Researchers work to unlock mysteries of disease
Published Wednesday August 20th, 2008
Annual symposium brings researchers together to share ideas
The world of cancer research can involve highly technical, very specific work as scientists try to isolate the genes that cause certain cancers, understand how cancer works in cells and develop treatments for it.
But while research starts in the lab, it needs to go beyond that if it is to have any impact on people.
Dr. Laurent Beauregard and his team at the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health in Brewer, Me., are focused on just that.
"This institute has a particular interest in looking at science and figuring out a way of making it practical," Beauregard says. "How do we apply this unbelievable information that is being developed now, how do we apply it to basic management of cancer therapy? Cancer prevention?"
Beauregard is in Moncton attending the Atlantic Omics Symposium and Expo, organized by Moncton's Atlantic Cancer Research Institute.
Although organized by the cancer institute, the symposium brings together researchers who study a wide range of topics in fields like genomics and proteomics -- hence the "omics" moniker. Omics is broadly used to describe the study of large-scale biological systems, something that new technology has made possible in ways once unheard of.
The Maine Institute began its work by studying cancer incidence rates in the state and found Maine's age-adjusted cancer rate was higher than anywhere else in the country. They further noted that for some cancers, rates were highest in the more rural, less populated counties.
"The question is why," Beauregard says. "We have this question, how do we answer it?"
When it comes to the causes of cancer, there are usually no simplistic answers.
There are dozens of different things that might play a role -- low income, access to health care, ethnic origins, the presence of natural and man-made toxins and lifestyle.
In the past, studies have largely focused on one thing or another, but Beauregard's team is trying to look at them all at once.
They are aided in this task by GIS (geographic information system) management technology.
"It's a whole new field," Beauregard says. "We can no longer think of things one piece at a time. You have to think about it in terms of the whole system at once."
Using GIS technology, researchers can pinpoint where the highest cancer rates are, then begin to lay other information over the top of it.
"We have looked at things like the amount of granitic rock you have that might be exuding radon, the amount of natural arsenic in the water, the amount of potential toxins," Beauregard says. "We suspect there may be problems associated with that, but we have never really demonstrated it."
They can note the number of doctors or health-care facilities in a particular area, they can look at socioeconomic factor, all information that already exists, but which has never been brought together in this way. Slowly the institute should be able to build up a portrait of the regions where cancer is most prevalent and begin to answer that all-important "why."
Once they can begin to answer that question, they'll get to the heart of what their real aim is.
"What we ultimately want to be able to do is figure out some way to provide help to the public health system to reduce those rates," Beauregard says. "Whether it is improvements to treatment or access to treatment, whether it is development of community education programs to do something better . . . ultimately, our goal is to reduce that incidence of cancer by understanding what it is a bit better."
Beauregard says the Maine Institute is eager to work with the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute because New Brunswick and Maine have much in common.
Both have populations that are mainly of Acadian, English, Irish, and Scottish descent and the geology and geography is much the same, as is industry and lifestyle.
"It's an ideal situation for us to collaborate, certainly one of the major reasons for my team to be here today is to talk about these opportunities," he says. "These are the important things that ultimately lead to some improvements in public health care both in our state and in the province."
Dr. Rodney Ouellette, CEO of the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute, says this kind of collaboration is exactly the kind of thing they hope to see grow out of the symposium.
Ouellette says this is the second or third year the Maine Institute has participated in the event and the idea of working together on this project has come out of that relationship.
Besides giving researchers a chance to network, make new contacts, and get an idea of the latest technology available, Ouellette says the symposium offers a chance for them to learn about what other scientists are doing and how that might apply to their own research, which is why cancer research isn't the only topic up for discussion at the two-day event, which wraps up Wednesday.
"Scientists don't get out much and there are some great stories here in the province that come out at these events because they are showcased," he says. "Nobody moves forward in a vacuum. We are always learning from others and others are learning from us."
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