Three McMaster pathologists will receive nearly $1.9 million in research funding through the Ontario Cancer Research Network to support cancer research and increase the number of patients participating in clinical trials.

Jonathan Bramson was awarded $612,504 to study gene-based cancer vaccines; Jack Gauldie will get $688,285 to test his vaccine to stimulate the immune system to attack leukemia; and Ranjan Sur will receive $589,680 to examine a light sensitive drug to treat advanced lung cancer.

“This investment, which supports the development of new research and clinical treatments, will help McMaster researchers advance the fight against this terrible disease,” says John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Jonathan Bramson, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, is studying the interaction between conventional cancer therapy and gene-based cancer vaccines to determine the best time to use vaccines. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy often suppresses immune responses, thereby reducing a vaccine's effectiveness.

Jack Gauldie, director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Health and the Centre for Gene Therapeutics, has produced a vaccine that stimulates the immune system to attack tumour cells in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an incurable and slow-growing cancer of the white blood cells. His research team is investigating its effectiveness in clinical trials.

Ranjan Sur, professor of medicine, is examining the benefit of a combination treatment for advancing lung cancer using a radioactive pellet and a light sensitive drug to reduce the size of the tumour and relieve obstruction in the windpipe.

The funding is part of a $142-million recent provincial announcement that includes the launch of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, a research organization that will bring researchers together in developing life-saving cancer treatments.

The investment also includes $65.2 million to support ongoing research programs under the Ontario Cancer Research Network – a provincially funded not-for-profit organization that helps transform promising laboratory research into new treatments.