Several organizations supporting the initiative, including Oncopole, will contribute a total of $6.5 million to the Consortium contre le Cancer de Montréal (CCM) over the next two years. As a catalyst for the project, TFRI will provide $2 million.
The researchers involved will continue their research to improve personalized and precision medicine for the treatment of cancer patients.
The CCM brings together several institutions: the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), the Goodman Cancer Research Centre (GRCG), the Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (CR-HMR), the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal, Jewish General Hospital (JGH), Génome Québec Innovation Centre, McGill University, Université de Montréal and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC).
More specifically, Oncopole supports the following project:
Inter-institutional coordination and integration of biospecimens and clinical data from patients treated by the Montreal Cancer Consortium.
This project aims to initiate and integrate tissue banking in a harmonized way across the various CCM institutions. In this pilot project, priority will be given to cancers that significantly benefit from immunotherapy as a therapeutic approach, ensuring that biobanks meet registration and certification criteria. The banked fabrics must also meet the needs of other CCM projects.
This project will also extend the use of ATiM, a biobank management software package developed by the Canadian Tissue Banking Network(http://www.ctrnet.ca/fr/resources/atim), to all consortium members.
For this project, the consortium will be able to draw on the recognized expertise of the following partners: the Cancer Research Network(RRCancer), the Canadian Tissue Banking Network(CTRNet) and Exactis Innovation(Exactis).
The Montreal Cancer Consortium is co-directed by Ian Watson of the Goodman Cancer Research Centre and John Stagg of the CHUM Research Centre.