The Future is Today: The Impact of Precision Oncology on Cancer Outcomes

For decades radiation and chemotherapy have been our most potent weapons in cancer treatment. However, in treating cancerous cells, these approaches can indiscriminately impact healthy cells leading to side effects that can negatively impact patient health and quality of life. Further, variations in patient characteristics and tumor genetics also present challenges that can contribute to poor response rates. As such, individualizing cancer therapies to the patient and their specific tumor gene mutations has been facilitated by recent advances in next-generation sequencing. The emerging field of "Precision Oncology" aims to identify and deliver therapy tailored to the genetic profile of the patient’s tumour, ensuring the right treatment is delivered to the patient. 

Session Objectives:

• Profile the evolving role of precision oncology in cancer treatment
• Highlight recent advances in technologies and diagnostics that led to precision oncology 
• Discuss the role of precision oncology in the advancement of patient care in Canada

Our panelists:

• Patrick Sullivan, LLB, Chair, Board of Childhood Cancer Canada and Founder, Ac2orn
• David Malkin, MD, FRCP (C), FAAP, LMCC, Paediatric Oncologist & Director of Cancer Genetics, SickKids
• Harriet Feilotter, PhD, FCCMG, Director, Molecular Diagnostics, Queen’s University
• Josh Silvertown, PhD, MBA, MSM Director, Precision Oncology, Bayer

Moderator: Bruce Seet, PhD, MBA, President and Founder, S2BN

Acknowledgments: 

S2BN would like to thank our supporters Bayer Canada, BioTalent Canada, & Cyclica

*This session was developed in collaboration with Bayer Canada.

Panelist Biographies: 

Patrick Sullivan, LLB, Chair, Board of Childhood Cancer Canada and Founder, Ac2orn

Patrick Sullivan is a passionate childhood cancer advocate, and Chair of the Board of Childhood Cancer Canada and one of the founders of the Team Finn Foundation.

Patrick became an advocate after his twin son Finn was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2007 and heard the word “incurable” for the first time in May 2008.  His desire to make a change in cancer research is in part an effort to pay an un-payable debt to his son Finn and to Change the Stories of other Finn’s.

Patrick participates in several national and international initiatives that include one of the founders of Ac2orn (Advocacy for Canadian Children Oncology Research Network), a director of the CCRA, member of the executive of the Terry Fox Research Profyle initiative, member of the AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group and Chair of the St. Baldrick’s/Stand-Up to Cancer Immunogenomics Advocates Dream Team.

By profession, Patrick is a securities and corporate-commercial litigator practicing at Whitelaw Twining.

Patrick is the proud father of three remarkable children, Baird, Sarah and Finn and would do almost anything for the simple pleasure of holding Finn’s hand again.

David Malkin, MD, FRCP (C), FAAP, LMCC, Paediatric Oncologist & Director of Cancer Genetics, SickKids

Dr. Malkin received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1984 and completed his residency in paediatrics and paediatric hematology/oncology at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He completed post-doctoral research training in molecular genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, where he discovered the link between germline mutations in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene and the Li-Fraumeni cancer susceptibility syndrome. Dr. Malkin returned to Canada to accept a faculty position at SickKids and University of Toronto in 1992.

Dr. Malkin is Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He holds the CIBC Children’s Foundation Chair in Child Health Research, is a Senior Staff Oncologist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Director of the Cancer Genetics program, and a Senior Scientist in the Genetics and Genome Biology Program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Malkin is the Lead of the SickKids Precision Child Health initiative. He is co-Director of the SickKids Cancer Sequencing (KiCS) program which integrates and translates next generation sequencing into clinical care of children with cancer, and Director of the pan-Canadian multi-institutional PRecision Oncology For Young peopLE (PROFYLE) initiative which is establishing a pipeline to incorporate next generation sequencing into novel clinical trials (‘precision oncology’) for children and young adults with hard-to-treat cancers across Canada. Dr. Malkin’s research program focuses on genetic and genomic mechanisms of childhood cancer susceptibility which he has explored particularly in the context of TP53 and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Recently, his work has addressed the application of genomics to develop rational clinical surveillance and treatment guidelines for children and adults at genetic ‘high risk’ for cancer. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles and has received several awards recognizing his dedication to clinical care, advocacy, research, medical education and mentorship. His research has been funded by the Terry Fox Research Institute, Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada, the National Institutes of Health (US) and the Department of Defense (US).

Harriet Feilotter, PhD, FCCMG, Director, Molecular Diagnostics, Queen’s University

Dr. Feilotter focuses on the development and validation of biomarkers to be used in the screening, diagnosis or treatment of human diseases, including cancer.

Her research includes the study of DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers in diseases ranging from cancer (breast, brain, melanoma, bladder, colon, CLL) to major depression. She is currently focused on the use of circulating biomarkers such as miRNA and protein species that can be found in the plasma of patients. Profiling these molecules, and then integrating the information from multiple types of biomarkers to provide information about disease state or likely response to therapy is the primary goal of these studies.

Dr. Feilotter makes use of multiple platforms, including next generation sequencing, quantitative mass spectrometry, real time PCR and microarray to generate targeted biomarker data. She also has an emerging interest and focus in informatics, including the proper handling and storage of biomarker data, the preprocessing pipelines required to ensure high quality data, and the analytic pipelines needed to deliver an effective clinical tool.

Josh Silvertown, PhD, MBA, MSM Director, Precision Oncology, Bayer

Josh is the Director of Precision Oncology for Bayer leading medical affairs for TRK fusion cancer therapies in Canada, leading the strategy for late-stage oncology products as it pertains to biomarker diagnostics, and building collaborations and partnerships within the Canadian oncology ecosystem. Prior to this role, Josh was a Medical Scientific Advisor for Bayer Canada leading medical affairs for the hematology/hemophilia portfolio. Josh completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, a PhD in molecular endocrinology at the University of Guelph, and an MBA at the Ivey School of Business at Western University.

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