John Cameron Bell (born July 10, 1953 in Ancaster, Ontario) is a senior cancer researcher at the OHRI. [1] He currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario with his wife Sheila.
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John Cameron Bell (born July 10, 1953 in Ancaster, Ontario) is a senior cancer researcher at the OHRI. [1] He currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario with his wife Sheila.
John received his Bachelor's degree and Ph.D. from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 1982. He also held Postdoctoral positions at the University of Ottawa with Dr. Michael McBurney, and at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, England with Dr. Gordon Foulkes. Following this, he was a Professor of Biochemistry at McGill University from 1985 to 1988, and is presently a Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa [2]
Bell is the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Jennerex, Inc., [3] which is a biotech company in San Francisco that is producing oncolytic viruses as a new therapeutic technique to treat cancers. Early trials of this technique have been shown to be very effective in eliminating tumours, most notably so far OncoVEX GM-CSF (BioVex Inc, Woburn, MA) which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for melanoma. [4] These viruses are thought to even provide immunity against certain types of cancer. [5] It is hoped that these therapies will become a viable, and even more successful alternative to treatments such as chemotherapy, which are extremely physically demanding for patients.
He is the recipient of one of the largest grants ever awarded by the Terry Fox Foundation, has received numerous awards, and was even named Canada's third most influential person in a Maclean's online reader's poll in 2003. [6]
Bell is the founder of the Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium, the first of its kind in the world, and it aims to expand cancer viral therapy discovery and application at all levels. [7]
He won the 2010 Dr. J. David Grimes Award from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute for career contributions to science. [8]
In 2011, viral treatments developed by Bell's lab gained international notoriety following a publication in the journal Nature . The results presented in the article showed that the viruses were selectively targeting cancerous cells in humans following intravenous injection, and limited further tumour growth. [9] [10]
In June 2012, Bell received a medal at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. [11] In 2013, he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada. [12]
In 2015, he was featured in the Vice documentary series, in an episode called VICE Special Report: Killing Cancer. [13]
The Ottawa Hospital is a hospital system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The system was formed through the merger of the former Grace Hospital, Ottawa Riverside Hospital, Ottawa General Hospital and Ottawa Civic Hospital. The system is affiliated with the University of Ottawa, and its three campuses are all non-profit, public teaching hospitals.
The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With 569 beds, the General Campus includes The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and the Cancer Centre.
An oncolytic virus is a virus that preferentially infects and kills cancer cells. As the infected cancer cells are destroyed by oncolysis, they release new infectious virus particles or virions to help destroy the remaining tumour. Oncolytic viruses are thought not only to cause direct destruction of the tumour cells, but also to stimulate host anti-tumour immune system responses. Oncolytic viruses also have the ability to affect the tumor micro-environment in multiple ways.
Virotherapy is a treatment using biotechnology to convert viruses into therapeutic agents by reprogramming viruses to treat diseases. There are three main branches of virotherapy: anti-cancer oncolytic viruses, viral vectors for gene therapy and viral immunotherapy. These branches use three different types of treatment methods: gene overexpression, gene knockout, and suicide gene delivery. Gene overexpression adds genetic sequences that compensate for low to zero levels of needed gene expression. Gene knockout uses RNA methods to silence or reduce expression of disease-causing genes. Suicide gene delivery introduces genetic sequences that induce an apoptotic response in cells, usually to kill cancerous growths. In a slightly different context, virotherapy can also refer more broadly to the use of viruses to treat certain medical conditions by killing pathogens.
The Semliki Forest virus is an alphavirus found in central, eastern, and southern Africa. It was first isolated from mosquitoes in the Semliki Forest, Uganda by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in 1942 and described by Smithburn and Haddow. It is known to cause disease in animals including humans.
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), formerly Ottawa Health Research Institute, is a non-profit academic health research institute located in the city of Ottawa. It was formed in 2001 following the merger of three Ottawa hospitals. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and affiliated with the University of Ottawa.
A genetically modified virus is a virus that has been altered or generated using biotechnology methods, and remains capable of infection. Genetic modification involves the directed insertion, deletion, artificial synthesis or change of nucleotide bases in viral genomes. Genetically modified viruses are mostly generated by the insertion of foreign genes intro viral genomes for the purposes of biomedical, agricultural, bio-control, or technological objectives. The terms genetically modified virus and genetically engineered virus are used synonymously.
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. is a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, that is developing an intravenously delivered immuno-oncolytic virus called pelareorep for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Pelareorep is a non-pathogenic, proprietary isolate of the unmodified reovirus that: induces selective tumor lysis and promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses.
