Grant: Project Grant

In this project, a team of researchers from across Canada with unique and complementary expertise and resources will work together to develop and study new targeted radiation treatments for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a form of the disease which has a poor outcome. The radiation treatments will consist of radioisotopes that emit short-range electrons (Auger electrons) that are very damaging and lethal to cancer cells, linked to a pharmaceutical quality antibody, panitumumab that is already used to treat certain types of cancer, in order to target these radioisotopes to tumours. The radioisotopes will be made at TRIUMF, which is Canada's world-leading facility for producing radioisotopes. Bifunctional chelators, which are molecules that strongly bind the radioisotopes and which can be attached to panitumumab will be synthesized at Simon Fraser University. The radiation treatments will be constructed from the radioisotopes, bifunctional chelators and panitumumab at the University of Toronto. They will then also be studied at the University of Toronto for treatment of metastases from TNBC in a mouse tumour model that has been established. The effectiveness and normal tissue toxicity of these new radiation treatments for TNBC will be assessed in the mouse model. The proposed project may lead to new methods to produce these radioisotopes, to stably attach them to antibodies, as well as new treatments for metastatic TNBC. Ultimately, if successful, the proposed research could be advanced to a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with metastatic TNBC, which is a poor prognosis form of breast cancer for which there are currently very few effective treatments.