Assessment of Risk for Colorectal Cancer Tumours in Canada (ARCTIC)
Summary
In Canada, over 16,000 new cases of colon cancer occur on average each year; 6,000 result in deaths. Effective early intervention could save many of these lives. Although researchers have not yet identified the genes responsible, they do know that heredity plays a role - as many as 20% of cases occur in families. By uncovering key genetic factors that predict cancer susceptibility, researchers will be able to create tests to identify individuals at risk - and save lives.
The ARCTIC project team endeavoured to develop a test to predict peoples' genetic susceptibility to colon cancer. Through the Ontario Familial Colorectal Tumor Registry, its researchers were able to access a large repository of colon tumour tissue and blood from families with such tumours. In addition, the Ontario Cancer Research Network provided over $2 million in collection and informatics infrastructure to provide thousands of additional patient samples.
Dr. Zanke and the ARCTIC team also expect that commercialization of this technology in Canada will be reproduced in other disease research, creating a biotechnology niche for Canada.
This project includes integrated GE3LS research on genetic information, privacy and biobanks. For more information, click here.
Notable Publications
Zanke B W et al. 2007. A Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility Locus on Chromosome 8q24 Identified by a Genome-Wide Association Scan. Nature Genetics. 39(8):989-94.
