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November 2021 Newsletter | Toronto
 

November is Pancreatic Cancer
Awareness Month
Dr. Yaacov Lawrence, a radiation oncologist at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, is studying how pancreatic cancer tumors’ resistance to radiation may be affected by their abnormally high appetite for glucose, the most common form of sugar, and other nutrients. (Courtesy of Yaacov Lawrence) JTA | Larry Luxner

Improving chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer

Dr. Ziv Gil, head of the Technion’s Applied Cancer Research Laboratory, has received an ICRF grant for research on the cellular mechanisms underlying the spread, or metastasis, of pancreatic cancer cells. Gil is studying how pancreatic cancer cells can migrate along axons, or nerve fibers — a mechanism known as neural tracking.

“One of the hallmarks of pancreatic cancer is its ability to invade and progress through nerves,” Gil said. He and his team already have discovered the mechanism by which cells called macrophages help spread cancer from the pancreas to other organs.

“It’s as if the body senses the cancer as an inflammation, and it sends these cells to fight the cancer. But instead of fighting the cancer, these small cells nourish it,” said Gil, who is also a senior physician in the Technion’s Department of Otolaryngology, and director of head and neck surgery at Rambam hospital in Haifa. “Now we are trying to imitate the transmission of these signals between the macrophages and cancer cells in order to package chemotherapy within these signals that can target the cancer.”

At present, Gil’s team, supported by ICRF funding, is doing preclinical trials on mice to develop synthetic biological materials that deliver chemotherapy to cancer cells. Human clinical trials, he said, are still a few years away.

Rambam colleague Dr. Erez Hasnis, also an ICRF grantee, is taking a close look at one particular protein, RNF125, whose levels seem to drop as pancreatic cells become malignant. This, he said, happens in normal cells as digestive enzymes are synthesized and secreted. They get injured and replaced, and at some point, mutations start to accumulate. Scientists do not yet know why some people develop full-blown pancreatic cancer and others don’t. Yet often, Hasnis said, the pancreas simply cannot keep up with our food intake. “As we eat more and more, our pancreas gets exhausted. Eventually some cells start to die and other cells need to replace them, in a process that makes the pancreas cells prone to malignant transformation,”

Hasnis said, citing several published papers linking pancreatic cancer to obesity and high caloric intake. Hasnis also wants to know why this particular cancer is so aggressive when it comes to metastatic spread. To find out, he has developed a method in which pancreatic cancer is resected in a mouse model, allowing his team to observe how liver metastasis develops. This allows him to isolate specific genes involved in cancer seeding.

“Hopefully in a few years,” he said, “we’ll be able to use novel molecules to target the metastatic process.”

ICRF Toronto Board Hike

ICRF Toronto welcomed board members on October 17th for a guided hike led by @exploretofitness. We were honored to welcome Beryl Chernov, National Executive Director and David Abramson, International President. A great time was had by all! 
Thank you for being part of the ICRF family.  
From left to right:  Jennifer Ouaknine, Stephen Altbaum, Suzy Kauffman, Faith Sherman, Laurie Sheff, Fern Reich, Bonnie Fish, Bryna Goldberg, Janet Shiner, Norman Shiner, Beryl Chernov, David Abramson, Vera Finkelstein, Gillian Tessis (and her dog Dallas). 

What comes after being diagnosed with both metastatic pancreatic cancer and metastatic kidney cancer?
Meet Tamir, ICRF Israel's Chairman - read his story below. 
Read Tamir Gilat's Story
IN THE NEWS

Eosinophils play a role in the battle against cancer metastases, study finds

A new study at Tel Aviv University found that eosinophils - a type of white blood cells - are recruited to the battle against cancer metastases in the lungs. According to the researchers, these white blood cells produce destructive proteins of their own, while at the same time summoning the immune system's cancer-fighting T-cells. The researchers believe that their findings can contribute to the development of innovative approaches to cancer immunotherapy treatments, based upon the collaboration between T-cells and eosinophils.

The study was led by Prof. Ariel Munitz and PhD student Sharon Grisaru of the Department of Microbiology and Clinical Immunology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. The paper was published in Cancer Research, a prestigious journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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Original breakthrough cancer research from Sheba presented in workshop

The medical professionals being brought to the medical center received an intensive three-day training course in pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy for late-stage cancer..
The Sheba Medical Center hosted its first Middle East International PIPAC (Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy) event from last week from Wednesday through Friday, it announced on Saturday. 
The workshop brought in oncologists and medical professionals from both Israel and overseas to study and dive into the chemotherapy procedure, theory and technique, which is a new treatment option for people with late-stage cancer.

PIPAC is able to control certain types of cancer with fewer side effects than most conventional chemotherapy. 

The treatment administers chemotherapy in the form of pressurized aerosol into the abdominal cavity and is done via surgery performed under general anesthesia. PIPAC can be used to treat metastatic disease, ovarian cancer, mesothelioma and liver cancers.
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Innovative Israeli breast-cancer treatment uses anesthesia of nervous system around tumor

Researchers at the Technion‒Israel Institute of Technology have developed an innovative treatment for breast cancer based on analgesic nanoparticles that target the nervous system. The study, published in Science Advances, was led by Professor Avi Schroeder and Ph.D. student Maya Kaduri of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering.


Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, and despite breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment, approximately 1,000 women in Israel die of the disease per year. About 15 percent of them are under the age of 50. Worldwide, it causes some 685,000 deaths annually.
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Our very own ICRF Presents performer, Limore Twena, looking back on her story. 
 

“Sometimes we have to look back at our past achievements to appreciate how far we have come. Once in a while, as my hair was growing back, I would have moments of insecurities because it grew back in a different way almost every day. To make myself feel better, I would make a collage like this to appreciate every hair on my head, every battle won and every milestone. I thank g-d for every day that I am alive and I try to make this world a better place. Some days I succeed, others I fail, but I will never stop trying!” #aggressivepositivity

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Your lasting legacy through ICRF will impact cancer research in Israel for generations to come. With a planned gift to Israel Cancer Research Fund, you can leave a philanthropic legacy that will help those touched by cancer – now and for years to come. Whether you would like to put your donation to work today or in the future, there are a variety of opportunities for making a legacy commitment to ICRF.

Please contact Jennifer Ouaknine at jouaknine@icrf.ca or at 647-973-4273 to learn how you can create a lasting impact on the future of cancer research.  The Answer to Cancer is Research!
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You can reach us at: research@icrf.ca or visit: www.icrf.ca 

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