Not lost in translation: Cancer research in Alberta
In Alberta, it is estimated that almost 16,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer this year, and more than 6,000 people will die from the disease. Alberta researchers are attacking this devastating disease from many angles to develop better treatments, improve cancer prevention, and enhance the quality of life of people suffering from cancer.
Story by Connie Bryson/Illustrations by Mark Gervais
Dr. Stephen Robbins used to think of himself as a basic scientist. “An inquiring mind who likes to figure out how things work: that’s how I described myself when I joined the University of Calgary in 1996.” His research on signal transduction (how cells communicate with each other) was focussed on understanding the intricate biochemical circuitry that connects the outside of the cell to the inside of the cell. Fifteen years later, Dr. Robbins continues to study signal transduction, and he is applying his findings to the treatment of brain tumours.
“I’ve become a translational scientist. It’s not something I planned; it’s part of a natural evolution in my career encouraged by the collaborative environment we have in Alberta. I started to work with physicians who are treating patients, and I saw how the findings from my research could help. Now, when I describe what I do, I say that my lab is focussed on research that tries to make a difference. I never would have said that before.”
Along with University of Calgary researchers Drs. Peter Forsyth and Donna Senger, Dr. Robbins is studying glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Most patients with glioblastoma die within a year of being diagnosed, and fewer than 5% survive beyond three years. Despite intensive research over the last 30 years, the outlook for patients remains unchanged. Surgeons can remove the primary tumour, but patients relapse as tumours grow back around the edges of the original surgical boundary. “Glioma cells tend to be highly invasive and extend away from the tumour into other parts of the brain,” explains Dr. Robbins. “They act like a reservoir of the disease. Using advanced technology in my lab, we looked for genetic differences between the invasive cells and the solid tumour cells. We found one: p75 neurotrophin receptor.”
Having identified a major contributor to the highly invasive nature of malignant gliomas, Dr. Robbins and his collaborators began searching for a drug that could block the receptor. An existing Alzheimer’s drug appears to be a promising therapy. A clinical trial of this drug for brain cancer has been approved to begin in Calgary.
In other research, Dr. Robbins is investigating the concept of cancer stem cells—a population of cells that have the ability to regenerate a tumour. “The thought is that these cells are highly tumourigenic (capable of producing tumours),” he says. “For example, you would have to inject thousands of cancer cells into a mouse model to get a tumour; however, less than 10 cancer stem cells would cause the same effect.” Working in a team with University of Calgary researchers Drs. Sam Weiss and Gregory Cairncross, Dr. Robbins was recently funded to develop new technologies to target cancer stem cells in the brain.
What is translational science?
Translational science takes discoveries from basic research and translates them into practical applications for health care. These applications could be new drugs, preventive interventions, diagnostic procedures, or treatments. A well-worked phrase describing translational science is ”bench to bedside.” Translational science projects usually involve close collaboration between laboratory and clinical scientists in order to accelerate patient-oriented research.