50/50 Draw Funds Revolutionary New Breast Cancer Screening Tool

Everyone who buys a Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket in the month of October will be contributing to a piece of Thunder Bay history. That’s because half of all proceeds will go directly to breast cancer including the new Radialis unit, a revolutionary alternative to X-ray mammography that was developed and will be manufactured right here in Thunder Bay.

Dr. Alla Reznik and her team have worked for about ten years developing this new technology from scratch. The technology detects breast cancer tumours using molecular imaging. That’s a much more precise and efficient method of diagnosing breast cancer for women who have dense breast tissue, which is about half of all women. And, it does all this without painful compression of the breast during imaging.

Radialis was not designed to replace mammography, but instead provide an alternative for those women who need it.

“Mammography saves lives. Mammography is the gold standard in detecting breast cancer. But mammography is efficient only for 50% of all women,” Dr. Reznik said. “For those women for whom mammography is not efficient, we need to offer another detection tool.”

Mammography is what Dr. Reznik called an indirect cancer detection tool – one that detects cancers based on expected density differences between a tumour and breast tissue. Tumours can be missed in some women because there isn’t enough contrast in the X-ray mammography between dense breast tissue and dense tumour tissue. Further, false positives or questionable results can trigger a number of other treatments and tests that can be painful and stressful. That’s something Dr. Reznik saw happen to a close friend.

“(The results she received were) suspicious but inconclusive,” she said. Thankfully, a biopsy revealed her friend didn’t have cancer. However with Radialis, she wouldn’t have needed a biopsy at all. Women who experience these painful tests after false positives are less likely to get mammograms in the future. “I don’t want anybody to experience false-positive results.”

Radialis can also be used to monitor treatments earlier and more effectively, allowing doctors to try something different if the initial treatment isn’t working.

“This is very much aligned with personalized medicine,” Dr. Reznik said. “It’s a game changer.”

The first round of clinical trials has already successfully completed at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto with a second round about to begin. Clinical trials are planned to start in Thunder Bay in April 2023 to test how well the unit can be used for monitoring certain breast cancer treatments. Dr. Reznik said that she is also in discussions with other hospitals including one in the United States to build systems.

Radialis has received FDA clearance and will begin manufacturing its molecular imaging units right here in Thunder Bay. That has always been an important goal for Dr. Reznik and her team, she said.

“If we just sell our technology to a manufacturer, then the manufacturing will be moved out of Thunder Bay. But we are committed to our region and even if Radialis is at some point purchased by a larger company, manufacturing will stay in Thunder Bay.”

Some of the proceeds of October’s Thunder Bay 50/50 draw will go directly to building prototypes needed for testing and clinical trials including purchasing component parts.

“Every ticket you buy will help fund research that will benefit hundreds of patients in Thunder Bay with a direct way to diagnose breast cancer and a direct way to follow up with their treatment,” Dr. Reznik said.

You can help make Thunder Bay medical history! Buy your Thunder Bay 50/50 tickets and see what this month’s jackpot is up to at: ThunderBay5050.ca

Lakehead researchers receiving $2.3 million from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

Dr. Alla Reznik

Lakehead University professors are receiving more than $2.3 million from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for bold research exploring advancements in robotics, X-ray imaging technology, radio frequencies, and other important projects that will improve the lives of people around the world.

One of these recipients is Dr. Alla Reznik, a Lakehead Professor in Physics, Scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, and Canada Research Chair in Physics of Molecular Imaging. Dr. Reznik is receiving $205,000 to examine a new approach to X-ray imaging over five years.

This new approach, using photoconductive material lead oxide, will improve the quality of health care through more effective and less invasive imaging connected with cardiac intervention and early breast cancer diagnosis.

“Minimally invasive cardiac intervention includes a whole spectrum of surgical procedures ranging from cardiac catheterization to aortic valve replacement,” said Dr. Reznik. “Cardiac intervention procedures are long and are commonly carried out under X-ray guidance, which results in significant exposure of patients and medical personnel to X-rays. Hence, the need here is to develop a much more sensitive than currently available X-ray imaging detector that will navigate cardiac interventions under significantly lower doses.”

