RI-MUHC Annual Report

RI-MUHC ANNUAL REPORT 2023

YEAR IN REVIEW

CANCER RESEARCH PROGRAM (CRP)

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Julia Burnier, PhD, is conducting research on cell-specific delivery by lipid nanoparticles, a key component of future mRNA-based medicines. (Scientific images realized by Thupten Tsering and Rubén López.)

New resource for extracellular vesicles liquid biopsy research

Developed by Cancer Research Program (CRP) researcher Julia Burnier’s team, the Extracellular Vesicle-Associated DNA Database (EV-ADD) catalogues information on extracellular vesicles─associated DNA in human biofluids. Free and publicly available, this reference tool contains validated experimental details and data extracted from published peer-reviewed articles, as reported in the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles in October 2022. Learn more in the Business Development Activities section of this report.

Clinical impact of germline genetic testing for pancreatic cancer patients

Led by George Zogopoulos, a group of CRP clinician-scientists including Peter Metrakos, Jamil Asselah, Nathaniel Bouganim and William Foulkes investigated the impact of germline genetic testing for patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer, using a multi-gene panel. This study demonstrated the feasibility and clinical benefits of integrating an ambulatory oncology clinic─based germline genetic testing model as standard of care for all patients with pancreatic cancer, to inform therapy selection in real time. (Journal of Medical Genetics, doi: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2021-108054)

Major funding to tailor treatments for people with esophageal cancer

A pan Canadian team led by researchers Lorenzo Ferri and Swneke Bailey was awarded $7.5M from the Canadian Cancer Society to understand what causes treatment resistance in esophageal cancer. The team aims to identify new methods and treatment options for overcoming this resistance, ultimately improving outcomes and saving lives. Other CRP researchers taking part in this initiative include Jonathan Cools-Lartigue, Pierre-Olivier Fiset, Morag Park and Veena Sangwan.

Lorenzo Ferri, MD, and Swneke Bailey, PhD, lead a pan Canadian team of esophageal cancer researchers awarded $7.5M by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Selected CRP Program news links

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Thierry L. Lefebvre, Yoshiko R. Ueno, Anthony Dohan, Avishek Chatterjee, Martin Vallières, Eric Winter-Reinhold, Sameh Saif, Ives R. Levesque, Xing Ziggy Zeng, Reza Forghani, Jan P. Seuntjens, P. Soyer, Peter Savadjiev, Caroline Reinhold. Development and Validation of Multiparametric MRI–based Radiomics Models for Preoperative Risk Stratification of Endometrial Cancer: Radiology 305(2): 375-386, 2022: doi: 10.1148/radiol.212873

Xintao Qiu, Nadia Boufaied, Tarek Hallal, Avery Feit, Anna de Polo, Adrienne M. Luoma, Walaa Alahmadi, Janie Larocque, Giorgia Zadra, Yingtian Xie, Shengqing Gu, Qin Tang, Yi Zhang, Sudeepa Syamala, Ji-Heui Seo, Connor Bell, Edward O’Connor, Yang Liu, Edward M. Schaeffer, R. Jeffrey Karnes, Sheila Weinmann, Elai Davicioni, Colm Morrissey, Paloma Cejas, Leigh Ellis, Massimo Loda, Kai W. Wucherpfennig, Mark M. Pomerantz, Daniel E. Spratt, Eva Corey, Matthew L. Freedman, X. Shirley Liu, Myles Brown, Henry W. Long & David P. Labbé: MYC drives aggressive prostate cancer by disrupting transcriptional pause release at androgen receptor targets: Nature Communications 13(1):0, 2022: doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30257-z

Jonathan Cools-Lartigue, Sheraz Markar, Carmen Mueller, Wayne Hofstetter, Magnus Nilsson, Ilkka Ilonen, Henna Soderstrom, Jari Rasanen, Suzanne Gisbertz, George Hanna, Jessie Elliott, Jonh Reynolds, Aaron Kisiel, Ewen Griffiths, Mark Van Berge Henegouwen, Lorenzo Ferri. An international cohort study of prognosis associated with pathologically complete response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy of surgical treated esophageal adenocarcinoma: Annals of Surgery 276(5): 799-805, 2022: doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005619

