April 27, 2018

Dr. Gregory Jan Czarnota Impact Report

Recently Dr. Gregory Jan Czarnota submitted his impact report, for the research he was funded for through BCSC. Below is his impact summary and for those would would like to read further you can find a link to the full report of his research.

The Breast Cancer Society of Canada is an important catalyst in our work to predict, influence and monitor the outcomes of breast cancer treatment. I am very grateful for your longstanding support.

In this report, I’m proud to share the details of our efforts to gauge tumour response using blood flow. We are using diffuse optical spectroscopy methods and ultrasound to study blood vessel response in patients receiving chemotherapy.

Thanks to your investment, my team and I also completed an important study using a newly customized ultrasound machine, microbubbles and radiation. The findings of this trial were exceptional and set the stage for a world first clinical breast therapy trial, which we plan to launch later this year.

Finally, the Breast Cancer Society of Canada’s support also helped advance the next, important phase of our first clinical trial testing the ability of quantitative ultrasound (we call it WaveCheck) to measure tumour change. The results of that study led to new discoveries about the use of upfront ultrasound to predict chemotherapy effects in advance of the treatment.

In more than 90 per cent of the cases, WaveCheck accurately predicted the impact of the chemotherapy on the tumour. These findings show real promise for the use of the technology as a diagnostic tool to help women and their doctors plan the best possible treatment for their cancer.

Underlying each of these accomplishments is your generous support. Without the Breast Cancer Society of Canada, none of this would be possible.

Gratefully yours,
Dr. Gregory Jan Czarnota
Chief, Department of Radiation Oncology
James & Mary Davie Chair in Breast Cancer Imaging and Ablation Research

The full impact report on Dr. Gregory Jan Czarnota’s BCSC funded research is available below
Breast Cancer Society Report 19 March 2018

Without your generous donations BCSC would not be able to fund innovative ground breaking research like Dr. Gregory Jan Czarnota is conducting. To continue to support our efforts to end breast cancer with life-saving research visit bcsc.ca/get-involved to find out more how you can help support research like this.

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