Lab specimens

Tumour Biology

Our work in understanding head and neck tumour biology is important to developing novel treatments for head and neck cancer. The ORI tumour biology program interrogates cancer cell biology, studies signal transduction through oncogenic pathways, and seeks to understand immune evasion in head and neck cancer. We apply genomic-based approaches, including single-cell analyses to interrogate dysregulated oncogenic signalling in banked head and neck cancer tissue. The ORI Tumour Bank is a rich resource for such studies. Banked samples are linked to clinical outcomes data that enable the application of molecular epidemiology tools in order to better understand the clinical relevance of dysregulated genes/proteins that are potential prognostic/predictive biomarkers. We also investigate the biology of these novel biomarkers using functional approaches in the lab.

The ultimate goal of the ORI tumour biology program is translating insights gained in the lab to patient care. A multidisciplinary team of dedicated molecular biologists, genome scientists, bioinformaticians, surgeons, pathologists and epidemiologists are the building blocks of this focused approach. Our team has the requisite skills to make major advances in the molecular domain. The ORI enables skilled colleagues to interact and collaborate, thereby providing a unique opportunity to lead and innovate.