Tue Dec 8, 2009 Unique Genetic Pathology Centre Set to Change the Way we Treat Cancer
UNIQUE GENETIC PATHOLOGY CENTRE SET TO CHANGE THE WAY WE TREAT CANCER
GPEC receives an unrestricted grant of $250,000 from sanofi-aventis
L-R: Drs. David Huntsman, Blake Gilks & Torsten Nielsen
Vancouver, December 8, 2009 - Located at Vancouver General Hospital and a partner of the BC Cancer Agency, the Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre, led by three prominent pathologists, is a recognized world leader in cancer research in the area of biomarker technology. Today, with an additional unrestricted grant of $250,000 from sanofi-aventis, GPEC is ready to make even more scientific breakthroughs.
GPEC is responsible for a number of important cancer related discoveries, including a genetic change in a tumour previously thought to be an aggressive form of arthritis, that ovarian cancer is at least five distinct diseases and new methods for diagnosis of breast cancer subtypes in hospital pathology laboratories. The value and the impact of these and other accomplishments has allowed this relatively small but productive centre - which has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in the last five years - to establish itself as a worldwide leader in its field.
"The results of our research have changed the way cancers are either diagnosed or managed," said Blake Gilks, one of the three lead investigators at GPEC. "However, promising discoveries are dependent on sustained sources of funding from organizations like sanofi-aventis, who has been behind us for seven years now. This additional funding is the lift we need to help us continue to move away from a one-size-fits-all to a personalized approach to cancer treatment."
The centre now wants to focus on building on the important work it has already accomplished in the realm of breast cancer. GPEC played a leading role in defining the molecular subtypes of breast cancer in 2004 - their first paper on the topic became the fourth most cited paper ever in the Clinical Cancer Research journal. Today, they are at the cutting edge in determining the response of different breast cancer subtypes to different treatments. Subtype specific treatments for breast cancer, which are tailored to the molecular abnormalities in each subtype, are saving lives.
Another GPEC project concerns a little understood and difficult to treat tumour of the ovary. After having helped decode ovarian cancers with state-of-the-art genome sequencing technologies, in collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency's Genome Sciences Centre, they identified a recurring mutation in granulosa-cell tumours of the ovary, and GPEC is now working on new diagnostics and treatments for this cancer.
With the work already accomplished and the many projects ahead, the centre is well-positioned to play a critical role in translating fundamental research into clinic practice.
"Sanofi-aventis believes that research into personalized medicine is a great way to deliver value to the Canadian healthcare system," said Hugh O'Neill, President and CEO of sanofi-aventis Canada. "By identifying the appropriate and inappropriate patients for various treatments, organizations like GPEC are reducing costs for the Canadian healthcare system and realizing the true value of innovative medicines."
About the Genetic Pathology Evaluation Center (GPEC) The Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre (GPEC) is a laboratory specialized in the assessment of novel cancer biomarkers by means of tissue microarray technology. The Centre was founded in 2001 and is a collaborative research venture of the Prostate Research Centre at the VGH, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) and the BC Cancer Agency. GPEC is Canada's top tissue-based research centre and is one of the world's leading centres in its field. The laboratory's ultimate goal is improved patient outcomes, brought about by personalized cancer treatments through molecular subclassification of tumours using biomarkers. For more information, please visit: www.gpec.ubc.ca
To coordinate interviews with either GPEC, the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA), the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) or sanofi-aventis, please contact:
Lisa Carver Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute Tel: (604) 875-4111, ext. 61777 Cell: (604) 319-7533
Claire Alter NATIONAL Public Relations Tel: (604) 691-7393 Cell: (604) 812-5464
The Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre (GPEC) was founded in 2001 and is located at the Jack Bell Research Centre of Vancouver General Hospital, and the British Columbia Cancer Agency
GPEC is a collaborative research venture of the Prostate Research Centre at the Vancouver General Hospital, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) and the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA)
GPEC uses tissue microarray technologyi to assess novel cancer biomarkersii and determine if they are useful to help confirm or predict a future response to a given type of treatment
GPEC is Canada's most successful tissue-based biomarker laboratory and is one of the world's leading centres in the application of tissue microarray technology
GPEC is positioned to play a leading role in the development of a panel of critical biomarkers for determining optimal management for common cancers such as breast, ovarian, lung, and soft tissue cancers
Over the course of the last five years, GPEC has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles
GPEC's ultimate goal is improved patient outcomes, brought about by personalized cancer treatments made possible by biomarkers
GPEC studies biomarkers from many sources including leading cancer research labs from around the world
Some of GPEC's accomplishments:
Discovery
Outcome
Validation of a new antibody for measuring estrogen-receptor in breast cancer patients
Most laboratories in North-America changed their assessment procedures to include this new reagent
Discovery of a genetic change in a tumour previously thought to be an aggressive form of arthritis
Opened new avenues for treating the disease, leading to clinical trials
Development of a new program for quality assurance of cancer biomarkers
GPEC's approach is now adopted by a national program in Canada
Identification and development of two sarcoma diagnostic tests
Worldwide utilisation of the markers for easier and accurate diagnosis
Discovery that ovarian cancer is not a single disease but at least five different ones
Opened new avenues for the management of ovarian carcinoma, leading to clinical trials of ovarian cancer subtype specific treatment
Discovery that different subtypes of breast cancer molecular subtypes can be accurately diagnosed using a combination of tests readily available in hospital laboratories, allowing rapid classification of breast cancer in one of four clinically-relevant subgroups
Streamline decision making for management of future breast cancer patients, and allow analysis of clinical trials data in Canada, U.S. and Europe to determine the optimum treatment for these breast cancer subtypes
Identification of mutations of a specific gene in granulosa cell tumours of the ovary
Demonstrated that the latest sequencing technologies can identify the molecular cause of specific cancers
iIn the tissue microarray technique, tissue cores from clinical biopsies or tumor samples are inserted in a recipient paraffin block in a precisely spaced, array pattern to be analyzed by any method of standard histological analysis (tests commonly employed in tissue microarray include immunohistochemistry, and fluorescent in situ hybridization). Tissue microarrays are particularly useful in analysis of cancer samples. From Wikipedia Web site, accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue_microarray
iiA biomarker can either be specific cells, molecules, genes, gene products, enzymes or hormones that are used as an indicator of a biological state. Disease-related biomarkers give an indication of whether there is a threat of disease (risk indicator or predictive biomarkers), if a disease already exists (diagnostic biomarker), or how such a disease may develop in an individual case (prognostic biomarker). In contrast, drug-related biomarkers indicate whether a drug will be effective in a specific patient and how the patient's body will process it. From Wikipedia Web site, accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomarker
1.All the information presented comes from the Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre (GPEC)'s Web site, accessed at: www.gpec.ubc.ca/index.php
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