Title:   
Associate Professor

Institute:
McGill University 

Department:  
Medicine, division of experimental medicine

Province:
Quebec

Training:
Postdoctoral Fellow: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Montreal, and Research Institute of the Montreal General Hospital / McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
PhD: University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

Research interests:
Genetic analysis of breast and ovarian cancer families and molecular genetic analysis of sporadic ovarian cancers with a focus on tumour suppressor genes.

Recognitions:
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Award for discovery of BRCA1
CIHR-CRS Scholar
Merck Frosst Award for Excellence in Research

Career highlights:
Discovery of BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility genes; contribution of these cancer susceptibility genes in French Canadian cancer families; and development of a novel genetically modified ovarian cancer model useful for researching the biology of ovarian cancer and potential for developing biomarkers of ovarian cancer

Research Projects

Project title:
Evaluating the contribution of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in French Canadian ovarian cancer cases

Funding period:  
2010-2012

Program:
Operating Grant (Basic Research)

Summary:
The inheritance of mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes confer a very high risk for developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Since these genes were identified in the mid-1990’s genetic testing and counseling services have been available to identify women at high risk for these cancers in order to offer cancer surveillance and prevention options. Recently new cancer therapies have been proposed for affected mutations carriers that take advantage of defects occurring as a result of mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Therapies tailored to genetic background has been proposed as new treatment strategies to improve overall outcome. This proposal describes experiments aimed at investigating how many women with ovarian cancer might benefit from such specific therapies by determining the number of mutation carriers at a specific clinic. Our results will impact on policy for population-based genetic testing of women with ovarian cancer, a cancer for which the overall survival is less than 30% and few treatment options are available.

CRS publications:

Tonin PN, Maugard CM, Perret C, Mes-Masson A-M, Provencher DM. 2007. A review of histopathological subtypes of ovarian cancer in BRCA-related French Canadian cancer families. Fam Cancer 6(4):491-7

Arcand SL, Maugard CM, Ghadirian P, Robidoux A, Perret C, Zhang P, Fafard E, Mes-Masson AM, Foulkes WD, Provencher D, Narod SA, Tonin PN. 2008. Germline TP53 mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation-negative French Canadian breast cancer families. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 108(3):399-408.

Oros KK, Ghadirian P, Mes-Masson A-M, Foulkes WD, Provencher D, Tonin PN. 2006. Application of BRCA1/2 carrier prediction models to French Canadian breast and breast-ovarian cancer families. Clin Genet. 70:320-9.

Oros KK, Leblanc G, Arcand SL, Shen Z, Perret C, Mes-Masson A-M, Foulkes WD, Ghadirian P, Provencher D, Tonin PN. 2006. Haplotype analysis suggests common founders of a recurrent BRCA2 mutation in French Canadian breast and/or ovarian cancer families. BMC Med Genet 7:23

Oros KK, Ghadirian P, Greenwood CM, Perret C, Shen Z, Paredes Y, Arcand SL, Mes-Masson AM, Narod SA, Foulkes WD, Provencher D, Tonin PN. 2004. Significant proportion of breast and/or ovarian cancer families of French Canadian descent harbor 1 of 5 BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Int J Cancer, 112:411

Tonin PN, Perret C, Lambert JA, Paradis A-J, Kantemiroff T, Benoit M-H, Martin G, Foulkes WD, Ghadirian P. 2001. Founder BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in early-onset French Canadian breast cancer cases unselected for family history. Intl J Cancer (Pred. Oncol.) 95:189-193

Cavallone L, Arcand SL, Maugard C, Ghadirian P, Mes-Masson A-M, Provencher D. Tonin PN. 2008. Haplotype analysis of TP53 polymorphisms, Arg72Pro and Ins16, in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers of French Canadian descent. BMC Cancer 8:96

Past CRS projects:

2008 Deletion analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 loci in selected high risk breast and/or ovarian cancer families of French Canadian descent

2006 Contribution of known and suspected cancer susceptibility genes in high risk breast and/or ovarian cancer families of French Canadian descent.

2002 A genetic analysis of a founder population in the search of a novel breast cancer susceptibility gene.

1995 Cloning of the chromosome 3p14-pter tumour suppressor gene implicated in human epithelial ovarian cancer