Translational cancer research connects new knowledge to the clinical needs of patients and is key to developing new ways to treat, understand and prevent cancer. The EU-funded TRANSCAN-3 project brings together 31 funding agencies from 20 countries with the common goal of supporting high-impact translational cancer research. Results of the Next Generation Cancer Immunotherapy: Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment (JTC 2021) funding call are out. Twenty joint ventures were selected for financing with a total amount of 25.9 million euros. Only three of them involved Canadian scientists, and two of them were Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute researchers, Professors Daniela Quail and Morag Park. Women scientists are leading ground-breaking research around the world. But despite their remarkable discoveries, women still represent just 33.3 percent of researchers worldwide, and their work rarely gets the recognition it deserves. Representation is important and if we have examples of successful female scientists, we can inspire and show trainees and academics that this male-dominated industry can and must change. It is worth noting that two independent applications from female researchers from McGill University were selected for this highly competitive international competition.
Professor Daniela Quail, McGill University
LipidMac and addressing cancer health disparities
The immune system is supposed to be helpful, it’s supposed to get rid of cancer cells, fight infections and keep you healthy, but sometimes our immune cells can change in unfavorable ways. For this project the scientists will look at specific immune cells called macrophages and how they can ingest lipids. Lipid-laden macrophages are harmful to the host because they promote tumor progression by preventing the immune system from killing cancer cells. Importantly, we can potentially modify these lipid-laden cells by changing our diet and the amount or type of fat we eat. For example, the researchers found that a high-fat diet led to an accumulation of lipid-laden macrophages, whereas a low-fat diet did not. This raises the possibility that lipid-laden macrophages are more prevalent in the context of obesity, which is estimated to account for about 20 percent of all cancer deaths. Having a high body mass index is influenced by socioeconomic status, age, gender identity, and ethnicity, among other intersectional factors, and contributes to cancer health disparities. “If we don’t address these problems and try to understand how we make evidence-based health recommendations, then we will continue to underserve people who are already subject to large health disparities,” Quail explains. Surprisingly, research shows that obese cancer patients tend to respond better to immunotherapies, so the answer to these problems is complex. Certain nuances must be taken into account, and by making them visible, we realize the importance of gathering more information. Professor Quail and two other female junior scientists, who come from different parts of the world, are leading the basic research and a senior clinician will lead the clinical trial, “we tend to interact with like-minded people, but when we create multidisciplinary collaborations, new ideas emerge and we are able to approach questions differently,” says Quail. As early career PIs, they are all at the top of their careers in terms of the ideas and technologies they bring to the table, these strengths along with the importance of their research results were key factors in the success of this important grant. This project will allow them to explore the small and the bigger picture of an issue that could transcend the biological sciences, “as scientists, we tend to obsess over the tiny details because our brains are trained to think that way, but there is always a bigger picture and that’s where we can make a real impact,” concludes Quail. Learn more about the project Follow Professor Quail on Twitter
Professors Morag Park, McGill University, and John Staag, University of Montreal
MAGNOLIA – Mapping adaptation of breast cancer triple-negative microenvironments to immunotherapy Total grant for all partners MAY be $2.5 million
Immunotherapy has emerged as a game-changing treatment over the past decade, yet many patients still do not benefit from it. The aim of this project is to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with poor outcome triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) by determining which patients benefit from immunotherapy along with standard of care chemotherapy and why and to identify predictive biomarkers for improvement of patients’ choice. No center or country has access to both the appropriate clinical trial groups and the multidisciplinary research skills needed to meet the challenge of improving immunotherapy and overall responses for patients with triple-negative breast cancer. This transnational collaboration includes John Stagg, as project coordinator, from the CHUM Research Center (CR-CHUM) and Morag Park, Director, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute at McGill, together with collaborators from the Jules Bordet Institute and the University of Ghent, Belgium, Institut Curie, Paris and University Cancer Center Frankfurt-Marburg. This provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring research leaders in the field of breast cancer tumor and immune microenvironment together with experts in immunotherapy clinical trials for TNBC. Access to longitudinal samples from patients from two large randomized phase II clinical trials conducted at our collaborating centers in Europe provides a unique and optimal cohort to determine the response and adaptation of TNBC to immune checkpoint blockade. This cross-national application provides the first opportunity to conduct large-scale translational research studies using these pioneering clinical trials. The multidisciplinary approach of the program will provide in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the tumor immune microenvironment to fully explore the response of TNBC to immunotherapy. High-dimensional technologies using the latest technologies to profile the genomic and immune landscape in cancers will be used to define cellular phenotypes and spatial patterns associated with specific immunological states of the tumor microenvironment that influence immunotherapy outcomes. With our access to longitudinal samples and data collected from two large, randomized phase II clinical trials, we have the unique opportunity to follow the adaptation of TNBC to immunotherapy in both the early and metastatic setting. Using polyomic analyzes with high-dimensional techniques, they will provide unprecedented detail of the spatial architecture of TNBC that will elucidate key cell interactions that drive TNBC behavior and treatment resistance. Overall, this application will enable the creation of a multidisciplinary consortium of global experts pooling expertise to join forces that will provide a solid foundation for better tailoring TNBC immunotherapy and address the challenge of improving outcome for women with TNBC. Learn more about the project Follow Professor Park on Twitter
