HOW DO WE SWITCH OFF CANCER?
The STAT-3 Revolution
Brain and blood cancer. Some of the most frightening diagnoses you can possibly hear. Nearly always fatal, almost completely untreatable.
These cancers have something else in common: they are triggered by a specific protein called STAT-3. Scientists think that if we can learn to switch off this protein, we’ll be able to kill tumours without triggering the painful side effects of traditional chemotherapy.
But STAT-3 has long been considered “undruggable.” Until now.
STAT-3: What is it? And why is it important?
STAT-3 has been called as a master regulator of the cancer cell. Turn it off, and you kill the cancer. But how? No one has been able to figure it out. At the Gunning Group lab, we think we’ve found a way.
Cancer cells: champion invaders
What's the difference between a cancer cell and a normal cell? Cancer cells are constantly growing and dividing. They form tumours, they move through the body, and they evade all the natural cues to die.
What is medicinal chemistry?
Medicinal chemists like Professor Patrick Gunning design and build molecules. Powerful molecules that target a specific protein without harming other parts of the cell.
Solve the jigsaw puzzle, and the cancer cells die
Design a molecule that binds to the protein in just the right way, and it stops that protein from doing its job. And that’s where we are today: our drug is killing cancer cells, and leaving healthy cells unharmed.
YOUR DONATION WILL MAKE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
We’re almost there! We’ve designed molecules that kill cancer cells in the lab. The next stage is to refine them, test them, and get them into clinical trials, so that we can start saving lives. And to do this more quickly, we need your help.
SUPPORT OUR LIFESAVING RESEARCH
Tweak, test. Tweak, test. Tweak, test. Our challenge today is to refine our most promising cancer-fighting molecules. To make sure they will kill cancer cells not just in the lab but in the human body, without harmful side effects. This is time-consuming, labour-intensive work – and there are no shortcuts. But with your help, we can speed up our research. We can hire more staff and run more experiments. We can get new cancer treatments into clinical trials sooner, and start saving lives.
NEWS ARCHIVE
Read up on the work of Professor Patrick Gunning and the Gunning Group lab
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Centre for Medicinal Chemistry Launches
Thanks to a $7 million donation from Mississauga-based Orlando Corporation.
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PEOPLE TO WATCH
Toronto Star: Canada’s largest newspaper dubbs Gunning one of its People to Watch for 2013
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MCLEAN AWARD 2015
UTM News: Gunning wins U of T’s prestigious prize for exceptional emerging researchers in the sciences
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ADVANCING BREAKTHROUGH THERAPIES
Personal Health News: “It could mean the end of conventional chemotherapy.”
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STARVING CANCER CELLS
U of T Magazine: “Gunning has his sights set on four types of cancer.”
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SCOTTISH SCIENTIST’S CANCER BREAKTHROUGH
Sunday Post (Scotland): “Patrick Gunning has pharmaceutical companies and venture capitalists bidding to develop a molecule he’s invented.”
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‘BUTE BOY MAKES GOOD’
The Buteman (Scotland): “Patrick has been announced as the first winner of the Baird of Bute Society Innovation Award.”
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CREATING MOLECULES AND FIGHTING CANCER
U of T News: “We design and synthesize novel anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of human cancers, particularly breast cancer, leukemia, and brain cancer.”
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HOW DO WE SWITCH OFF CANCER?
Professor Patrick Gunning has figured out how to stop cancer cells from spreading, a discovery that could treat some of the deadliest cancers.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Students for Research
UTM's student-led Business Consulting Association and the Institute of Culture, Communication & Information Technology Council raised $600 in support of the UTM Gunning Group Fund through a student-organized charity movie night and bake sale in honour of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month.
"While planning corporate social responsibility events for October, we were researching organizations that work to fight cancer and have made huge breakthroughs in recent years," explains UTM student Noor Hafeez, corporate social responsibility director of the of the Business Consulting Association. "We were pleased to choose the Gunning Group at UTM!"
VIDEOS
Watch interviews with Professor Patrick Gunning about his innovative cancer research
SUPPORTING THE GUNNING LAB’S RESEARCH
An interview with donor Joy Cunningham.
BREAST CANCER
A profile of two scientists funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Ontario.
LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA
Gunning’s research on less invasive treatements for blood cancers.
RESEARCH2REALITY
Targeting master regulators of rare and lethal cancers.
STAY UP TO DATE
Be the first to get news from the Gunning Group, and follow our quest to find an answer for “untreatable” cancers.