Innovative cancer research at McMaster

The chance to make a breakthrough against cancer has some McMaster researchers excited. New funding will help them develop a new technology aimed at killing cancerous tumours. It’s a $2.3 million contribution from Federal and Provincial governments as well as from private donors.

Dr. Jonathan Bramson and his team are partnering with Triumvira Immunologics, a Canadian biotech company, that uses the body’s own cellular defence system to attack cancers. But Bramson says he won’t be calling this a cure for cancer.

“Cure is a very dangerous word in cancer. We rarely see a cure but we do see strong evidence that patients can go into deep remissions.”

A similar technology has already been approved by the FDA. At Mac, mice with human like cancerous tumours have already been treated with engineered white blood cells that target the cancer.

“We can administer human white blood cells into these mice and watch the white blood cells interact with the tumour and then watch as the tumour melts away.”

Mac’s prototype drug is expected to be tested on humans by late next year. If all goes well, it could be complete by 2021.