Collaborative research involving the BC Cancer Agency and funded in part by Genome BC is already bearing fruit in the form of potential new treatments for some types of childhood brain cancer, according to a study published in the science journal Nature.
The research is being done in partnership with scientists at the BC Cancer Agency's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, the Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario (SickKids) and 46 cancer centres around the world.
Scientists involved in the research are studying DNA in pediatric medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer, with the hope of tailoring drug treatments to subgroups of the disease.
The project was officially launched in Vancouver on January 30, 2012. Some of the discoveries made by the Medulloblastoma Advanced Genomics International Consortium (MAGIC) team have already borne fruit in the form of discoveries that have just been published in Nature.
“We are very pleased that we have been able to produce such significant results so early in our study, and that we have the opportunity to disseminate our results in the journal Nature to the broader biomedical community,” said GSC director Marco Marra.
“It is gratifying to see such rapid outcomes from this landmark project,” said Alan Winter, CEO of Genome BC. “This is genomics research in action – project outcomes that directly lead to a change in clinical care – and Genome BC is proud to be a part in such important work.”
Scientists at the GSC are sequencing the RNA, micro RNA and DNA in more than 1,000 tissue samples from subjects with medulloblastoma. The information is being used to separate the cancer into four distinct subgroups, each of which reacts differently to chemotherapy, radiation and drug therapy.
The research is aimed at developing drug therapies that are more precise and less toxic for certain subgroups.
Scientists with the MAGIC team have already identified potential drug targets specific to one subgroup known as Group 3, one of the more difficult to treat.
“What is even more exciting is the fact that therapies have already been developed and successfully tested against these targets for other types of cancer,” said Michael Taylor, project co-leader, senior author of the paper and pediatric neurosurgeon and scientist at SickKids.
“Acceptance by Nature for publication is a great honour and a real indicator that our work is headed in the right direction and of significance to other groups. Our research is getting closer to our ultimate goal – making a difference in the lives of children who suffer from this devastating disease.”
Genome BC contributed $2.4 million to the $9.9 million research project.
