New Cancer Research Centres to Focus on Applying Findings Directly to Patients
Posted on: Monday, 29 October 2007, 18:00 CDT
By Elianna Lev, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER - A cross-country research initiative is being launched to bring funding to a type of research that is applied quickly and directly to patients.
The Terry Fox Research Institute will have locations across the country but its head office will be located in Vancouver. It will have four other sites across the country - Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.
In addition, the Terry Fox Foundation will invest a minimum of $50 million over five years in the institute and will align itself with major cancer centres across the country.
The institute will focus on translational research, which is applied directly to patients, within three to five years of discovery.
Dr. Victor Ling, scientific director with the institute, likens translational research to the Wright brothers' first test airplane.
"That is not yet an airline industry," he said. "So a lot of other steps need to be taken before you could create an airline industry."
A good amount of funding is spent on discovery research, since so much about the disease remains unknown. Ling said that type of research requires continual funding but the information that is known about cancer needs to be translated into practical use.
"(Without translational research) discovery will simply be just a discovery without any real effort put into the practical use of it," he said.
The B.C. government announced Monday it would fund $30 million in one-time funding into the institute's Vancouver-based headquarters and research staff.
B.C. Health Minister George Abbott said the research done at the institute will be applicable not only to scientists but to cancer patients.
"The results will flow in two directions, both from the lab to the patient and back to the lab" he said. "What we're doing today will help form better cancer treatments tomorrow, and five years from now and 10 years from now."
Abbott said the government will continue to fund other cancer-related projects and organizations.
Source: Canadian Press
Related Articles
- Texas Cancer Organizations Urge State Legislature to Fully Fund the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
- Supermodel Izabel Goulart Partners With Diabetes Research Institute Foundation as International Ambassador
- Sarah Cannon Research Institute Presents New Findings in Breast Cancer Treatment
- The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute Initiates Global Phase 3 Clinical Trial for New Melanoma Drug
- National Cancer Research Institute, Japan Validate Predictive Biomarkers on a Clinical Scale Using Nonlinear Dynamics' SameSpots Technology
- Affymetrix and Children's Research Institute Form Five-Year Strategic Alliance
- CN Donates $250,000 to the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute's Discoveries Campaign to Fight Against Cancer
- The Scripps Research Institute Enters Major Five-Year $100 Million Collaboration With Pfizer
- Erasmus MC Strengthens Translational Medicine Cooperation With Windber Research Institute
- The University of Cambridge, Cancer Research Technology, Cancer Research UK and Perlegen Sciences Collaborate to Analyze Thousands of DNA Samples From Breast Cancer Patients
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds