Congratulations to our colleagues, Dr. Jacob Nearing, Dr. Vanessa DeClercq and Dr. Morgan Langille on their new microbiome publication!! “Investigating the Oral Microbiome in Retrospective and Prospective Cases of Prostate, Colon and Breast Cancer” utilizes saliva samples from Atlantic PATH and Alberta’s Tomorrow Project to consider potential biomarkers for cancer. Link to article in Nature Biofilms and Microbiomes: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41522-023-00391-7
Atlantic PATH Scientific Director, Dr. Robin Urquhart was the key note speaker at the 8th annual Charbonneau Research Symposium. The Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute is based at the University of Calgary and brings together scientists and physicians to integrate research and care across disciplines – from understanding and preventing cancer, to transforming its detection and treatment, to improving life with and after cancer. The Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute Annual Research Symposium is a one day series of short lectures from principal investigators from across our different research streams. Dr. Urquhart presented on “Accelerating Change in the Cancer System: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Research and Practice.”
Congratulations to Dr. Robin Urquhart and team on their successful funding from the Canadian Cancer Society to examine the effects of environmental exposures in non-smokers to detect lung cancer earlier. Lung cancer is most often linked to smoking, but can also occur in people who have never smoked because of exposure to arsenic, radon gas and air pollution. Yet, in several provinces in Canada where screening programs are being implemented for people at high-risk of lung cancer, only a person’s age and smoking history are currently considered in the risk assessment. With funding from the Canadian Cancer Society, this research team is working to make sure environmental factors are considered when assessing a person’s risk of lung cancer. The results of this research will provide actionable information around environmental exposures to improve personalized lung cancer risk assessment, inform screening criteria and programs and improve lung cancer early detection efforts across Canada. For additional details: https://cancer.ca/en/research/for-researchers/funding-results/breakthrough-team-grants/changing-the-narrative-of-lung-cancer-to-improve-prevention-for-non-smokers Dr. Urquhart was interviewed by CBC Radio to discuss this work project: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2189846083866 CBC Interview in Print: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/dalhousie-environmental-risk-lung-cancer-screening-nova-scotia-1.6805468
Congratulations to Majouni et al. on the new publication, “Applying Machine Learning to Arsenic Species and Metallomics Profiles of Toenails to Evaluate Associations of Environmental Arsenic with Incident Cancer Cases.” This research involves analyzing toenail samples from Atlantic PATH, as well as machine learning algorithms to arsenic species and metallomics profiles to investigate the complex association between environmental arsenic as a carcinogen and prostate cancer. https://ebooks.iospress.nl/doi/10.3233/SHTI220385
Funded by the Canadian Cancer Society Data Transformation Grant, this work will connect cancer registry and administrative health data with CanPath data creating a unified resource for cancer research in Canada. https://bit.ly/3OojlZ2 Urquhart R, Awadalla P, Bhatti P, Dummer T, Gravel S, Vena J, Alvi R, Broet P, Kendell C, Kirsh V, Lettre G, Skead K, Sweeney E, Turner D. Harnessing the power of linked data to understand cancer and its outcomes: a national linkage project. March 2022-March 2023, CCS Data Transformation Grant. Canada has a wealth of health care and health research data, but numerous barriers prevent efficient sharing of these datasets between provinces. This, combined with further difficulties with linking datasets together, causes major limitations in using the data productively to improve the health of Canadians. With support from the Canadian Cancer Society, Dr Urquhart will lead a team to connect several cancer registry and administrative health data repositories, creating a unified resource for cancer research in Canada. One of the datasets, CanPath, contains data on 1 in 100 Canadians, including lifestyle, family histories, genetics and environment and this, combined with other datasets, will be analysed to understand the causes of cancer and what happens to people with cancer in the short- and long-term. The researchers will also be able to ask important questions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people who have been diagnosed with cancer during this time. Linking these huge datasets will provide a very important resource for cancer research in Canada.
Congratulations to Nathan Smith & colleagues!! Based on his MSc research, this is important foundational work examining toenails as biomarkers for arsenic speciation that Atlantic PATH and the HERC Lab continue to build on. https://bit.ly/332UU0r