Nova Scotia breast cancer researcher receives $250K grant

Every day, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, about 75 people in the country hear the words, “You have breast cancer.”

And while more people are surviving the diagnosis than ever before, it’s still the most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer death among Canadian women.

Dr. Paola Marignani, a medical professor at Dalhousie University, is leading the charge in breast cancer research. Marignani recently received $250,000 from the Breast Cancer Society of Canada to further her research in precision oncology.

“Over the past 10 years, trends are on a decline,” Marignani said. “There’s [fewer] cases of breast cancer across the country.”

Marignani attributes the drop in breast cancer rates to the country’s screening process -- something that helps detect cancer early, and ultimately, prevents death.

In 2022 alone, nearly 29,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with breast cancer. And according to Marignani, 5,500 of those people will die from the disease.

She also noted that, so far this year, 270 men have been diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada, adding, “there will be some deaths.”

Marignani pointed out that the Maritime region has a higher rate of breast cancer compared to the national average. Modelling shows that nearly 800 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the Maritimes this year, with roughly 180 deaths expected.

New Brunswick, she said, has already seen 610 cases of breast cancer this year.

A June 16 news release from Dalhousie University noted that the project’s goal is to identify unique markers “associated with HER2+ breast cancer recurrence at the single-cell level.”

The release noted that one-third of all breast cancer diagnoses are classified as HER2-positive.

That’s where Marignani’s research comes in.

“Under normal circumstances, the [HER2] protein is doing its job,” she explained, adding that it becomes problematic when the body produces too much protein. “When a woman is diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, they just have too much of this protein in their breast tissue.”

While drug trials targeting HER2 have been successful, research shows breast cancer returns at a high frequency once treatment ends. Her research will help experts better understand the recurrence potential of HER2-positive breast cancer.

“The reason for the recurrence is not exactly fully known, and so the overarching goal of our project is to identify new biomarkers that are involved with the recurrence,” she said.

Marignani’s project is scheduled to take place over the next three years. By the end of her research, Marignani hopes to be able to answer this question: Why does HER2-positive breast cancer come back despite the fact that the treatments are quite good?