Meeting the Cancer Challenge

An estimated 225,000 Canadians learned they have cancer in 2020.* CSM researchers are working to change this.

Researchers at the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, a partnership between the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, are working tirelessly across disciplines to meet the cancer challenge. Our mission is clear: to decrease cancer in the population, improve cancer treatment and outcomes, and improve patient experience. If anyone can do it, it’s Alberta.

The Calgary Cancer Centre, adjacent to our medical school and slated to open in 2023, off ers us an unprecedented opportunity to change the trajectory of cancer impact for Albertans and patients around the world. We are proud to share a few exciting successes from the past year, as we look toward the tremendous possibility that lies ahead.

*Source: Canadian Cancer Society.

Decreasing cancer in the population

Leading research in Canada’s battle against colon cancer

Dr. Darren Brenner, PhD

Dr. Robert Hilsdwen

Cumming School of Medicine researchers are gathering data from more than 20,000 participants in one of the largest research projects in Canada designed to improve early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. By investigating the characteristics that could personalize the way Canadians are screened for this cancer, they hope to develop the next generation of screening tests.

Colorectal cancer is expected to be the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada in 2020, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. It is the second leading cause of death from cancer in men and the third leading cause of death from cancer in women.

“Our goal is to improve screening for colorectal cancer and, ultimately, patient outcomes,” says Dr. Robert Hilsden, MD, PhD, (MSc ’96, PhD ’01) research director of the Forzani and MacPhail Colon Cancer Screening Centre at UCalgary’s Foothills campus. “First, we want to better understand who is at high risk for colorectal cancer and who is not, so we know who needs to be screened and how best to do it. Second, we want to improve the screening experience to maximize participation.”

The data collected from patients includes biospecimens (blood, urine, normal colon tissue) and detailed information about each participant’s medical history, lifestyle, physical activity and diet.

“More than ever before, this research is allowing us to use data science and advanced analytics to understand cancer risk,” says Dr. Darren Brenner, PhD, the associate research director of the centre. “From this work we can develop and advocate for improved policy, practice and personal change to bend the curve and reduce the cancer burden in Canada. The work has the potential to save lives and have a positive economic impact, as we reduce the need to access the health-care system.”

Both researchers are members of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health.

Improving cancer treatment

Improving treatment for glioblastoma patients

Dr. V. Wee Yong, PhD, (left) and Dr. Susobhan Sarker, PhD

Niacin, a B-vitamin you see on grocery store shelves, may help glioblastoma brain cancer patients live longer when paired with chemotherapy and radiation. A new five-year clinical trial is looking at how this vitamin, also known as vitamin B3, may kickstart the body’s own defences to fight this cruel disease.

Glioblastoma cells are stubbornly resistant to treatment, and patients usually succumb to the highly aggressive brain cancer less than two years after diagnosis. Niacin has been shown to reboot immune cells, prompting them to attack stem cells that fuel the growth of the tumours.

A 2020 study by Dr. V. Wee Yong, PhD and Dr. Susobhan Sarkar, PhD, members of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, found that mice with glioblastoma lived nearly four times longer when receiving niacin with chemo and radiation – up from 40 days to 150 days.

A new clinical trial, led by the Clark H. Smith Brain Tumour Centre’s Dr. Yong and Dr. Gloria Roldan Urgoiti, MD, (PGME ‘14) is looking at whether niacin can be added to temozolomide chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The fi rst step is to see if patients experience unexpected toxicities. After confi rming that it is safe and fi nding the adequate dose, the clinical trial will continue to see if niacin controls the tumour when paired with temozolomide chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

“This is a story of homegrown bench-to-bedside collaboration that seeks to improve the prognosis of a deadly brain tumour,” says Yong, who is the Canada Research Chair in Neuroimmunology. “I am excited for this trial and the potential it has to help patients.”

The trial is moving forward with funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Alberta Health Services, the Alberta Cancer Foundation Kvisle Fund and the generosity of the Ronald and Irene Ward Foundation through the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

Improving patient experience and life after care

Coping with cancer during the pandemic

Dr. Linda Carlson, PhD

Living through a pandemic is stressful for all of us. Adding the uncertainty and anxiety of a cancer diagnosis to your list of unknowns makes this an even more unsettling time.

Enbridge Research Chair in Psychosocial Oncology, Dr. Linda Carlson, PhD, (BSc ‘91) is leading a team of Canadian researchers studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of cancer survivors.

The team from the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) Supportive Care Committee has spearheaded a study of more than 1,000 survivors across the country diagnosed with cancer in the past ten years.

The 2020 study, titled “Living With Cancer in theTime of COVID-19,” asks participants to complete a series of surveys covering the impact of the pandemic on their mental health and quality of life, including stress levels, worries, depression, changes in cancer care and any positive changes that may have resulted from the pandemic.

“When the pandemic started, we knew this was going to affect cancer patients in many diff erent ways,” says Dr. Carlson. “We just didn’t know in how many diff erent ways. Some things are potentially positive for patients because they can get care at home and travel less, but there are drawbacks, too. Treatments and surgeries were delayed, and there was a lot of talk about being at higher risk of death or complications if they were to get COVID.”

The researchers hope the data will expose the full impact of the pandemic on this potentially vulnerable group and help direct strategies to better support cancer survivors through this exceptionally diffi cult period in history.