the laboratory to the clinic
Find more information on all of these discoveries and
social media events at
www.thepmcf.caDr. Robert Bristow and his team have published
important research confirming that the genetics
of the prostate cancers not only vary from man
to man – despite the same pathology under the
microscope – but the cancer also varies within one
man. A patient can have multiple tumor types in
his prostate.
In April 2016, Dr. Gang Zheng, a Senior Scientist and
expert in nanoparticles connected with over 3,200
interested participants on the discussion website
Reddit. His science forum on the site’s ‘Ask me
Anything’ page ranked 14th that day for ‘most talked
about things on the Internet’. His lab has discovered
how to get colourful porphyrins (used by plants in
photosynthesis) to self-assemble into biodegradable
nanoparticles called ‘porphysomes’which target
cancer. Once they invade the cancer, the now-
coloured tumors can absorb laser light, heating and
killing the tumor, and sparing healthy cells.
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
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In May 2016, Dr. Geoffrey Liu and his team of cancer researchers made a
discovery in the treatment of colorectal cancer. They identified a marker,
found in blood tests, that determines which patients would benefit
from receiving a drug called cetuximab. The research solved an ongoing
mystery of why receiving cetuximab was ineffective for up to half of
incurable colorectal cancer patients who did not respond to treatment.