Immunology

Hi everyone,

I’m very pleased to be returning to the BC Cancer Foundation blog for the month of October!

This time around, I wanted to introduce some of my colleagues who will be leading the upcoming immunotherapy clinical trials at the BC Cancer Agency, so you can see how this world-class team of scientists and technicians are coming together to make immunotherapy clinical...

Looking into the future for me is always about looking backwards.

When I first became interested in using drug delivery systems for cancer treatment over 30 years ago, one of the hottest research topics concerned “antibody-conjugated toxic drugs” (antibodies are proteins that can be designed to recognize cancer cells).

This research idea faltered and stumbled because our immune...

Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the new chemotherapies that are being developed to treat pancreatic cancer more effectively.

Another major area of new drug research in pancreatic cancer is immunotherapy: finding ways to activate the body’s immune system to contain or attack the cancer cells.

There are a number of different methods that are being investigated to activate...

I’ve been lucky in my career to be part of research that has resulted in major advances in the treatment of prostate cancer.

When I first started as an oncologist, there was only one treatment for advanced, hormone therapy resistant prostate cancer – it was a chemotherapy called mitoxantrone, which although well tolerated, only produced a modest improvement in symptoms with no survival...

Thank you to Dr. Peter Watson for a month of fascinating insights from the BC Cancer Agency Vancouver Island Centre. From biobanking to breast cancer research and immunotherapy, Dr. Watson highlighted the many ways donors are making a difference on the island and beyond.

We’re returning to the mainland for the month of June, with guest blogger Dr. Kim Chi. Dr. Chi is a medical...

As I described earlier this week, my colleagues and I had recently discovered a link between resistance to hormone therapy in breast cancer patients and the immune system, and we turned to our colleagues at the Deeley Research Centre to help us advance this important work.  

We all have an immune system in our bodies that is designed to detect and eliminate foreign agents (like bacteria...

This week I would like to talk about my role as a researcher.

My research program is focused on trying to understand two of the most critical steps in the evolution of breast cancer:

First, the transition from a disease where cancer cells are confined to the breast ducts (known as “in-situ” cancer) into a disease where the cancer cells have acquired the...

Hi - this week I was hoping to talk a little about how cancer treatment may look five years from now. Honestly speaking, that is something that is really difficult to predict. One of the remarkable things about science and research is that you really do not know where it is going to take you. We often try a treatment for one type of cancer and then it ends up working for a completely different...

Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed sharing some of my research endeavors with you. My colleagues and I hope that our work today will translate into meaningful benefits for our patients tomorrow. It is exciting to collaborate with so many motivated and gifted researchers who are all working towards creating better outcomes for cancer patients.

From cancer prevention, to the study of...

Last week I promised to tell you about the members of the research teams I work with.

Many of you will know how lucky we are to have some of the best minds in cancer research working right here in B.C. The important BC Cancer Agency OvCaRe team is based in Vancouver, but with members across the entire province. Initially founded by Drs. Dianne Miller, David Huntsman and Blake Gilks,...