Grant: Operating Grant

Patients with advanced breast and prostate cancer frequently suffer from debilitating bone pain and fractures resulting from the spread of cancer to the bone (metastasis). In the bone, cancer cells commandeer normal bone cells and begin to degrade the fine architecture of bone, making it weaker and prone to fracture. Understanding the communication systems between bone cells and tumour cells is vital for the design of drugs that specifically target the devastating effects of cancer. The goal of this proposal is to study the role of one of the possible mediators of pain, namely glutamate. This molecule is an important transmitter of pain and hence, it may provide a link or an association between cancer cells and bone pain. Dr. Singh's team thinks that not only is glutamate responsible for much of this pain, it may even be important in the process of formation of the bone metastases. If this holds out true, then we will have a very useful target to control bone metastases and the pain it causes. There is presently a large array of well-studied pharmaceuticals that target this biological process, mostly used in the treatment of neurological diseases. We therefore have a rich source of potential compounds to screen and study for the purpose of bone metastasis treatment, foregoing the costly and time-consuming process of drug development.