Virus therapy for breast cancer gives patients and families newfound hope
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, and breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis for women. In 2024, an estimated 30,500 Canadian women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 5,500 women died of it.
Breast cancer is devastating in and of itself, but current treatments are also highly toxic and have a brutal impact on patients’ quality of life. The treatments we have today are physically and mentally taxing, and procedures like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy come with their fair share of side effects.
In the past few years, significant breakthroughs have come out of preclinical research into cancer, and breast cancer more specifically.
Dr. Marie-Claude Bourgeois-Daigneault leads a research project focusing on virus therapy at the CHUM. Her team has developed a world-first experimental model that realistically simulates human breast cancer in mice. Currently, the CHUM Research Centre is the only laboratory in the world with the expertise to carry out Dr. Bourgeois-Daigneault’s work.
Virus therapy brings innovation and hope
Studies show that breast cancer could be destroyed by injecting an oncolytic virus—a virus created entirely in a lab. The virus attacks the tumour and makes it possible for the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells if the cancer ever comes back—a bit like a vaccine.
Unlike conventional treatment options, oncolytic vaccines have minimal, flu-like side effects, and can completely change breast cancer patients’ experience.
This work could be a real game changer for the thousands of patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Canada.
“Virus therapy is an extremely promising new treatment, but we still have to unravel a few mysteries about the immune system before we can use it for human beings. Our donors’ support will make it possible for us to explore the incredibly promising potential of this innovation.”
A broad scope
The CHUM Foundation uses your generous donations to support this groundbreaking research and build a brighter future for breast cancer patients everywhere.
Be a part of this medical revolution. Together, we can act faster than disease.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, and breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis for women. In 2024, an estimated 30,500 Canadian women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 5,500 women died of it.
Breast cancer is devastating in and of itself, but current treatments are also highly toxic and have a brutal impact on patients’ quality of life. The treatments we have today are physically and mentally taxing, and procedures like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy come with their fair share of side effects.
Virus therapy brings innovation and hope
In the past few years, significant breakthroughs have come out of preclinical research into cancer, and breast cancer more specifically.
Dr. Marie-Claude Bourgeois-Daigneault leads a research project focusing on virus therapy at the CHUM. Her team has developed a world-first experimental model that realistically simulates human breast cancer in mice. Currently, the CHUM Research Centre is the only laboratory in the world with the expertise to carry out Dr. Bourgeois-Daigneault’s work.
Studies show that breast cancer could be destroyed by injecting an oncolytic virus—a virus created entirely in a lab. The virus attacks the tumour and makes it possible for the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells if the cancer ever comes back—a bit like a vaccine.
Unlike conventional treatment options, oncolytic vaccines have minimal, flu-like side effects, and can completely change breast cancer patients’ experience.
This work could be a real game changer for the thousands of patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Canada.
“Virus therapy is an extremely promising new treatment, but we still have to unravel a few mysteries about the immune system before we can use it for human beings. Our donors’ support will make it possible for us to explore the incredibly promising potential of this innovation.”
— Dr. Marie-Claude Bourgeois-Daigneault
A broad scope
The CHUM Foundation uses your generous donations to support this groundbreaking research and build a brighter future for breast cancer patients everywhere.