Luai al-Marzouki, Vivian S. Stavrakos, Sanjima Pal, Betty Giannias, France Bourdeau, Roni F. Rayes, Nicholas R. Bertos, Sara Najmeh, Jonathan D. Spicer, Jonathan J. Cools-Lartigue, Swneke D. Bailey, Lorenzo Ferri, Veena Sangwan. Soluble factors in malignant ascites promote the metastatic adhesion of gastric adenocarcinoma cells: Gastric Cancer 26(1): 55-68, 2023: doi: 10.1007/s10120-022-01338-1

Wejdan M. Alenezi, Larissa Milano, Caitlin T. Fierheller, Corinne Serruya, Timothée Revil, Kathleen Oros Klein, Supriya Behl, Suzanna L. Arcand, Porangana Nayar, Dan Spiegelman, Simon Pierre Gravel, Anne Marie Mès-Masson, Diane Michèle Provencher, William D. Foulkes, Zaki El Haffaf, Guy Rouleau, Luigi Bouchard, Celia M. T. Greenwood, Jean-Yves Masson,^4,5 Jiannis Ragoussis,^1,6 and Patricia N. Tonin. The Genetic and Molecular Analyses of RAD51C and RAD51D Identifies Rare Variants Implicated in Hereditary Ovarian Cancer from a Genetically Unique Population: Cancers 14(9):0, 2022: doi:10.3390/cancers14092251

Miran Rada, Audrey Kapelanski-Lamoureux, Migmar Tsamchoe, Stéphanie K. Petrillo, Anthoula Lazaris, Peter P. Metrakos. Angiopoietin-1 Upregulates Cancer Cell Motility in Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases through Actin-Related Protein 2/3: Cancers 14(10):0, 2022: doi: 10.3390/cancers14102540

Hossein Naseri, Sonia R. Skamene, Marwan Tolba, Mame Daro Faye, Paul S. Ramia, Julia Khriguian, Haley Margaret Patrick, Aixa X. Andrade-Hernández, Marc David, John Kildea. Radiomics-based machine learning models to distinguish between metastatic and healthy bone using lesion-center-based geometric regions of interest: Scientific Reports 12(1):0, 2022: doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13379-8

Anastasiya Muntyanu, Vladimir M. Nechaev, Elena Pastukhova, James Logan, Elham Rahme, Elena Netchiporouk, Andrei Zubarev, Ivan V. Litvinov. Risk factors and communities disproportionately affected by cervical cancer in the Russian Federation: A national population-based study: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe 20(0):0, 2022: doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100454

Chen, Y.; Leibovitch, M.; Zeinieh, M.; Jabado, N.; Brodt, P. Targeting the IGF-Axis in Cultured Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Cells Inhibits Cell Cycle Progression and Survival. Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(2), 297; doi: 10.3390/ph16020297

Seta Derderian, Quentin Vesval, Michel D. Wissing, Lucie Hamel, Nathalie Côté, Marie Vanhuyse, Cristiano Ferrario, Franck Bladou, Armen G. Aprikian, Simone Chevalier. Liquid biopsy-based targeted gene screening highlights tumor cell subtypes in patients with advanced prostate cancer: Clinical and Translational Science 15(11): 2597-2612, 2022: doi: 10.1111/cts.13372

Christine Maheu, Lucie Kocum, Maureen Parkinson, Lynne M. Robinson, Lori J. Bernstein, Margareth Santos Zanchetta, Mina D. Singh, Claudia Hernandez, Fatima Yashmin, Mary Jane Esplen. Evaluation of Usability and Satisfaction of Two Online Tools to Guide Return to Work for Cancer Survivors on the Cancer and Work Website: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation 32(3): 452-463, 2022: doi: 10.1007/s10926-021-10011-w