December 2, 2021—Toronto—Today the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) announced funding for 16 studies as part of the Institute’s new Clinical Translation Pathway (CTP). These awards support pre-clinical research and new clinical trials that have a focus on early stage and recurrent cancers.

“Cancer is the leading cause of death in Ontario. Currently, nearly two in five people in the province will receive a diagnosis of cancer in their lifetime. One in four of those people are expected to die from the disease,” says Dr. Steven Gallinger, Head of Clinical Translation at OICR. “The Clinical Translation Pathway is a major new source of funding for Ontario’s cancer researchers that will support practice-changing research in biomarkers, diagnostics and therapeutics that will advance early detection and intervention research with a clear path to clinical impact.”

One of the newly funded studies is from Drs. Glenn Bauman (Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario) and Andrew Loblaw (Sunnybrook Health Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario). They are co-leading a clinical study to validate “next generation” imaging techniques to find and track prostate cancer from diagnosis through treatment. By tracking imaging changes before and after treatments they will monitor whether patients are responding to radiation therapy.
“Optimizing the integration of advanced prostate imaging into the non-invasive treatment and monitoring of men with prostate cancer is a clear need,” says Dr. Bauman. “This funding supports a clinical study that provides access to state-of-the-art imaging for men with locally advanced prostate cancer and allows us to better understand how this image can help us design high dose precision radiotherapy treatments and evaluate the success of this treatment.”

Integral to the CTP program is the engagement of patients in the research process. OICR’s Patient and Family Advisory Committee reviewed and provided feedback to the applicants’ patient engagement plans, ensuring that the studies being supported had the potential for real-world impact.

“We are excited by the compelling and innovative cancer research proposals being funded by OICR,” says Antonia Palmer, Chair of OICR’s Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC). “The OICR PFAC felt inspired by all of the research proposals. It is rewarding to be able to bring the patient and caregiver perspective to the scientific review process and we are hopeful that these projects will be impactful for patients with cancer.”

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