The BC Cancer Foundation is looking to raise $6.8 million to expand its provincial immunotherapy research program, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at revolutionizing cancer care and increasing access to life-saving treatments.
“Donor support has been critical in advancing immunotherapy research and bringing hope to patients who do not respond to existing treatments,” said Dr. Brad Nelson, director of the Deeley Research Centre. “This campaign will help ensure more patients, including children and those with challenging cancers, have access to these life-changing therapies.”
The campaign builds on the origins of the Victoria research centre, established in 2003 solely by donors. A world-renowned hub for immunotherapy advancements, the team at Deeley Research Centre collaborates with BC Cancer’s clinical immunotherapy researchers to bring cutting-edge treatments from lab bench to patient, the foundation said in a news release.
Immunotherapy harnesses the power of the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells.
The research has made significant strides in recent years, with the BC Cancer Foundation’s program specializing in CAR-T cell therapy – treating patients with genetically engineered immune cells.
Co-led by The Ottawa Hospital, the first CAR-T clinical trial (CLIC-01) for leukemia and lymphoma showed 43 per cent of participants – who had exhausted all other treatment options – achieving complete regression. Now, two or more years out from treatment, many are cancer-free without signs of relapse.
Noel Schacter was facing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that was no longer responding to chemotherapy when he joined the first clinical trial.
Four years later he remains cancer free.
“Every day I have to pinch myself and say ‘You’re still here and you really shouldn’t be. This cancer would’ve killed you.’ And there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
CAR-T therapy recently became the standard of care in B.C. for certain cancers, highlighting the immense potential of this treatment to transform cancer care.
The new $6.8 million campaign will focus on expanding blood cancer research and the solid tumour pre-clinical program.
Blood cancer research is focused on completing the successful CLIC-01 trial – testing CD19 CAR-T therapy for patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. The immunotherapy research team also plans to seek market authorization from Health Canada to expand access to the therapy across the country.
The team is also launching a second clinical trial targeting the CD22 protein in lymphoma and leukemia patients, including pediatric patients. Building on the knowledge that patients from the first clinical trial who did not respond to treatment were missing the CD19 protein, this trial seeks to enable more patients to benefit from CAR-T therapy.
Patients from across B.C. will be able to access this groundbreaking trial.
Led by BC Cancer, the trial will include hospitals in Ontario and Alberta, marking an important step toward making these innovative therapies more widely available.
The solid tumour pre-clinical program tackles one of the toughest challenges in cancer care: developing CAR-T therapies for solid tumors, such as ovarian and pancreatic cancers, which are particularly difficult to treat.
Researchers are working on a new approach targeting a protein called mesothelin and are exploring ways to further enhance CAR-T therapy using innovative cell engineering approaches, the foundation said.
The ultimate goal is to launch CLIC-03, a clinical trial for solid tumours by 2027, creating new treatment options for patients with few alternatives.
Visit bccancerfoundation.com/immunotherapy to learn more or donate.
