The important work of a Gaspésien against cancer

If the day of February 4, famous famous the fight against cancer, the Gaspé researcher Brigitte Guérin, she contributes to it every day.

The teacher-researcher at the University of Sherbrooke (IRCUS) cancer research institute is from Grande-Vallée.

She has been working on a treatment for several years that could merge radiotherapy and chemotherapy in order to treat cancer and observe the effectiveness of treatment in the human body.

Although his research is done in Estrie, the Gaspé territory still occupies a large place in the daily life of the scientist.

The Gaspé is very very important to me. This is the place where I’m going to recharge my batteries, to develop new ideas, to bring new in what we doshe says.

It qualifies cancer as an important scourge, which spares neither Quebecers nor the Gaspésians.

In search, it’s not always easydescribes the professor, but the World Day against Cancer makes it possible to shine the successes. It is also her teamwork at IRCUS who motivates the researcher.

Innovate cancer treatments

The treatment studied by Professor Guérin could merge two methods of treatment of cancers, by reducing the drug dose injected into the body.

We realized that we could have a compound that can be up to 55,000 times more active than the therapeutic agent aloneshe explains.

As the compound is more active, we can decrease the injected dose [et] expect much fewer side effects.

In 2021, during his last interview on the program In the heart of the worldit indicated that the first research had been done at the cellular level. Before being tested clinically on humans, the research group still works on animals.

Until now, the results are still promisingrejoices the researcher. We are looking at the application also more general for other types of cancershe adds.

Another promising treatment

Brigitte Guérin has also contributed to more advanced research and the so far positive results on the treatment of certain types of cancer.

This is a clinical nuclear imaging study carried out by the teacher-researcher at theIrc And at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in Sherbrooke, Etienne Rousseau.

In an interview Tuesday in the show Good foot, early!, The Professor presented his work on an injectable radiotherapy treatment to treat several cancers.

By also associating chemotherapy and radiotherapy, we combine the best of both By offering local radiotherapy in several places, but which do not affect the tissues of the body which are not targeted, he describes.

In the clinical test, Patients recover well and the majority have very few side effects After treatment, adds the researcher.

This treatment, initially intended for prostate cancer, could make it possible to deal with other metastatic cancers.

If we can use the same imaging agent for different types of cancer, it is that we do not have to develop different molecules, only one could be universal, which would be really great rejoices Professor Guérin.

An imaging agent is a compound injected with the patient, helping to characterize the disease: this is the first step.

It’s like having a GPS that will help us diagnose cancer, […] to say where cancer lesions are […] And if the patient can be eligible for therapies.

These scientific tools have just been approved by Health Canada in Quebec, So it will really change, it is a treatment line that becomes accessible to patients who have advanced, metastatic cancersindicates the scientist.