Cobalt-60 at 60:
Cancer research at the Canadian Light Source
Sixty years ago, researchers at the University of Saskatchewan pioneered the treatment of cancers using cobalt-60 radiation therapy. Today, researchers from across Canada and around the world are using the Canadian Light Source to increase our understanding of cancers and to develop new ways to treat them.
Shedding light on breast cancer's family roots
It is estimated that over 23,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in Canada in 2011. A minority, but growing, number of cases will be classified as early onset breast cancer - an aggressive form of the disease that strikes women in their late twenties or early thirties. University of Alberta researcher Mark Glover and his research group are using the Canadian Light Source to unravel how changes in a gene called BRCA1 lead to breast cancer. The research could lead to better genetic tests to diagnose the condition and even treat the disease and other forms of cancer.
Reference: N. Coquelle, R. Green and J.N.M. Glover. Impact of BRCA1 BRCT Domain Missense Substitutions on Phosphopeptide Recognition. Biochemistry, 2011, 50. DOI: 10.1021/bi2003795
Making medical isotopes with high energy X-rays
Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) is a medical isotope used in 20 million diagnostic procedures annually. But the supply of Tc-99m is dependent on a handful of aging nuclear reactors using highly-enriched uranium; between reactor shutdowns and concerns of nuclear proliferation, new ways of producing Tc-99m are needed. The CLS-led Canadian Medical Isotope Project is aiming to take reactors and uranium out of the equation, using high-energy
X-rays from a linear accelerator to produce Tc-99m from molybdenum metal. Three machines similar to the prototype being built at the CLS could meet all of Canada’s demand for the
medical isotope.
Infrared spectromicroscopic images of brain tissue obtained by the CLS Mid-Infrared beamline. The dark blue mottling representing lipids (fats) in the healthy tissue (left) is largely absent from the GBM tumour (right). Courtesy Dr. K. Ali, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
Shining Light on Brain Tumours
The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 2600 new cases of brain cancer will be diagnosed in 2010. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and malignant form of brain cancer, and attempts to successfully treat GBM tumours depends on identifying tumour cells — both when detecting cancer in biopsies and when ensuring that all of the cancer has been removed after surgery. With the help of the Canadian Light Source, a team led by Dr. Kaiser Ali, a pediatric oncologist in the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency’s Cancer Research Unit and collaborators from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Health Region, CLS and the National Research Council have been able to identify a chemical signature unique to GBM tumour cells. The pilot study made the front cover of the July 2010 issue of the International Journal of Molecular Medicine.
Reference: K. Ali, et al. 2010. Biomolecular diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme using Synchrotron mid-infrared spectomicroscopy. International Journal of Molecular Medicine 26 pp. 11-16. DOI: 10.3892/ijmm_00000428
Visible light micrograph of Barrett’s Esophagus tissue (A) and a synchrotron infrared image (B) from the CLS. The light blue area corresponds to an area rich in glycoproteins, a biomarker for Barrett’s Esophagus.
Shedding infrared light on esophageal disease
Barrett’s Esophagus (BE) occurs when the cells that normally line the esophagus – the tube that connects our throat to our stomach – are replaced by cells that resemble those that line the intestine, leading in some cases to esophageal cancer. Luca Quaroni, a researcher at the Canadian Light Source and Dr. Alan Casson, Head of the Department of Surgery in the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine used the CLS’s infrared microscope to identify Barrett’s esophagus cells from their unique chemical fingerprint. The finding was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, The Analyst.
Reference: L. Quaroni and A. Casson, 2009. Characterization of Barrett esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma by Fourier-transform infrared microscopy. The Analyst. 134, pp. 1240-1246. DOI: 10.1039/b820371d.
Last modified: 2012-01-19 17:01:56