What if we could find cancer sooner?
[The Canadian Cancer Society logo and the words “It Takes a Society” appear on screen.]
Words on screen: Dr Cathie Garnis. Canadian Cancer Society-funded researcher
[Dr Cathie Garnis, a cancer researcher, appears on screen. She is wearing a white lab coat with a yellow daffodil and examining a test tube containing liquid.]
[Dr Garnis sits in her research lab. Microscopes, papers and plastic containers cover the countertop, while shelves hold cardboard boxes of lab equipment.]
Dr Garnis: My name is Cathie Garnis and I'm a Canadian Cancer Society-funded researcher.
[Dr Garnis walks between benches in her research lab.]
Dr Garnis: In my lab, we are developing a blood-based biomarker for the early detection of recurrent head and neck cancers.
[Dr Garnis puts on a face shield and removes samples from a dry-ice freezer.]
Dr Garnis: It’s important to detect recurrent disease early because currently there are no good methods for detecting recurrence before it's metastasized or before it spreads.
Dr Garnis: Once the disease has spread, there's very limited options for treatments for these patients and so by detecting the recurrence earlier, when it's smaller and hasn't spread to the rest of the body, we have more options such as surgery and radiation that will hopefully give us better outcomes.
[Dr Garnis places a sample on a small rocking platform to mix a liquid sample. She then holds an agar plate up to the light for a closer look.]
[Dr Garnis applies a liquid to an agar plate.]
Dr Garnis: What excites me most about this research is that we can take what we're learning in the lab into the clinic and help those patients.
[Wearing gloves, Dr. Garnis carries the agar plate to a microscope and examines the sample through the lens.]
Dr Garnis: My lab was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the Canadian Cancer Society, and this grant was so important to getting this research from the bench, moving it towards translation.
[At a lab bench, Dr Garnis uses a syringe to draw up liquid, then places a sample in a mixer.]
Dr Garnis: It allowed us to look at many more patients and optimize the biomarker, which will give us one step closer to seeing this being used for patients.
Dr Garnis: Ongoing funding is key to our research efforts. When we feel like we're making progress and we're able to answer some of our key questions, we usually have 10 more questions that we want to ask and so this will require more funding and so ongoing support is key to our efforts.
[Dr Garnis places samples in a PCR machine.]
Dr Garnis: The amount of progress that I've seen in the short time that I have been a cancer researcher is astounding and it still blows my mind and I can't wait to see where we go from here.
[Dr Garnis draws liquid into a syringe.]
Dr Garnis: Every moment is a gift. Help fund lifesaving cancer research today.
Words on screen: World-leading cancer innovations start in Canada. Help move research forward.
Words on screen: Every moment is a gift. Help give more of them. Donate Monthly.
[The Canadian Cancer Society logo and the words IT TAKES A SOCIETY appear on screen.]
