Ottawa family donates $1M to help find cure for cancer

Regional facility hopes to attract top minds
By William Lin
The Ottawa Citizen
Monday, October 15, 2007

An Ottawa family has donated $1 million to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, a windfall it hopes will help attract three leading researchers and advance the testing of cancer-killing viruses.

The money will streamline clinical trials for a cutting-edge cancer therapy using oncolytic viruses, which attack cancer cells, but leave healthy ones alone, said John Bell, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute's Centre for Cancer Therapeutics.

It will also help attract three researchers -- from Montreal, Florida and Finland -- to Ottawa, Mr. Bell said.

The funding announcement is to be made this afternoon by the foundation.

"One of the things we're trying to do is provide them with access to funds so that the lack of money doesn't end up bottlenecking the work that they're doing," said Linda Eagen, president and CEO of the foundation, which acts as a conduit for cancer-related fundraising and donations.

The Ottawa family, at this point, wishes to remain anonymous, Ms. Eagen said.

"They're not flashy with their wealth," Mr. Bell said.

"They're very humble people. I think they like the idea that they can contribute to an innovative new therapy that can actually have a chance to make a big impact on society."

Ms. Eagen called the anonymous donors "visionary."

"It's the calibre of research that has been done here locally that was of interest to them and, in particular, John's potential in moving closer to a cure," she said.

The promising aspect of the cancer therapy is that the oncolytic viruses will attack tumours, but leave normal tissues alone, unlike many existing conventional treatments, Mr. Bell said.

"(With) many other kinds of conventional cancer therapy, the therapy attacks not only the tumour, but also the normal tissues. And that's why it gets to the point where we can't treat patients anymore, because it becomes too toxic," he said.

Evidence also suggests the viruses could stimulate a person's immune system, allowing it to battle the cancer as well, Mr. Bell added.

Until now, testing has almost all been done on animals, although a few trials have been made on patients. The donation will help push testing further to clinical trials, hopefully starting by early 2008, Mr. Bell said.

One researcher they plan to bring to Ottawa is Markus Vaha-Koskela of Finland, who has looked at an understudied virus that targets brain cancer, Mr. Bell said.

"I was quite excited to bring him over, but I didn't have a way to do it, and now this will pave the way for that to happen," Mr. Bell said.

The other two researchers are Marianne Stanford from Florida, who has studied the myxoma virus, part of the family of viruses that they plan to test next year, and Jean-Simon Diallo from Montreal, according to Mr. Bell.

"It's quite an honour to receive something like this," Mr. Bell said. "What I think is really special about this donation is that (the donors) said, 'We want something really innovative done with this money,' not just carrying on with the 'same old, same old.' So we feel a real responsibility that we use it wisely."

Although there are several teams in the United States and Europe working on similar research, this donation will help OHRI's Centre for Cancer Therapeutics "keep at the front of the herd," Mr. Bell said.

"He is just an amazing scientist and at the verge (of making) a big difference in opportunities to cure cancer," Ms. Eagen said of the senior scientist, adding that the foundation has supported Mr. Bell's work for years.

In the last three years, the foundation increasingly saw more donors give six- and seven-figure gifts, Ms. Eagen said.

Although Mr. Bell hesitates to tout the oncolytic viral therapy as a cure for cancer, that's their ultimate goal.

"We have our dreams and hopes, but at this time, until we do more testing on people, we can't say for sure what it's going to be."

But he added: "I feel there's enough information to say that this is going to have an important change in the way cancer is treated. I could potentially improve the outcomes for patients."
They hope that one day, with enough research, cancer patients can be told they have a 100-per-cent survival rate.

"Then we're out of business. And you know what? I would just be delighted to look for another job," Ms. Eagen said.

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