New molecular testing available in Ottawa offers a glimmer of hope to some cancer patients

Dr. Rebecca Auer is ta surgical oncologist and senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Staff /POSTMEDIAArticle content

They are rare cancers with few treatment options and low survival rates. But new molecular testing, available in Ottawa and across Canada, is offering patients some hope.

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Every year about 800 Canadians are diagnosed with biliary tract cancers, which start in cells of the gallbladder or bile duct. Patients typically have late stage cancer by the time they are diagnosed.

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There are drugs being used for other treatments that could potentially help patients with biliary tract cancers, but molecular testing is required to better understand which treatments and clinical trials are more likely to work for them, said Dr. Rebecca Auer, a surgical oncologist and senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa.

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Until recently, Quebec was the only province to cover the high cost of molecular testing for patients with biliary tract cancers. Patients in the rest of the country now also have free access to the testing, thanks to the Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative (C3), a national research network that aims to change how patients with biliary tract cancer receive and access integrated research and care in Canada.

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Auer is a co-founder of C3, which is based at the Ottawa Hospital. C3 was awarded a grant from the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, part of which goes toward molecular testing for patients outside of Quebec. The hope is that provinces and territories will eventually cover the cost of the testing.

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The C3 network also offers expert advice to physicians who may be less familiar with the rare cancers to interpret the molecular tests and to make the best treatment decisions for their patients.

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About 45 per cent of biliary tract cancers contain a mutation for which there is a drug available — for another form of cancer. That includes BRCA mutations. There are several drugs that target BRCA when it comes to breast and other cancers, she said.