Grant: China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative

Oral cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of cancer worldwide. Unfortunately, only half of those diagnosed with this disease will be alive 5 years after the diagnosis. Given that survival statistics for oral cancer have remained static for 20 years, it is clear that new diagnostic and treatment tools are needed. Like many cancer types, oral tumors develop by progression of precancerous tissues through increasingly aggressive stages. It is the accumulation of genomic aberrations during this process that drives progression to invasive disease. By characterizing alterations at both the DNA and protein levels in various stages of oral cancer, we will identify new markers that are able to predict whether an early oral lesion will become an invasive cancer. We will then use cell models to study the importance of each of the candidate genes in cancer development. The main product of this work will be new molecular tools that can be used to facilitate early diagnosis and management of those lesions at risk of becoming cancer. In addition, the genes we implicate in cancer progression will represent the best candidates for novel targeted therapies.