THUNDER BAY -- Cancer research is progressing with help from Canadian Cancer Society volunteers.
Dr. Katie Wright, senior manager of research communications presented "The Promise and Progress of Cancer Research," at the Canadian Cancer Society Recognition Luncheon Wednesday.
"I'm here today to help celebrate the volunteers here in Thunder Bay who have done an amazing job for raising funds for the Canadian Cancer Society and to share some exciting research stories that have come out of Ontario," Wright said.
Wright explained that a Thunder Bay research group led by Dr. Christopher Phenix is designing small molecule probes that interact with enzymatic biomarkers associated with aggressive cancers.
These are cancers that have spread to other parts of the body and are very hard to treat.
"The researchers are looking for markers they can use to help find those cancers and to see if they will be able to treat them and how they will respond to treatment," Wright said.
"They have developed the probes now the next steps will be to develop that into a diagnostic test."
Many cancers are treatable but once they spread to another part of the body it can be hard to remove.
"Metastic disease which Dr. Phenix's group is working on will give people hope once their cancer has spread. Hopefully down the road
they are actually be able to treat it instead of it being more of a death sentence," Wright said.
