the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA), which brings together all the major organizations and agencies funding cancer research in Canada to develop a united research response for cancer control. This national initiative, with its strong international linkages, will ensure that Canadians derive the health, social and economic benefits of cancer research.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to close to 10,000 researchers and trainees in every province of Canada.