A common tool in breast cancer screening is 2D X-ray mammography, which takes an X-ray image of the breast while a medical professional compresses it between two plates. Although mammography reduces breast cancer mortality, its specificity for cancer detection is low.

“The need here is to develop a 3D visualization of the breast that will minimize the masking effect of overlapping fibroglandular tissue,” said Dr. Reznik.

Over the period of the grant, the proposed program will train three post-doctoral fellows, two PhD students and three Master of Science students. In addition, five high performing undergraduate students (each for one year) will be hired to participate in an annual Summer School on Medical Imaging to gain research experience.

“Dr. Reznik is a key contributor to our health research program that is vital to advancing our academic mission and even more importantly, to improving the health of the population,” said Jean Bartkowiak, President and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and CEO of the Health Research Institute. “Health research, like that of Dr. Reznik, provides patients with the opportunity to participate in research activity that helps design the care of the future and to access equipment at the frontier of health technology development. I would like to thank NSERC for recognizing the potential of Dr. Reznik’s research.”

To read the full announcement, visit https://bit.ly/LakeheadU-NSERC-June17-2020

Lakehead University researcher, Health Research Institute scientist receiving more than $448k from the Canadian Cancer Society

Dr. Alla Reznik

A Lakehead University researcher and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute scientist was awarded $448,800 from the Canadian Cancer Society to continue research into a new method of diagnosing breast cancer that may detect lesions earlier than current methods.

This Innovation to Impact grant will allow Dr. Alla Reznik to spend three years developing Positron Emission Mammography (PEM), molecular imaging equipment that may alleviate some uncertainty from breast cancer detection.

“Although X-ray mammography remains the gold standard of breast cancer screening, there is increasing awareness of a large cohort of women for whom anatomical X-ray imaging has reduced sensitivity,” said Dr. Reznik, a professor in Physics at Lakehead University and scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.

“This includes women with dense breasts and women with known intermediate and high risk factors for breast cancer,” said Dr. Reznik, who is also the Canada Research Chair in the Physics of Molecular Imaging.

The first clinical prototype of the PEM system is assembled, its imaging performance has been characterized in a laboratory setting, and it is now at the University Health Network-Princess Margaret Cancer Centre for awaiting clinical trials.

“This project will add advanced capabilities to the current PEM prototype, using data from our pilot studies as a guide,” Dr. Reznik added. “The next-generation device will have a better dynamic range to allow for a wide array of clinical tasks – ranging from low-dose screening to high-dose treatment follow-up – and will be tested in multiple clinical centres in Canada and the United States to prepare data to support wide-spread deployment.”

Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation and Board Chair of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, said Dr. Reznik’s innovative research could someday improve the health outcomes for women around the world.

“Thank you to the Canadian Cancer Society for awarding Dr. Reznik with this Innovation to Impact grant. Grants such as these are extremely important so that fundamental research can lead to better health outcomes for women,” he said.

“Dr. Reznik is a key contributor to our health research program that is vital to advancing our academic mission and even more importantly, to improving the health of the population,” said Jean Bartkowiak, President and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and CEO of the Health Research Institute. “Health research, like that of Dr. Reznik, provides patients with the opportunity to participate in research activity that helps design the care of the future and to access equipment at the frontier of health technology development.”

Dr. Judy Bray, Vice-President, Research at the Canadian Cancer Society, said Dr. Reznik’s research could be very beneficial to women’s health and wellbeing.

“With one in eight Canadian women expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, there is a need for more accurate and sensitive screening methods so that we can detect and treat the cancer earlier,” Dr. Bray said.

“That’s why we are proud to fund Dr. Reznik’s work in making breast mammography a more reliable screening tool for all women, including those with dense breasts and those at increased risk for breast cancer. We are grateful to our generous donors who enable us to support innovative researchers like Dr. Reznik and help create a world where no Canadian fears cancer.”

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