Joint Canadian-US research venture snags grant

Date: Nov. 25, 1999
Time: 11:49 am

The Canadian team, which is also affiliated with the University of Ottawa, received the grant from the US National Cancer Institute and will use the money to further their research on mouse models of ovarian cancer. The team, led by Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden, will conduct the research with a group from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

"We understand so little about this disease that it is not surprising that we are largely unsuccessful in our ability to treat it," Vanderhyden said as she outlined her reasons for pursuing this type of research. "Our goal is to generate mouse models of ovarian cancer that resemble as closely as possible human cancer so that we can have a better understanding of how this disease starts and how we can stop it."

Almost 30 000 cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed annually in Canada and the US, and more than half of these patients will die of the disease. Vanderhyden's team was 1 of 19 that made successful applications to the National Cancer Institute. It was the only Canadian group to receive funding from the NCI. The money will be distributed over 5 years.

-- Steven Wharry, editor, eCMAJ Today

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