Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Genes provide the instructions for a cell to operate, and are stored in a set of chemical strings called DNA. The genes that are functioning in a given cell are said to be expressed. Cancers originate from errors in our genome that arise in single cells. Errors can be as simple as a spelling mistake, or very complicated, such as rearrangements of large pieces of DNA. Such events can either affect the dosage of a gene or alter its function. Some of these errors (or "mutations") are seen in the same genes of unrelated cancer patients, while others are unique to certain patients or cancer types. Cancer-causing mutations are special in that they can instruct the cell to divide rapidly, leading to tumour formation. Some mutations can also facilitate resistance to cancer treatments. A few hundred genes are known to be mutated in certain cancers, though there are almost certainly many others. Such genes are important because they are prime candidates for designing drugs to treat cancers. This project aims to find genes that are mutated in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. This disease accounts for approximately 40% of cases of adult lymphoma and is very aggressive. We will use new technologies that are able to rapidly read the letters (bases) that make up every expressed gene. Reading genes instead of whole chromosomes is very cost effective because it ignores 98% of the genome. This allows us to monitor the dosage of individual genes and survey them for mutations. By reading the genes of cancer cells from many different patients with this disease, we will be able to identify genes that are mutated in many patients, leading us to new cancer genes (i.e., new targets for drug development). The mutations and gene expression signatures of cancers may enable us to differentiate cancers that appear clinically identical. Such information can assist in determining which patients will respond to typical treatment regimens and which patients may require more aggressive treatments.