Net Results Express Title
March 2005

Inside this issue...

New Research

Fruit flies and cancer research

New treatment for depression

Personalized cancer therapy

Breaking News

CIHR makes funding announcement

Updates

New venture discussed in Shanghai


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New Research Breakthroughs at UHN
    Pesky fruit flies provide cancer clues
      A team of OCI/PMH researchers including Drs. Tak Mak, Fei-Fei Liu, Armen Manoukian, Ming Tsao and student Raymond Kim have discovered that a molecule called DJ-1—previously implicated in Parkinson disease—plays a role in the development of cancer.

      fruit fly Using a genetic screening method in fruit flies, they discovered that DJ-1 prevents the tumour suppressor molecule PTEN from doing its job. With PTEN out of commission, cell growth can rage out of control and cancer can develop. Human breast and lung cancer cells also have high levels of the molecule, and lung cancer patients with high levels of DJ-1 are more likely to suffer a relapse.

      Says Dr. Mak, “Our results suggest that DJ-1 does play a role in the development of cancer, and in the future, it may represent a valuable new target for cancer therapy.”

      Cancer Cell. 2005 Mar;7(3): 263-273. [PubMed abstract]
      Funded by the Canadian Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

      Institutes: AMDI/OCI/PMH, The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research, OCI/PMH
      Division: Cell & Molecular Biology
    Parkinson disease treatment also alleviates depression
      In collaboration with a team of Toronto scientists, Drs. Andres Lozano and Sidney Kennedy (TWRI/TWH) and Dr. Helen Mayberg (Emory University School of Medicine) recently showed that deep brain stimulation (DBS)—a procedure usually reserved for treating Parkinson disease and epilepsy—alleviates severe depression.

      depression statistic Based on the team’s previous findings that an area of the brain called Cg25 is important for mood regulation, the research team suspected that DBS might be useful to “retune” this area of the brain. The treatment was successful: changes observed in four of the six patients treated resembled changes that are seen when patients respond successfully to the standard treatment.

      Says Dr. Lozano, “Our study shows that DBS can lead to striking and sustained remission of depression in some patients. It further suggests that DBS may become a standard therapy for treating severely depressed people who are resistant to drug therapy.”

      Neuron. 2005 Mar 3;45(5):651-60. [PubMed abstract]
      Funded by the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD)

      Institute: TWRI/TWH
      Division: Applied & Interventional Research
    Personalized cancer therapy: new test makes detection faster and easier
      TGRI/TGH researcher and MCMM Director Dr. Keith Stewart and colleagues Drs. Suzanne Trudel and Hong Chang have developed a simple, rapid, and inexpensive method for detecting a specific genetic defect that is associated with reduced survival in 10-20% of multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

      lab Previous research by the group revealed that this genetic defect causes a protein called FGFR3 to “run wild” and contribute to the development of MM. In the current study, the team used special labeling techniques to reliably detect the FGFR3 protein in MM cells. They found that 98% of the time, the presence of the protein could predict the presence of the genetic defect. Patients with the defect experienced reduced overall survival.

      Says Dr. Chang, “Our study proves that using this new technique to assess MM cells is clinically useful for identifying those MM patients who are at higher risk, a finding which will be useful for assessing treatment options for patients.”

      Blood. 2005 Mar 10 [PubMed abstract]
      Funded in part by the Leukemia Research Fund of Canada

      Institute: TGRI/TGH
      Division: Experimental Therapeutics
Breaking News from UHN Research

    CIHR makes funding announcement
      coins On March 15, 2005, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) chose OCI/PMH as the site of a media event announcing an investment of more than $91M to fund 218 health research projects across Ontario.

      UHN researchers received over $8M to fund 18 new research projects.
Updates

    New joint venture discussed in Shanghai
      Dr. Christopher Paige, VP Research, recently returned from Shanghai where he met with representatives from the Institute of Health Science (part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) to discuss the possibility of establishing a joint venture with UHN.

      Shanghai photo Says Dr. Paige, “I’m impressed with the potential of building a partnership with the IHS. It offers the opportunity to forge further relationships with other allied Chinese Academies.”

      This initiative is part of the larger UHN Global Ventures strategy. Delegates from the institute have been invited to visit UHN in April.
Research Fact
      A recent international study involving OCI/PMH’s Dr. Warren Mason has resulted in the development of a new standard of care for the treatment of glioblastoma, the most deadly form of brain cancer.

      Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study marks the first advance in treating glioblastoma in 30 years.


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