Dr. Patrick Lee
In 1998, Dr. Patrick Lee of the University of Calgary
made an astonishing announcement. He and his research team had just
discovered that reo-virus, a naturally occurring human virus, could kill
cancer cells.
As one can expect of news of this magnitude, the
discovery was heard the world over. Lee, who had, up until then, run a
fairly quiet laboratory, found himself gathering a substantial amount of
media attention. Grateful for the attention and increased support
recognition brings, Lee also received a number of heart-wrenching
telephone calls from terribly ill cancer patients offering themselves for
testing his potential cure.
Originally from Hong Kong, Lee moved to Edmonton in the
1960s and began to study at the University of Alberta, where he earned
both his BSc and PhD. He moved to Duke University in Indiana for his
post-doctoral training and joined the University of Calgarys Department
of Microbiology and Infectious Disease in 1981. Becoming a full professor
in 1991, Lee focused for many years researching reo-virus, which he had
learned about in the late 1970s.
Reo-virus, or respiratory enteric orphan virus, is
naturally occurring and believed to cause mild infections of the upper
respiratory and gastro-intestinal tract in humans. However, in testing
mice with implanted human cancer tumours, Lee and his team of researchers
were able to show that reo-virus also has the ability to selectively kill
a wide variety of cancer cells.
In 1998, once the researching affirming the
cancer-killing power of reo-virus in mice was conclusive, Dr. Lee
co-founded the company Oncolytics Biotech Inc. The company was created to
further develop research regarding the use of reo-virus in treating
different types of cancer. Oncolytics Biotech Inc. is currently the holder
of 13 Canadian patents, all of which deal with the treatment of cancer
through viruses.
Recently, Lee has accepted an appointment to the
Cameron Chair in Cancer Research at Dalhousie University. He will begin
research in Halifax in 2003.
Although Lees findings profoundly advanced cancer
research, it has yet to be proven that reo-virus can kill cancer in
humans.
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