Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

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Colorectal cancer

The Ottawa Hospital is conducting cutting-edge research to improve our understanding of colorectal cancer and develop better treatments. This page includes selected news stories about our colorectal cancer research, links to researchers working in this area and related resources. Learn more below.

Research News

	Potential colorectal cancer treatment combines immunotherapy and viral therapy in a powerful new way February 16, 2023 - Immunotherapy is revolutionizing the treatment of many kinds of cancer, but for colorectal cancer, success has been limited to patients with rare genetic mutations. To tackle this challenge, researchers at The Ottawa Hospital engineered a new kind of
	ELEVATE seed grants to help researchers at The Ottawa Hospital develop better treatments and improve patient care February 1, 2023 - The Ottawa Hospital’s Research Institute is awarding five ELEVATE seed grants to early-career researchers to spur the development of innovative treatments and better patient care.
	Outside-the-box thinking saves young man with colorectal cancer January 11, 2023 - When Dr. Auer left the exam room after meeting Haydn for the first time, she remembers feeling heartbroken, thinking about this young man’s life, his future, and the diagnosis he faced.
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	Bench to bedside: the quest to prevent cancer from coming back after surgery October 20, 2022 - Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital have made another important step forward in their quest to find innovative ways to stop cancer from coming back after surgery. While surgery often provides the best option for removing all or most of a tumour, resea
	Arginine supplement prevents cancer spread after surgery in mice, but more research in humans is required September 1, 2022 - Two new papers from Dr. Rebecca Auer’s group are shedding light on how cancer spreads after surgery and how we might stop it.
	Clinical trials offer strong foundation for better patient care May 16, 2019 - Clinical trials are an important step toward developing new treatments and learning more about diseases and conditions. In honour of International Clinical Trials Day, read how some of the researchers at The Ottawa Hospital are making huge contribut
	Award-winning immunology research shows how cancer surgery paralyzes part of the immune system January 11, 2019 - Surgery is very effective in removing solid cancers, but it also suppresses the immune system in a way that makes it easier for remaining cancer cells to survive and spread. New research led by Dr. Rebecca Auer shows that surgery paralyzes immune cel
	Targeting cancer stem cells improves survival in certain kinds of colorectal cancer August 16, 2018 - An international clinical trial led by Dr. Derek Jonker found that a drug that targets cancer stem cells improved survival in patients with a specific form of colorectal cancer. Cancer stem cells make up a very small part of a some tumours. However,
	Colonoscopies save lives, but study finds room for improvement May 16, 2018 - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in Canada. Colonoscopy can reduce the risks of CRC and CRC-related death through early detection and treatment of pre-cancerous growth. A new study led by Dr. Sanjay Murthy found that while co

Researchers

Name	Scientific appointment	Diseases, conditions and populations of interest	Research and clinical approaches
Ardolino, Michele PhD	Senior Scientist (Cancer Therapeutics)	Blood cancer, Brain cancer, Breast cancer, Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Head and neck cancer, Liver cancer, Lung cancer, Ovarian cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Prostate cancer, Skin cancer, Soft tissue sarcoma	Basic research, Cancer immunotherapy, Cell therapy, Clinical research, Disease models, Immunization, Immunotherapy, Model organisms, Molecular and cellular biology, Transgenic/knockout models, Translational research
Auer, Rebecca MD, MSc, FRCSC	Senior Scientist (Cancer Therapeutics)	Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Ovarian cancer, Pancreatic cancer	Basic research, Cancer biotherapeutics, Cancer immunotherapy, Cell therapy, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Immunotherapy, Molecular and cellular biology, Oncolytic viruses, Peri-operative medicine, Quality Improvement, Surgery, Translational research, Viral therapy
Dennis, Kristopher MD FRCPC PhD	Clinician Investigator (Cancer Therapeutics)	Cancer, Colorectal cancer, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health, Gastric cancer, Liver cancer, Pain, Pancreatic cancer	Behaviour, Biomarkers, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Health professional behaviour change, Health services research, Palliative care, Pragmatic trials, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Systematic reviews
Martel, Guillaume MD, MSc (Epi), FRCSC, FACS	Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Anemia, Bleeding disorders, Colorectal cancer, Liver cancer, Liver disease, Pancreatic cancer	Anesthesiology, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Peri-operative medicine, Surgery, Systematic reviews, Transfusions
Murthy, Sanjay MD, FRCPC	Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Colorectal cancer, Crohn's, Gastrointestinal disease, Inflammatory bowel syndrome	Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health economics, Health services research
Nair, Vimoj MBBS MD MSc FRCPC	Clinician Investigator (Clinical Epidemiology)	Blood cancer, Brain cancer, Colorectal cancer, Gastric cancer, Liver cancer, Pancreatic cancer	Cancer biotherapeutics, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Health technology, Imaging, Pragmatic trials, Quality Improvement, Translational research
Nessim, Carolyn MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS	Clinician Investigator (Cancer Therapeutics)	Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Gastric cancer, Gastrointestinal disease, Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), Soft tissue sarcoma, Skin cancer	Biomarkers, Clinical trials, Gene expression, Immunotherapy, Surgery, Translational research, Viral therapy, Clinical research, Immunotherapy
Ramsay, Timothy PhD	Senior Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Addiction, Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Anxiety, Ataxia, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism, Bipolar, Brain and neuromuscular disease, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Colorectal cancer, Concussion, Cystic fibrosis, Dementia, Depression, Dystonia, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health, HIV, Immigrant and refugee health, Influenza, Kidney disease, Lung cancer, Macular degeneration, Men's health, Multiple sclerosis, Muscular dystrophy, Myasthenia gravis, Obesity, Ovarian cancer, Parkinson's, Pulmonary hypertension, Septic shock, Spinal cord injury	Artificial intelligence and data science, Behaviour, Biomaterials, Biostatistics, Cell therapy, Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Critical care, Drug development, Emergency medicine, Epidemiology, Health professional behaviour change, Health promotion, Health research methods, Health services research, Health technology, Immunization, Immunotherapy, Palliative care, Patient decision aids, Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Prevention, Psychology, Psychometrics, Public health, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Regenerative medicine, Rehabilitation, Risk assessment, Shared decision making, Surgery, Surveys, Systematic reviews, Transfusions, Translational research, Transplantation, Viral therapy

