Grant: Operating Grant: Geroscience Demonstration Grants

Is 70 the new 60? One of the greatest risks to developing cancer is age. As the average age of Canadians continues to increase, we anticipate a doubling of newly diagnosed cancer patients. Oncologist decision-making currently includes age as a factor when determining a cancer patient's treatment plan as a reflection of risk of being frail. This assumption that age and frailty are directly linked potentially leads to over- or under-treatment which impacts patient quality and length of life. A more precise treatment approach would use biomarkers with other measures of health to inform patients and clinicians to tailor their options accordingly. Building on work we have previously published measuring inflammation, cellular energetics, and telomere length, we will use banked and fresh blood from a cohort of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a type of blood cancer, to investigate biomarkers associated with aging and measures of frailty. This will help to understand the complex interconnected relationship between aging, cancer, frailty, and patient outcomes. Recognized as a national centre for excellence in CLL research, Manitoba is uniquely suited to conduct this work through our centralized CLL Clinic to recruit patients for research, the Manitoba Tumour Bank to collect biospecimens from CLL patients, the CLL CAISIS database to collect clinical data and research results on patients, and the CLLuster, a funded multi-disciplinary research team dedicated improving CLL patient outcomes. We will leverage these resources to improve the understanding of the biological mechanisms of aging, the development and evaluation of frailty, and improving clinical practice.