Overview
At London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI), our goal is to deepen our understanding of cancer to advance earlier diagnosis, new treatments and improved patient outcomes. Our laboratory-based scientists lead cutting-edge studies that explore cancer behaviour and uncover new therapeutic possibilities. They work collaboratively with LHSCRI clinical scientists located at the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), who rigorously evaluate innovative treatments through clinical trials – many of which have set new standards of care globally.
Research Groups
Our research encompasses a broad spectrum of cancer studies, focusing on innovative strategies to enhance patient care and outcomes. Our research groups include:
The Cancer Research Laboratory Program (CRLP) at London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) is a translational science program focused on moving clinically relevant laboratory discoveries to clinical care. Our team works to investigate cancer biology at every level and identify cancer behaviour to enhance cancer treatment.
Goal: To broaden our knowledge of cancer leading to the development of new treatment and detection strategies
Our objectives:
- Discover new ways of destroying cancer cells by understanding cancer cell behavior;
- Develop new technologies to identify cancer cell weaknesses;
- Move laboratory discoveries to the clinic to better detect and treat cancer; and
- Train and motivate a new generation of cancer researchers and clinicians.
Our research unit provides a bridge between discoveries in labs to application in clinics where patient care is delivered. We put valuable theories and potential therapies into practice – a progression necessary in delivering new life-saving treatment options.
The centre is also known as the Pamela Greenaway-Kohlmeier Translational Breast Cancer Unit, which was named to honour Pamela after she passed away from breast cancer at 38 years of age.
Gastrointestinal cancers include cancers of the colon, stomach, esophagus and pancreas. Colon cancer remains the second- and third-leading causes of cancer death in men and women, respectively. Unfortunately, cancers such as pancreatic cancer remain highly lethal, affecting thousands of Canadians each year and contributing to the fourth-leading cause of cancer death.
Scientists, clinicians and academic partners collaborate to advance understanding of gastrointestinal cancers and explore new treatment options. The gastrointestinal research team includes both scientists and clinicians at LHSC’s Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, the Departments of Surgery, Medicine, Oncology and Paediatrics, and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. This collaboration allows for a collective approach driving discoveries and the development of innovative treatment options.
The Baker Centre for Pancreatic Cancer at LHSC was created to help patients receive elevated, fast-tracked and more specialized care with access to new treatment options. It leverages an integrated research model by bringing together laboratory-based science and clinical research to improve patient care. Recently, the Baker Centre for Pancreatic Cancer established the Pan-cancer Organoid Facility in the Cancer Research Laboratory Program (CRLP) to provide multiple research groups a centralized, state-of-the-art laboratory to generate patient-derived tumour organoid cultures. This facility is a working platform to analyze live tumour tissue to identify therapeutic targets across a variety of cancer sites.
Our group is striving to identify the cellular origins of these cancers and developing novel strategies for treatment and early detection. Work done in collaboration with our clinical colleagues is leading to translational application of our findings as we aim to vastly improve patient outcomes.
Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Treatment outcomes remain poor for patients with advanced disease and both treatment and the disease can have a profound negative impact on patient quality of life.
The Translational Head and Neck Cancer Research Program, has established a comprehensive bench-to-bedside drug development program to identify novel, highly effective agents for head and neck and aggressive thyroid cancer. This approach incorporates drug testing in a large panel of genetically-characterized cell lines and preclinical models to identify the most promising agents to take forward to clinical trials, as well as identify genetic markers of drug response to customize cancer care.
Laboratory-based and clinical researchers collaborate with imaging scientists and clinicians to explore novel anatomic, functional and molecular imaging to detect, treat and monitor cancers more effectively.
This work focuses on several key areas:
- Exploring molecular imaging techniques in preclinical models to develop new probes for imaging epigenetic changes;
- Utilizing advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to detect and characterize local and metastatic cancers, including pancreatic, lung, prostate, and head and neck cancers;
- Employing image-guided therapies for treating oligometastatic disease, as well as primary lung and liver cancers; and
- Using innovative imaging and analysis methods to monitor treatment responses.
We collaborate with Imaging teams at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Robarts Research Institute at Western University, and have strong linkages to the Departments of Medical Biophysics and Medical Imaging at Western.
Ovarian cancer continues to be the most lethal of gynaecologic malignancies. Our group translates discoveries in labs and applies them in clinics where ovarian cancer treatment is tested and further researched. This research has the potential to vastly improve the clinical outcome of patients with ovarian cancer.
The Translational Ovarian Cancer Research Unit is a result of the vision of both scientists and clinicians at LHSC’s Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre. The Translational Ovarian Cancer Research Group includes Dr. Trevor Shepherd, Dr. Gabriel DiMattia, Dr. Monique Bertrand, Dr. Akira Sugimoto and Dr. Michel Préfontaine. Research efforts will continue to broaden as the group expands to include other research scientists and clinicians.
The Translational Ovarian Cancer Research Program presently includes two major research streams:
- To discover metabolic and epigenetic weaknesses in ovarian cancer cells from different histotypes as potential therapeutic targets; and
- The identification and development of novel drugs to disrupt ovarian cancer cell metabolism and regulation of the epigenome.
The Translational Ovarian Cancer Research Group is focused on gaining a better understanding of ovarian cancer pathogenesis. By simultaneously integrating patient sample analyses and the rapid development of accurate disease models we hope to more quickly improve results at the clinical level.
In North America, prostate cancer has become the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men. Education and research are the keys to success in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate disease. Our purpose is to foster an environment where fundamental cancer researchers, surgeons, medical oncologists, urologists, medical physicists and clinical researchers work together. As a team, we can quickly transfer research discoveries from the “bench to the bedside” and make real advances in prostate cancer control.
The research program concentrates on two of the most deadly aspects of prostate cancer. The first is early-stage prostate cancer detection using nanotechnology in a non-invasive way. The second is the study of metastasis – the spread of cancer from the prostate to distant sites like the bones.
Our Translational Medicine and Medical Physics Research group applies physical principles and new technologies to clinical problems arising from treatment of cancer using radiation therapy. While the research often has immediate applications, we emphasize understanding of the fundamentals of radiation therapy and imaging physics to solve these clinical problems. We have strong links with Robarts Research Institute at Western University to collaborate in imaging research as it applies to radiation therapy. We have also established strong commercial links to turn our ideas into clinically usable products. Learn more.