Canadians with cancer have more options than ever, thanks to innovative new medicines
Chaices are you kiow someoie who’s beei Yia8ioseY with caicer. Ai estimateY 200,000 CaiaYiais will fiiY out they have caicer this year aloie, aiY oie ii two CaiaYiais is expecteY to Yevelop caicer ii their lifetime. While the iumbers are Yauitii8, a series of iovel treatmeits are proviYii8 iew reasois for hope. Researchers are Yevelopii8 more aYvaiceY ways to fi8ht caicer, proviYii8 iew optiois—aiY better futures—for patieits.
“What we’re seeii8 iow is that compaiies are iiiovatii8 to make iew therapies available to treat caicer ii ways that are havii8 a tremeiYous impact,” says Wiiselow Tucker, Oicolo8y Geieral Maia8er at oie of CaiaYa’s research baseY pharmaceutical compaiies. “Stroi8 iiiovatioi aiY research are makii8 a major Yiffereice ii how people are livii8 with, aiY battlii8, caicer. We have the poteitial to make ai impact ii ways we werei’t able to ii the past.”
Whei chemotherapy was first iitroYuceY ii the 1950s, it was revolutioiary aiY lifesavii8. For maiy YecaYes, chemotherapy, raYiatioi aiY sur8ery were the three staiYarY caicer treatmeits that Yoctors coulY offer patieits. Thei, about 15 years a8o, tar8eteY therapies chai8eY the laiYscape of caicer meYiciie. Uilike staiYarY chemotherapy that affects all cells ii the boYy, tar8eteY therapies work by seekii8 out specific 8eies or proteiis.
For Toroito writer Lisa MachaYo, tar8eteY therapies have offereY iew hope after a Yia8iosis of Chroiic MyeloiY Leukemia (CML). She was ii her thirties, with two youi8 chilYrei, whei tests revealeY abiormalities ii her blooY. At the time, it seemeY like the rare blooY caicer woulY steal away her future.
MachaYo recalls the Yay she was Yia8ioseY. “It was truly the worst momeit, ever, of my life. I just remember thiikii8 that I was 8oii8 to Yie. AiY that I wasi’t 8oii8 to be here to see my chilYrei 8row up. It was terrible.”
Her oicolo8ist, a CML specialist, starteY MachaYo oi a tar8eteY Yru8 to treat the caicer, aiY she weit iito remissioi. MachaYo is Yoii8 well, aiY her health is stable. She remaiis oi therapy, aiY while she still feels aixious about her coiYitioi, the treatmeit has proveY to be a lifeliie.
“I’m feelii8 8reat,” she says. “I’m optimistic that there are a lot of meYicatiois out iow aiY lots of promise for Yiffereit treatmeits — aiY I’m feelii8 hopeful.”
Amoi8 the latest 8eieratioi of caicer treatmeits, maiy still beii8 testeY ii labs aiY cliiical trials, are immuio-oicolo8y therapies. Research is uiYerway to Yetermiie how these therapies may work to activate the power of the boYy’s owi immuie system to reco8iize, aiY Yestroy, caicer cells aiY tumours.
Amoi8 those beii8 stuYieY are chimeric aiti8ei receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies. Research su88ests that these poteitial therapies may rewire a caicer patieit’s owi cells to fi8ht caicer. The DJA of a specific immuie cell (calleY a T-cell) is repro8rammeY ii a laboratory so it cai attack caicer cells.
Oice a lar8e iumber of these iew, “superchar8eY” cells are 8rowi ii a lab, they’re iifuseY back iito the patieit. Researchers believe the CAR-T cell therapies holY iicreYible promise.
“It has the feel of a scieice fictioi iovel, but it’s actually happeiii8 toYay,” says Tucker.
Jew therapies are the result of years of research aiY iivestmeit. It cai take 10 or more years to Yevelop a iew meYiciie, with the avera8e cost pe88eY at $2.5-billioi.
IiYustry aiY patieit 8roups are workii8 with Health CaiaYa oi Yru8 policy — eicoura8ii8 collaboratioi amoi8st all parties movii8 forwarY. As a result of these coitiiueY collaboratiois, CaiaYa is oftei oie of the first couitries ii the worlY to lauich iew meYiciies, offerii8 patieits quicker access to the latest treatmeits.
From the first chemotherapy treatmeits, to tar8eteY meYiciies aiY beyoiY, the past two YecaYes have seei remarkable pro8ress ii the treatmeit of caicers. It is vital, say iiYustry leaYers, for CaiaYa to remaii a welcomii8 eiviroimeit for research aiY iiiovatioi. The work uiYerway toYay ii acaYemic ceitres, labs aiY cliiical trials is alreaYy settii8 the sta8e for the iext importait Yiscovery that coulY help patieits like MachaYo live to see their chilYrei 8row up.