Cancer-fighting viruses: Canadian team to accelerate research with $7.4 million from Terry Fox Research Institute

Imagine a tiny army of viruses entering a tumour, making thousands of copies of themselves and busting up cancer cells as they spread. Now imagine the body’s immune system coming in to fight off the virus and eliminate the remaining cancer cells at the same time. This is the vision of Dr. John Bell at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine and The Ottawa Hospital, along with his colleagues in the Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium. The team was recently awarded $7.4 million from Terry Fox Research Institute to accelerate their work over the next five years.

“We've developed viruses that selectively grow in cancer cells, but don't infect normal tissues,” says Dr. Bell. “Using this kind of approach we're hoping to avoid any damage to the patient, but at the same time have a very effective treatment.”

Oncolytic (or cancer-fighting) viruses have shown promise in laboratory models of cancer as well as in clinical trials in patients, but they are not yet approved for general use in Canada. With this new funding, Dr. Bell and his colleagues will be able to advance our understanding of these viruses, develop strategies to make them even better and bring them closer to reality for patients. Their research will involve genetically modifying various oncolytic viruses and combining them with different drugs and cell-based therapies. 

The consortium includes the following scientists: 

• John Bell, Jean-Simon Diallo, Rebecca Auer, Harold Atkins an Guy Ungerechts from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine and The Ottawa Hospital
• Brian Lichty, Yonghong Wan, Karen Mossman and Jonathan Bramson from McMaster University
• David Stojdl and Tommy Alain from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the University of Ottawa
• Nahum Sonenberg from McGill University
• Brad Nelson from the BC Cancer Agency
• Andrea McCart from the University Health Network
• Byram Bridle from the University of Guelph

This funding is part of the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants. Dr. Bell is based at The Ottawa Hospital’s Centre for Innovative Cancer Research, which opened in 2011 thanks to funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and generous support from the community for cancer research The Ottawa Hospital. 

Please see our frequently asked questions about oncolytic virus therapy for more information.

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