2017 Annual Report

10 | 2017 Report to Our Donors IMMUNOTHERAPY: A RICH HISTORY OF 2008 1984 1994 2002 2005 D r. Pamela Ohashi, Dr. Brad Nelson, Dr. Réjean Lapointe and Dr. Jonathan Bramson found the Canadian Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium. Dr. Tak Mak clones the T-cell receptor. Dr. Tak Mak demonstrates that CTLA4 (protein receptor) is a key regulatory checkpoint in the immune system. Dr. Pamela Ohashi (above) and Dr. Linh Nguyen demonstrate that tumour-specific T-cells exist and are capable of mounting a response against tumours. Dr. Pamela Ohashi, Dr. Linh Nguyen (above) and Patty Yen travel to Dr. Steven Rosenberg’s lab in the U.S. to learn techniques to grow tumour-specific T-cells. The history of immunotherapy stretches back decades, involving many researchers around the world who have helped sort out the complex pieces of the immune system puzzle. Understanding the T-cell has been a key part of that puzzle. The T-cell can attack and destroy cells infected with viruses. More importantly for immunotherapy, it can also take on cancer cells. The Princess Margaret’s Dr. Tak Mak helped advance our understanding of the T-cell with a groundbreaking discovery. It was in his lab that the human T-cell receptor was first cloned in the 1980s. Dr. Pamela Ohashi, co-director of The Princess Margaret’s Tumor Immunotherapy Program (TIP) and a member of the Immunology Department at the University of Toronto, was working with Dr. Mak when that discovery was made. It provided the foundation for future understanding about the immune system and how it could be used to fight cancer. Half a world away, this breakthrough inspired Dr. Naoto Hirano. “I was in Japan, I was very excited,” he says. “I thought that Dr. Tak Mak was a genius.” Dr. Hirano never dreamed they would meet. Three decades later, they are colleagues at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The understanding of the T-cell has steadily increased over time. Dr. Ohashi’s own career was heavily influenced by these advances. Today, she works with Dr. Linh Nguyen and Dr. Marcus Butler on adoptive T-cell therapy at The Princess Margaret. In 2005, Dr. Ohashi, Dr. Nguyen and their colleague Patty Yen travelled to the U.S. to learn about adoptive T-cell therapy. This was the origin of immunotherapy at The Princess Margaret. Many important discoveries have been made by members of the research team at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre that are providing key insights for translating and developing novel clinical trials. Today, 30% of all open clinical trials at The Princess Margaret use immunotherapy. Leading the Way in Immunotherapy for Canada and Beyond IMMUNOTHERAPY AT THE PRINCESS MARGARET