TORONTO - The federal government is investing more than $100 million into cancer stem cell research in partnership with California, Health Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday.
In an announcement at the BIO 2008 International Convention in San Diego, Clement said the money will go to the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, which will work with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine with the goal of understanding how to prevent and treat cancer.
Scientists from Canada and California, considered world leaders in the field, conduct 70 per cent of stem cell research in North America. Having them join forces should help hasten the understanding of the role cancer stem cells play in the development of the disease, Clement said from San Diego.
"I'm absolutely convinced that we are on the world's leading edge of some very, very significant cancer research that will make a real difference in defeating this disease."
Clement called the $100 million a substantial investment, and one that will be matched dollar-for-dollar by California.
"It means that Canada and California are going to continue to be the centre of research in cancer stem cells for the foreseeable future. They're going to be where the action is."
The three-year agreement follows a recent pledge of $30 million by Ontario to the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, which was created by the Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership, a collaboration that involves universities, private industry and government.
Dr. Michael Rudnicki, scientific director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network, said the $100 million could fund 50 to 60 researchers in Canada, depending on how the research is defined.
"So this is a lot of money because it's being applied against a very focused area," Rudnicki said from Ottawa. "This is a strategic grant that is really funding an area where we are already world leaders and ... will allow the work to progress and actually be taken to a new level."
The existence of cancer stem cells that can give rise to cancer cells that form tumours was discovered relatively recently. Among the major contributors to the field are Toronto scientists John Dick, who isolated cancer stem cells in different types of leukemia, and Peter Dirks, who pinpointed the first cancer stem cell in a human brain tumour.
