CFCRI in the News

MEDIA ROOM CFCRI in the News

Read through recent coverage of The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute, and our supporting institutions, Princess Margaret Hospital and Ontario Cancer Institute. If you would like more information on any of these stories, please contact our communications department.

Can the battle against breast cancer be won?
(U of T Research & Innovation – August 2010)
Dr. Tak Mak, Director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research, provides his opinion on the work of a Cleveland Clinic that has developed a vaccine shown to inhibit breast cancer in mice.
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Cancer fighter John Dick discovers cancer cells are not created equal
(Edge - Research and Innovation at the University of Toronto, Summer 2010)
John Dick, a University Health Network researcher, professor of molecular genetics at U of T and Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology, is changing the way we think about cancer and offering new hope for curing some forms of the disease.
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The Stem Cell Revolution
(Edge - Research and Innovation at the University of Toronto, Summer 2010)
What have come to be called ‘stem cells’ represent a possibility that boggles our minds — that there really could be a serious, realistic way of actually curing the ills that devastate so many people around the globe.
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PMH joins global partnership to develop new cancer drugs faster
(Ministry of Research and Innovation News – April 15, 2010)
Princess Margaret Hospital is joining Merck’s global oncology research network, a group of leading international cancer research institutions working together to develop new cancer drugs faster for patients.
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Tiny particles expand frontier of medicine
(March 1, 2010)
Welcome to the wondrous world of nanoparticles, which are on the verge of changing the way we treat and diagnose a host of ailments around the world.
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PMH Researchers and Doctors Stand Out on the International Stage
(January 4, 2010)
Several Princess Margaret Hospital Researchers and Doctors are recognized with prestigious awards and honours
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Dr. John Dick honoured with a Man of Distinction Award presented by the Israel Cancer Research Fund
(Financial Post - Saturday, December 26, 2009)
Leaders from Toronto's business and scientific communities came together to attend the recent Men of Distinction Awards Luncheon, presented by the Israel Cancer Research Fund.
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Top 40 Under 40: Aaron Schimmer
(Globe and Mail – May 8, 2007)
“‘Understanding cancers at a molecular level is changing the way these diseases are treated. And at the forefront is acute leukemia,’ says Aaron Schimmer, staff physician at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital since 2003 and leader of an internationally recognized research program at the Ontario Cancer Institute.”
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MDs Create Human Cancer in Mouse
(Globe and Mail – April 27, 2007)
“Canadian scientists have grown a human cancer from scratch in a lab mouse—a feat that, for the first time, allows researchers to see how the disease unfolds from start to finish. The animal model, which researchers have chased for years, could represent a crucial new tool to learn more about cancer in its earliest stages and potential ways to stop it.”
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Focus On: PMH Radiation Therapy Wing
(Toronto Star – April 13, 2007)
Special feature section on PMH’s revamped radiation therapy wing and the team behind the transformation.

A Royal Recovery
“In a rare case of successful self-diagnosis and treatment, Princess Margaret Hospital's radiation therapy wing has cured itself.”
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Finely Honed Focus
“Once his mask is snapped to the table, Ross Harrison can barely blink. That's crucial to the course of radiation he'll finish at Princess Margaret Hospital in a few weeks… Harrison is one of approximately 7,500 patients who receive radiation here each year, one of the largest and most respected cancer treatment facilities in the world.”
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Anxieties are Eased with a Comfort Zone
“Patients at Princess Margaret Hospital's radiation clinic arrive and swipe their appointment cards at the check-in desk. A computer tells them precisely when they'll be seen, simultaneously alerting staff of their arrival.”
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For Biophysicist, Inventions Began Early
“Farm life provided a perfect childhood workshop for David Jaffray… The tractors he tinkered with started him on a path that's led to the creation of a radiation operational system that's being used in 80 per cent of North America's cancer treatment centres.”
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‘With cancer, it's more like theatre, you have to have a good supporting cast’
“Dr. Mary Gospodarowicz doesn't want this story to be about her. ‘When we talk about the program, we very much talk about it as an ensemble of people,’ she says earnestly, instantly nixing the notion of a personal profile.”
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Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Survivors at Higher Risk for Second Cancer
(Globe and Mail – March 19, 2007)
“Some patients who undergo successful treatment to beat Hodgkin's lymphoma may not be able to close the book on cancer for good, say researchers, who found that survivors of the disease have a higher than normal risk for a second type of malignancy later in life.”
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Breast Density Found to be Significant Cancer Risk
(Globe and Mail – January 18, 2007)
“Women with dense breasts are five times more likely to develop cancer than those whose breasts have a lot of fatty tissue, according to a groundbreaking Canadian study. The research shows that breast density—which has long been known to affect the quality of X-ray mammograms—is actually a risk factor in itself.”
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Stem Cells Core of More Cancers
(Globe and Mail – November 20, 2006)
“Dr. [John] Dick, who discovered the first cancer stem cell in 1994 in leukemia, said the new work shows that while current therapies treat colon cancer as a ‘homogeneous entity, not every colon cancer cell has the ability to keep that tumour going; only one in 60,000.’”
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Targeting Stem Cells Suggests Way to Cure Leukemia
(CBC – September 24, 2006)
“Canadian scientists are investigating a novel way of treating a deadly form of leukemia: By targeting the stem cells that allow the cancer to return after chemotherapy has resulted in apparent remission.”
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Cancer Institute Gains Top Scientist
(Globe and Mail – June 14, 2006)
“Ben Neel learned his first science lesson at 8, and when he looks back now, through all he's accomplished in cancer research, it might have been the most important one.”
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Breast Cancer Experts Gather to Brainstorm on the Next Research Breakthrough
(CBC – June 5, 2006)
“For breast cancer expert Dr. Tak Mak tracking down and eliminating the No. 1 cancer killer of women is similar to fighting terrorism. The only differences, he said, are detectives and spies are doctors and researchers.”
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Stems Cells That Kill
Time Magazine – April 17, 2006
“‘Everybody wants to talk about cancer stem cells now,’ says John Dick, a University of Toronto professor and one of the leading researchers in the field. ‘From funding agencies to institutions to scientists, people are recognizing that this is probably the game to be in.’”
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Milestones in Cancer: Milestone 6 – Cancer Stem Cells
(Nature – April 1, 2006)
“Are all cancer cells equal or are some uniquely responsible for initiating and sustaining the growth of a tumour? Although the idea of a cancer stem cell (CSC) or tumour-initiating cell was well entrenched by the 1960s, it was not until the mid-1990s that these cells were identified and characterized.”
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Code Blue: Five Medical Case Studies
(Toronto Life – February 2006)
“My doctors in Thunder Bay said, ‘You’re going to go to see Dr. Jonathan Irish. He’s the best of the best,’” recalls [Keith] Hautala.”
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Top Forty Under 40
(Report on Business Magazine – April 30, 2004)
“[Dr. David] Jaffray is a senior scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute and a principal in the image-guided therapy lab at Princess Margaret. His team pioneered an imaging system that augments a medical-linear accelerator—a five-tonne, room-sized device that is used for radiation treatment of cancer.”
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