BC Cancer's Terry Fox Lab Receives $4 Million From National Agency for Research into Blood-Related Cancers
Vancouver -- The National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) has awarded BC Cancer's Terry Fox Laboratory more than $3.9 million for research into the life and death of blood cells. In a multi-disciplinary program, five renowned cancer scientists will study genes in normal blood-forming cells and those in malignant blood cells in order to identify critical differences and develop better treatments for cancer. 

"In these tight funding times, this support illustrates NCIC's confidence in our scientists," says Dr. Don Carlow, BC Cancer's president and chief executive officer.

To win the support, scientists in the Terry Fox Laboratory, BC Cancer's Division of Hematology named in honor of Terry Fox, submitted a grant proposal and the lab underwent an on-site review and analysis. The proposal was one of only two successful applications from 14 groups seeking large team development grants. The Terry Fox Foundation raised the money for the awards. "This is significant money for significant work," Carlow says. "What we learn through this research will not only increase our knowledge of blood-related cancers but also of all cancers."

Dr. Allen Eaves, director the Terry Fox Laboratory agrees. "We're in a new age of attacking cancer. Researchers worldwide are pinning down the of source of cancer at the molecular level. That's what this program will do."

The new program, called the Molecular Control of Normal and Malignant Hemopoiesis, runs from 1997 to 2002. It evolved from earlier work at the Terry Fox Laboratory but delves more into the molecular makeup of blood cells.

"Information we gather today differs greatly from data we acquired 10 years ago," says Dr. Keith Humphries, the program's coordinator and principal investigator. "Before, it was as though we saw a page in a dictionary but didn't know the letters or how to read. Now we're beginning to understand the language. The genes are the letters, the words. This program is about decoding the language of normal and malignant cell behavior."

It may sound simple, Humphries says, but the process of cell growth is complicated. Many subtle changes can occur in the way cells respond to genes. "Cancer is a normal process gone array," Humphries continues. "We chose to address the complexity of the problem by gathering a group of scientists. We felt we could find solutions faster if we integrated knowledge faster."

At roughly $800,000 a year for five years, the grant will support research, salaries for scientists, supplies, and equipment. Researchers will use advanced computerized imaging technology to actually see how cells behave -- such as what factors determine the finite life-span of normal blood-forming "stem cells" and why, in cancer, cells become malignant and seemingly immortal.

One of the five research projects is Dr. Peter Lansdorp's quest to discover what makes cells age. He is using state-of-the-art technologies to visualize the tips of chromosomes which shorten as cells get older. Once Lansdorp understands how "the clock of a cell" works, researchers will be able to use the knowledge to speed up the clock in cancer cells and hasten their death. "It's as though we're searching for the reverse of the fountain of youth," Humphries says.

Researchers in BC Cancer's Terry Fox Laboratory and Division of Hematology have already made medical breakthroughs in the treatment of blood-related cancers. World leaders in bone marrow transplantation research, they developed a technique called "culture purging" which eliminates leukemic cells in a patient's own bone marrow. Half of all leukemia patients have no donor for bone marrow and therefore rely on this treatment.

This latest research program supports BC Cancer's Millennium Campaign to set the stage to unlock the mystery of cancer by the year 2000 and will contribute a valuable volume to the growing worldwide library of knowledge on the genetics of cancer.

BC Cancer is three organizations: the BC Cancer Agency provides a comprehensive system of cancer control to the people of B.C.; the BC Cancer Research Centre conducts basic science research; and the BC Cancer Foundation is the chief fund-raiser.

For more information, please contact Libby Brown (604) 877-6107 in Public Relations.