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The effects of cancer are devastating, especially in the Maritimes where cancer rates are some of the highest in Canada. But researchers at Dalhousie and other maritime universities are taking enormous efforts to develop novel approaches towards cancer treatments and prevention.

As our understanding of the deadly disease grows, the equipment needed for cancer research becomes increasingly advanced and expensive, with funding for new equipment relying almost exclusively on private donors.

That’s where the Molly Appeal comes in — an annual campaign through the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation that raises funds for medical research.

This year, the Molly Appeal is fundraising for a live-cell imaging facility that will allow Dalhousie cancer researchers to make new discoveries and develop new medical treatments.

“One of the advantages of live-cell imaging is you can see what’s going on inside a cell in real time,” says David Hoskin, cancer researcher and professor in Dal’s departments of Pathology and Microbiology & Immunology. “Without real-time imaging you may miss something, you may not necessarily see what’s happening to the whole cell.”

“It’s a tool that bigger centres have had the advantage of for a number of years now. It’s something we’ve been lacking at Dalhousie and it’s a big advance for our cancer research community.”

When asked about the importance of the imaging facility, Dr. Hoskin says, “It’s cutting edge technology. Having this kind of imaging centre here will allow us to compete with the very best in the world.”

A crucial resource

Part of the reason why campaigns like the Molly Appeal have become so important is that traditional sources of funding have become constrained in recent years.

“There’s no other resource that has a decent chance of success for funding research equipment like this,” says Dr. Hoskin. “Without the Molly Appeal, we’d be in big trouble.”

Another cancer researcher at Dal, Paola Marcato, says her work focuses on, “trying to figure out why cancer metastasizes, because cancer is very treatable when it’s not metastatic.” She has found that “one particular type of cancer cell, called a cancer stem cell, is harder to kill than others and only these cancer stem cells make new tumors. The thing about metastatic cells is that they have motility. Live-cell imaging can see the process of how they’re able to move and infiltrate nearby tissues.”

When asked about the Molly Appeal, Dr. Marcato is enthusiastic.

“The Molly Appeal has been amazing! The RNAi [RNA-interference] library facility that the Molly Appeal funded four years ago has transformed my research completely. Having that facility here has made so much of what we do possible. This is such an amazing resource, and it’s through people working together in our region who are donating money to make this possible.”

A transformative facility

Roy Duncan is a professor and researcher at Dalhousie Medical School whose lab is investigating cancerous prostate cells. Using live-cell imaging to observe mechanisms within cancer cells, Dr. Duncan and his team can determine markers of cancer aggression, allowing patients and health-care professionals to make more informed treatment decisions. This may result in fewer invasive surgical procedures, such as removal of the prostate gland.

Dr. Duncan spearheaded the application to the Molly Appeal for a live-cell imaging facility, which will be used by more than 20 cancer researchers at the medical school.

“This facility will constantly be in use, 24/7 and 356 days a year,” he says, noting that the facility’s impact will expand beyond cancer research. “It will be a core facility that’s accessible to any researcher who works at a cellular level.”

If you would like to make a contribution to this year’s Molly Appeal campaign, donation details are available on its website: mollyappeal.ca.