KGH pair part of national ovarian cancer initiative
A cytogeneticist and medical oncologist at Kingston General Hospital are working together as part of a new pan-Canadian initiative that aims to change the way ovarian cancer is diagnosed and managed.
Drs. Janet Dancey and Jeremy Squire are among the 35 investigators from across Canada taking part in COEUR, a five-year, multi-site program that will identify new biomarkers to predict and treat the relatively rare but deadly form of cancer.
“This project is tremendously important for identifying markers for early diagnosis and for improved treatment options for patients with ovarian cancer,” says Dancey, a medical oncologist at KGH and a professor in the Department of Oncology at Queen's University.
The team’s work will help clinicians better determine what treatment will work best for each patient. Patients who do not respond to standard therapy can be directed to clinical trials where new therapies are being validated.
The Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) initiative, and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer are providing a total of $5-million in funding for the program. The NCIC Clinical Trials Group at Queen’s is also collaborating on the project.
“It is a privilege to be part of this extraordinary national effort,” says Squire, a world renowned cytogeneticist who is KGH's first-ever Research Chair in Molecular Pathology. He is also a professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen's. “We all believe this project will contribute enormously to relieving the burden of ovarian cancer.”
As a cytogeneticist, Squire looks for genetic abnormalities that might help uncover the onset, cause and progression of cancer as well as the most appropriate and effective forms of treatment or therapy. In his role as Research Chair, he fosters and develops interdisciplinary research collaborations between KGH, Queen’s University and other academic health science centres.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Western world. One in every four women diagnosed with this form of cancer is resistant to standard first-line chemotherapy.