Pelareorep is a proprietary isolate of the unmodified human reovirus being developed as a systemically administered immuno-oncological viral agent for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Pelareorep is an oncolytic virus, which means that it preferentially lyses cancer cells. Pelareorep also promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses. Preliminary clinical trials indicate that it may have anti-cancer effects across a variety of cancer types when administered alone and in combination with other cancer therapies.
JX-594 is an oncolytic virus is designed to target and destroy cancer cells. It is also known as Pexa-Vec, INN pexastimogene devacirepvec) and was constructed in Dr. Edmund Lattime's lab at Thomas Jefferson University, tested in clinical trials on melanoma patients, and licensed and further developed by SillaJen.
Jennerex Biotherapeutics, Inc. was an American private biopharmaceutical company that developed the oncolytic viruses JX-594 and JX-929 among others. By creating oncolytic viruses that can (1) kill tumor cells directly through lysis, (2) activate the immune system by delivering genes that encode immunostimulants and by overcoming tumor cell-induced immunological tolerance, and (3) reduce tumor nutrient supply through the destruction of blood vessels, Jennerex aimed to create a novel approach to treating and possibly curing cancer.
Talimogene laherparepvec, sold under the brand name Imlygic, is a biopharmaceutical medication used to treat melanoma that cannot be operated on; it is injected directly into a subset of lesions which generates a systemic immune response against the recipient's cancer. The final four year analysis from the pivotal phase 3 study upon which TVEC was approved by the FDA showed a 31.5% response rate with a 16.9% complete response (CR) rate. There was also a substantial and statistically significant survival benefit in patients with earlier metastatic disease and in patients who hadn't received prior systemic treatment for melanoma. The earlier stage group had a reduction in the risk of death of approximately 50% with one in four patients appearing to have met, or be close to be reaching, the medical definition of cure. Real world use of talimogene laherparepvec have shown response rates of up to 88.5% with CR rates of up to 61.5%.
Many variants of herpes simplex virus have been considered for viral therapy of cancer; the early development of these was thoroughly reviewed in the journal Cancer Gene Therapy in 2002. This page describes the most notable variants—those tested in clinical trials: G207, HSV1716, NV1020 and Talimogene laherparepvec. These attenuated versions are constructed by deleting viral genes required for infecting or replicating inside normal cells but not cancer cells, such as ICP34.5, ICP6/UL39, and ICP47.
Adenovirus varieties have been explored extensively as a viral vector for gene therapy and also as an oncolytic virus.
Directed enzyme prodrug therapy (DEPT) uses enzymes artificially introduced into the body to convert prodrugs, which have no or poor biologically activity, to the active form in the desired location within the body. Many chemotherapy drugs for cancer lack tumour specificity and the doses required to reach therapeutic levels in the tumour are often toxic to other tissues. DEPT strategies are an experimental method of reducing the systemic toxicity of a drug, by achieving high levels of the active drug only at the desired site. This article describes the variations of DEPT technology.
Measles virus encoding the human thyroidal sodium iodide symporter or MV-NIS is an attenuated oncolytic Edmonston (Ed) strain of measles virus.
GL-ONC1 is an investigational therapeutic product consisting of the clinical grade formulation of the laboratory strain GLV-1h68, an oncolytic virus developed by Genelux Corporation. GL-ONC1 is currently under evaluation in Phase I/II human clinical trials in the United States and Europe.
Viralytics Ltd is an Australian biotechnology company working in the field of oncolytic viruses, that is, viruses that preferentially infect and kill cancer cells. The company's oncolytic virus product, called Cavatak, is currently in clinical trials in metastatic melanoma and other cancers. The drug was granted Orphan Drug status in advanced melanoma in December 2005.
Akseli Hemminki July 27, 1973 (Helsinki) is a Finnish specialist in Oncology and Radiotherapy, Professor of Oncology and founder of two biotechnology companies.
Andrew Louis Pecora is an American hematologist and oncologist involved in research on the use of stem cells and oncolytic viruses to treat diseases, including cancer. He is the CEO of Outcomes Matter Innovations. As of 2020, he is on the Board of Directors Celularity, Inc. (since 2017) and founder and Executive Chairman, COTA, Inc.. Previously, he was chief innovations officer, professor and vice president of cancer services at the John Theurer Cancer Center, part of the Hackensack University Medical Center. He is a professor of medicine and oncology at Georgetown University.
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