Effective innovative precision therapies under development at the IRCM
At the IRCM, Dr. André Veillette, Director of the Molecular Oncology Research Unit, is striving to gain in-depth understanding of the immune system’s role in the initiation, the progression or, conversely, the control of diseases such as cancer. As a trained oncologist and a career basic researcher, he is convinced that personalized approaches, from basic research to clinical practice, are our best hope to develop the best therapies in the fight against cancer.
His recent work, which is particularly innovative, offers significant potential for new precision therapies targeting this disease.
Dr. Veillette, tell us about your research work, and more specifically, the aspects related to precision medicine.
Since the beginning of my career in medicine 40 years ago, I've always wanted to understand how the human body works and how diseases develop. As a trained oncologist, I have therefore long sought to understand how the normal immune system functions, how it is altered in cancer cases, and how we can reactivate a dormant immune system in people with cancers, in order to better treat them. This involves looking at the body's normal operating mechanisms, as well as the abnormal mechanisms that cause disease.
In recent decades, knowledge in this field has significantly improved. In the last 15 years, for example, the scientific community has developed new personalized treatments that help to combat cancer by acting on the immune system's ability to defend itself.
In our laboratory at the IRCM, we have mainly carried out fundamental research that is relevant to the normal functioning of the human body, but also to the development of cancers and immune system diseases.
It was during the pandemic, when our laboratory operations were at a standstill, that the opportunity arose for us to explore and develop innovative precision therapies.
Tell us about your new work involving monoclonal antibodies.
The scientific community is becoming increasingly aware of the genetic and immune alterations specific to certain cancers. As a result, highly effective treatments such as “targeted therapies” and immunotherapy are available for patients suffering from these cancers. Unfortunately, there are still many cancers for which there are no effective treatments.
By focusing on the immune system, we thought there might be a way of developing new therapies based on the new knowledge we have developed in our laboratory. As a result, we have created new monoclonal antibodies that uniquely target an immune system molecule called SLAMF7 to enhance the ability to fight certain cancers such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
We have been able to file patent applications for these monoclonal antibodies. We are now in the process of accumulating the pre-clinical evidence that precedes studies in patients. The next step is either to convince pharmaceutical or biotech companies to invest in our project, or to develop our own company which would raise the necessary funds to bring the whole thing to maturity.
Here, we're talking about new precision therapies that target the immune system in patients with abnormalities recognized by these antibodies.
What are the main obstacles to finding a cure for cancer?
As mentioned above, in many cases, there is a serious lack of information about the types and subtypes of cancer that people develop. Access to this information can vary according to socio-economic, demographic or even geographical factors. And yet, characterizing a cancer as fully as possible is precisely what makes it possible to identify its specific traits and to get a complete diagnosis, both of which are essential to personalized care.
Moreover, even when a cancer is perfectly characterized, we haven't necessarily yet identified a specific treatment to respond to the alterations identified. Several highly effective treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, CAR-T cells or kinase inhibitors, have had an incredible impact. But they only apply to a small group of people with very specific types of cancer.
In other words, the further we advance in sequencing the genomes of different cancers, and the more we characterize the immune cells that infiltrate them, the better we will be able to work on solutions and develop treatments that do not yet exist.
Basic research has an essential role to play in enabling us to move from precision research to precision diagnostics, to precision therapies.
You are working on a platform to make this avenue accessible to the scientific community. Tell us about it.
We recently obtained a grant from the Canada Innovation Fund to enable us to establish a monoclonal antibody platform that will be accessible to colleagues in the IRCM laboratories, but also to other research teams in Canada. This platform will enable the development of other new monoclonal antibodies as therapeutic agents for human diseases such as cancer.
There are still many monoclonal antibodies to be discovered. The more of us who work on them, the faster we'll make the advances that will give us new hope in the face of disease.
This brings us to the importance of collaboration and the role of cutting-edge core facilities as major partners in science.
In a research environment, core facilities are an undeniable advantage. This is particularly true of those at the IRCM, which have expertise in areas such as cytofluorometry, genomics, microscopy, animal models and so on. The availability of these cutting-edge technology platforms, managed by highly competent colleagues, is an extraordinary asset that accelerates our work and makes it easier to test our ideas as well as obtaining reliable results. It is in the same spirit that we are developing this new platform to enable fellow researchers to develop antibodies for therapeutic purposes.
In research, sharing expertise and knowledge is a proven way of accelerating progress.
For some time now, the IRCM has been developing research into precision medicine. What does this mean for you, having been with the Institute for several years?
I find it very exciting, because there is a palpable dynamism within the Institute, thanks to highly competent colleagues in these rapidly evolving fields, even if the economic situation at the moment makes it difficult to fund research.
The challenge, when we make a discovery, is to be able to push it as close as possible to clinical applications, by involving players able to help bring our discovery to fruition in the form of a therapy. This is a particularly difficult stage, as it requires considerable expertise and funding, as well as significant multi-sector mobilization.
However, I believe we must persevere, bearing in mind that tomorrow's treatments will emerge from today's fundamental research. We are still a long way from having discovered all the treatments that are needed to cure all human diseases, including different types of cancers. It is crucial to keep exploring and discovering, but also to raise awareness within the public, governments and the philanthropic sectors, to the importance of increased funding for basic research.
Everyone has a role to play.