Related Resources

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Cancer Therapeutics Program

The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Program

Search for clinical trials at The Ottawa Hospital related to this disease or condition.

Clinical Trials

The following list of clinical trials is pulled from ClinicalTrials.gov using the search terms "Colorectal cancer” and “Ottawa Hospital.” More advanced search options are available. If you find a clinical trial that interests you, you can bring the information to the next appointment with your care team and ask if you are eligible for the study. If so, they may be able to refer you to the study team. Visit ohri.ca/patients to learn more about participating in research and clinical trials.

Note that ClinicalTrials.gov is hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and is only available in English. Please note that we cannot guarantee a response from the person listed in the ‘Contact’ column.

NCT	Title	Condition	Status	Contact
NCT05379595	A Study of Amivantamab Monotherapy and in Addition to Standard-of-Care Chemotherapy in Participants With Advanced or Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (NCT05379595)	Advanced or Metastatic Colorectal Cancer	Recruiting
NCT05217446	A Study of Encorafenib Plus Cetuximab Taken Together With Pembrolizumab Compared to Pembrolizumab Alone in People With Previously Untreated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (NCT05217446)	Metastatic Colorectal Cancer	Recruiting
NCT04449874	A Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Activity of GDC-6036 Alone or in Combination in Participants With Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors With a KRAS G12C Mutation (NCT04449874)	Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Advanced Solid Tumors	Recruiting
NCT05538130	A Study to Learn About the Study Medicine Called PF-07799544 in People With Advanced Solid Tumors (NCT05538130)	Melanoma, Glioma, Thyroid Cancer, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Malignant Neoplasms, Brain Neoplasms, Colorectal Cancer	Recruiting
NCT05355701	A Study to Learn About the Study Medicine Called PF-07799933 in People With Advanced Solid Tumors. (NCT05355701)	Melanoma, Colorectal Cancer, Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Glioma	Recruiting
NCT00819208	Health Education Materials With/Out a Physical Activity Program for Patients Who Have Undergone Treatment for High-Risk Stage II or Stage III Colon Cancer (NCT00819208)	Anxiety Disorder, Cognitive/Functional Effects, Colorectal Cancer, Depression, Fatigue, Psychosocial Effects of Cancer and Its Treatment, Sleep Disorders, Excercise	Recruiting
NCT02906943	Ontario-wide Cancer TArgeted Nucleic Acid Evaluation (NCT02906943)	Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Melanoma, Gynecological Cancer, Genitourinary Cancer, Pancreatobiliary Cancer, Gastrointestinal Cancer, Head and Neck Cancer, Rare Cancer, Unknown Primary Cancer	Recruiting	hanzhang@ohri.ca, kchristink@toh.ca
NCT05546476	Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Ponsegromab in Patients With Cancer, Cachexia and Elevated GDF-15 (NCT05546476)	Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Loss of Appetite, Fatigue, Cachexia	Recruiting
NCT05428735	The DRAGON 2 Trial (NCT05428735)	Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases (CRLM), Small Future Liver Remnant (FLR)	Recruiting

Publications

The following research publications are pulled from PubMed using the search terms "Colorectal cancer" and "Ottawa Hospital", with publication date of 2020 or later. More advanced search options are available. Note that PubMed is hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and is only available in English.

The 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Cancer and IBD.
2023-09-07

End-of-life interventions in patients with cancer.
2023-08-04

Rivaroxaban versus Apixaban for Treatment of Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism in Patients at Lower Risk of Bleeding.
2023-07-12

Optimizing the number of variants tracked to follow disease burden with circulating tumor DNA assays in metastatic colorectal cancer.
2023-06-30

Clinical and metabolomic characterization of Brivanib-Induced hypertension in metastatic colorectal cancer.
2023-06-17

Syngeneic mouse model of human HER2+ metastatic breast cancer for the evaluation of trastuzumab emtansine combined with oncolytic rhabdovirus.
2023-05-08

Protocol for the CoNoR Study: A prospective multi-step study of the potential added benefit of two novel assessment tools in colorectal liver metastases technical resectability decision-making.
2023-03-31

Variations in Emergency Service Utilization among Cancer Survivors: Results from the Pan-Canadian Experiences of Cancer Patients in Transition Study Survey.
2023-03-28

Evaluating the Time Toxicity of Cancer Treatment in the CCTG CO.17 Trial.
2023-03-08

A radiomic biomarker for prognosis of resected colorectal cancer liver metastases generalizes across MRI contrast agents.
2023-02-24

View more on PubMed