Team:Central Calgary/project

Central iGEM

Of the numerous treatments for cancer available today, not one has the ability to cure cancer. In fact, not only is there no treatment guaranteed to cure cancer, but there is also no form of treatment yet that has been implemented in the human body without serious side-effects. Many people feel that the drawbacks of cancer treatment are not worth enduring, even with the possibility of becoming cancer free. Notably, chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy, the most common treatments for cancer, have grave side effects on the body. These side effects include hair loss, vomiting, as well as damage to the nervous system and vital organs, to name just a few (Canadian Cancer Society, 2015). Chemotherapy also affects people’s mental health, often resulting in chronic anxiety and depression. People rendered weak by their cancer often experience severe complications post- cancer surgery (Mayo Clinic, 2015). In search of a more effective treatment with less severe side effects, the Central iGEM team has considered taking a different approach. Aduro BioTech Inc., an established biotech company, has been practicing similar preliminary work involving synthetic biology and has engineered Listeria to elicit an immune response, (Aduro, 2015). Antiangiogenic therapy is what many doctors are referring to as the future of cancer treatment (Grothley, Kozlaff & Rosen, 2007). Through numerous trials, doctors have found that with antiangiogenic therapy, tumours may be left permanently dormant without need for further treatment. Currently, there are some antiangiogenic drugs called bevacizumab being prescribed to cancer patients, such as Avastin®, which are often used in combination with chemotherapy treatments. This approach to antiangiogenic therapy, through the bacterial system of delivery, could potentially one day replace chemotherapy as the primary cancer treatment (Grothley, Kozlaff & Rosen, 2007).